Our parents’ generation expected to live, work and die in the same place. Their investments and particularly their pensions stayed with them and usually proved ample to meet their retirement needs.
Now with the trend towards a globally mobile working population, where the Internet is reinforcing people’s ability to live wherever they choose, it is increasingly important for their investments to reflect that mobility.
“Our clients expect us to provide them with tax efficient, offshore investments and pensions which work, however many times they move and wherever they decide to live,” says Craig Featherby, African Head of the deVere Group, the world’s largest independent, offshore financial advisor.
In addition, the fact that most company pension schemes no longer cover their employees’ retirement needs means that it is more than ever incumbent upon the individual to take control.
The National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF) in the UK recently published a report showing that in just two years, average savings of the long-term retired fell by nearly 60% and that almost a quarter of the over 75s have a credit card debt they do not pay off every month. They have warned that the UK is “sleepwalking into a crisis when it comes to old age.”
“The financially savvy offshore investor is proactive about organizing his retirement and estate planning,” adds Craig. “They know that they are unlikely to work for the same firm for their entire working career and it is therefore vital that they manage their own portfolio to get the maximum from it.”