What should Australian expats look for in a Financial Planner?

Becoming an Australian expat can be one of the most financially rewarding decisions that you make in your lifetime, but how do you ensure that you don’t miss out on the financial opportunities..?

Many Australian financial planners who don’t work with expats on a daily basis do not have a sound understanding of the complexities of the opportunities involved, and many offshore or international financial planners may not have experience in the intricacies of the Australian financial system.

Due to the unique circumstances, here are 6 factors to consider as an Australian expat when you’re considering which financial planner to work with.

1. Flexible and responsive: Our team at Ally Wealth Management know firsthand the demanding schedules and difficulties in managing time differences as an Australian expat. Whether you’re travelling for work each week, or on late night conference calls with your counterparts in the United States, it’s important to ensure that you’re financial planner and the team can respond to your queries quickly and meet with you at short notice.
2. Experienced with tax issues in multiple jurisdictions: One of the greatest complexities of being an Australian expat is understanding the intricacies of the different tax systems. It’s important to not only ensure that your investment and financial strategies are aligned with your current country of tax residence, but also for your future plans, which may be back to Australia or elsewhere. As Australian expats, one of the last things that we want to face is a surprise tax bill from the Australian Tax Office when we thought we were a non-resident for tax purposes. Whilst Ally does not provide this type of complex tax advice, Ally can work with your chosen tax professionals
3. Using the latest technology: Technology is rapidly advancing in the world of personal finance, and as an Australian expat working in different time zones and regions, it’s important to ensure that your financial adviser is utilising the latest. Where this be as simple as video meetings to review your investments or having access to client portals that provide a snapshot of your current overall personal wealth, there are many tools that your Adviser should be providing you with as the world continues to become a smaller place.
4. Familiar with Estate Planning across jurisdictions: Are you simply relying on your Australian will covering your global assets? Or making the assumption that your foreign will covers your assets and personal finances back home in Australia? Think again – in many cases your will is only a small part of the story and may not have any or a limited impact on your international assets. It’s also important to understand how your tax residency and location of your international assets affects your estate planning, particularly if you have children or other financial dependants.Whilst Ally is not able to provide you with estate planning advice relating to your global assets, Ally can work with your chosen legal professionals.
5. They get what you’re going through: Becoming an Australian expat is a difficult experience to truly understand unless you’ve been through it yourself. Living out of a suitcase for over half of the year, trying to get the kids settled into a new school, working out where to get an Australian-quality flat white and deciding what to do with your family home in Australia when you leave – many of these matters our team at Ally have personally experienced. For many, chasing that promotion or business opportunity overseas can also be a lonely experience like never before, so it’s important to ensure that you’ve partnered with a financial adviser that truly understands what you’re going through.
6. They become an Ally of your family: With your personal finances, thoughts and responsibilities scattered across the globe, it’s important that you have a trusted ally to support you and your family through your financial decisions. Our team at Ally ensure that we’re always there for our clients and here to support them when and where required. For someone who doesn’t know where they will be next month, being able to turn to us at these times is a luxury which can’t be underestimated. Australian expats in this position aren’t going to be suitable for many financial planners, especially those who are only interested in ‘product flogging’ to clients, but to us, those Australian expats with “feet in two countries” are generally educated, have a strong drive to succeed, aspirational, and have a limited amount of time to control and manage their own finances, so they outsource it to a professional. It is these qualities that make them a perfect fit for our team at Ally Wealth Management.

Does this mean that our team at Ally Wealth Management are not interested in working with you if you live and work in Australia and don’t travel for work..? Not at all. In fact, if you’re searching for a trusted ally to ensure that your personal finances are on track to achieve your financial goals, reach out to our team at Ally Wealth Management for an obligation-free discussion and explore how we can assist.

Ally Wealth Management is a Corporate Authorised Representatives of Sentry Advice Pty Ltd AFSL 227748

To learn more about how we may be able to help you, please contact us:

✆         1800 875 215
✉         [email protected]
☜        www.allywealth.com.au

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General Information Only: The information on this site is of a general nature only. It does not take into account your individual financial situation, objectives or needs. You should consider your own financial position and requirements before making a decision.