Over the years I have helped hundreds of clients organise their finances. For me, financial planning is not limited to a single piece of advice and then moving on as is common in the industry. Instead, I like to build long term relationships and help people manage their finances to meet their needs as circumstances change. As a result, many of my clients have been with me for a number of years. They live throughout Asia and further afield but know that I am only a Skype or telephone call away.
Many expats rely on corporate medical plans offered as part of their salary package but, as a close friend recently discovered, these can be very basic. Here is a cautionary tale on relying on a corporate policy. A friend of mine was recently diagnosed with breast cancer. That was the bad news. The good news…
South Africans living abroad are understandably looking at their options in the light of proposed changes to rules regarding the taxation of retirement funds upon emigration in 2022 South African expatriates are already subject to a so-called ‘exit tax’ when they become resident abroad, but the National Treasury plans to introduce an additional tax on…
Filling in tax returns comes top of precisely no-one’s favourite things to do and often gets pushed down the priority list. However, if you’re living and working in Hong Kong, whether you are an employee or self-employed, you’ll need to fill in a tax return, and failing to do so and pay your dues on…
2020 has been an unusual year to say the least, and most of us won’t be sorry to see the back of it. With 2021 fast approaching, we have a great opportunity for a reset so what positive changes are you going to make? A new year means new year’s resolutions, and, often, not far…
If you’re a Hong Kong resident you’ll most likely be contributing to an MPF along with around 85% of the working population. I know from talking to many clients that confusion abounds about the scheme. I get it, it’s not the most scintillating of topics, but with many Hong Kong residents facing a pension shortfall…
Following Boris Johnson’s decision earlier this year to extend visa-free access for Hong Kong’s 300,000 or so British National Overseas passport holders (with millions more eligible) from six months to five years, the Foreign Office are estimating that as many as 200,000 Hong Kong citizens may move to the UK. They will have the right…
It’s no understatement to say that the coronavirus has sent markets into free fall. It has come as something of a shock to the system for many investors after an extended bull market has seen stock prices rising steadily for years. In the case of the Dow Jones industrial average, for example, an 11 year…
COVID-19, coronavirus: call it what you will, this modern-day plague has been wreaking havoc across the globe for some time but this morning I awoke to some of the most dramatic headlines I have read yet. ‘Coronavirus spreads in three continents; markets brace for global recession’ Reuters ‘…we could be witnessing the beginning of a…
Imagine that you are a 62 year old woman approaching retirement with no saving. You have some debts but the repayments are manageable and you are proud to have stayed solvent your entire life. Suddenly your partner dies, or decides he wants a divorce, and you find yourself unable to meet all your financial commitments.…
With the Rugby World Cup now less than a week away, you can imagine how the preparation has been cranking up for the 20 teams who will be heading to Japan to fight it out for the Webb Ellis Cup. The players will have been in the throes of intense fitness training, strict dietary regimes,…