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Join my Moving to the UK online workshop on 26 March
Every March I run a workshop on everything you need to know about moving to the UK. This year it feels particularly relevant to anyone feeling less certain of staying in the Middle East over the next few years.
Moving to the UK is complex and a one-way street from a tax perspective. Getting it wrong could cost you five, maybe six figures in tax. Fortunately, if you understand how the system works, you can avoid a big tax bill completely and plan your move with confidence.
This is my most detailed and practical workshop. You will learn when to move (if you have the choice), what to do with cash, property, investments and pensions, which taxes you can minimise, how to close down your current life and re-open it successfully in the UK.
Suitable for all nationalities, including people who have already arrived in the UK. Limited spaces.
When you first start reading about personal finance, it’s easy to get overwhelmed by the amount of detail, jargon and conflicting advice out there. To keep things really simple, here is my 10-step plan to sorting out your finances.
The steps are in a specific order. You really do need a cash buffer and to pay off your credit card debt before you do anything else. Even if that will take a while, look ahead so you know what you need to do next.
Your Dead Simple 10-Step Plan to Financial Independence
1) Put yourself in the right mindset. Carefully filter the advice of others around you, understand where your hang-ups around money have come from and confidently decide to reshape your financial destiny!
2) Track your total 'net worth' monthly with your major assets (cash, investments, car etc.) in one column and your liabilities (loans, cards, money owed) in a second column.
3) Track your major income sources and expenses, to identify what you can chop and try to maximise how much you can save each month - your monthly savings rate.
4) Set short and long-term goals for your net worth. You can 'retire' from a job you don't love when your annual cost of living equals 4% of your investment portfolio. Don't forget inflation if it will take you a while to get there. A high monthly savings rate will get you there faster.
5) Aggressively reduce loan and card balances on anything charging you more than 5% interest per year. Never let a credit card balance build for more than one month, it's not worth it.
6) Build a cash buffer of at least 3 months' expenses, more if your income is unpredictable. If you're struggling with reducing your debt in Step 5, try to build a buffer of at least $£€1,000 to protect against cashflow problems.
7) Identify items you are saving for within 1-5 years e.g. a property deposit or education, and invest the money safely in term deposits, low-risk fixed income investments etc.
8) Invest any money you don't need for 10-30 years monthly or quarterly into a retirement portfolio of stocks, bonds and/or property. Try to save as much money into this as possible. Don't try to time the market or invest more than 10% of your portfolio in individual stocks, cryptocurrency etc.
Expats: Use an offshore broker such as Interactive Brokers to invest in cheap, highly-diversified ETFs such as the Vanguard FTSE All-World UCITS Fund (VWRA).
Residents: maximise any flexible tax-shelters available from the government. Invest in cheap, highly-diversified index funds - it's hard to beat the Vanguard LifeStrategy funds.
9) Review any pensions, life insurance or savings plans you have abroad or at home. Check what they are invested in to ensure it is not overly concentrated in emerging markets, commodities, structured notes or funds with expensive fees. Avoid taking out savings plans or whole life insurance plans that are expensive and inflexible.
10) Revisit all of the above periodically and optimise them further to maximise your monthly saving rate and investment portfolio growth.
And that's it! Simple.
Step 8 is the one that will have the most impact over the long term but where you may struggle to get started. Click here for more information about creating your diversified investment portfolio and look out for more guides coming soon! If you feel there is a missing topic that really needs addressing, then contact me here.
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Join my Moving to the UK online workshop on 26 March
Every March I run a workshop on everything you need to know about moving to the UK. This year it feels particularly relevant to anyone feeling less certain of staying in the Middle East over the next few years.
Moving to the UK is complex and a one-way street from a tax perspective. Getting it wrong could cost you five, maybe six figures in tax. Fortunately, if you understand how the system works, you can avoid a big tax bill completely and plan your move with confidence.
This is my most detailed and practical workshop. You will learn when to move (if you have the choice), what to do with cash, property, investments and pensions, which taxes you can minimise, how to close down your current life and re-open it successfully in the UK.
Suitable for all nationalities, including people who have already arrived in the UK. Limited spaces.
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