A secure retirement is hugely important, whether it’s years away or just around the corner.

With good earnings potential and significant tax advantages, expats have a unique opportunity to achieve their goals by exploring retirement plan solutions and conducting adequate retirement planning. Infinity’s personalised pension planning services for expats living across Asia- including Malaysia, Cambodia, and Vietnam- can help you get there.

With an ever-changing investment landscape and increasing regulation, retirement planning seems to get more challenging every year. A clear pension plan and real expertise are essential.

What Is A Retirement Fund?

Pension funds or retirement funds are plans or schemes which provide income during retirement. They are perfectly legal and provide expats with a retirement nest egg. Often, these pension funds are a company pension, i.e. due to an employer’s pension scheme, or even a state pension. However, not everyone will gain their pension savings through an employer. It is in cases like these that a financial adviser, financial planner or consultant, such as Infinity, comes in handy.

Some individuals utilized a tax efficient investment area as part of their retirement planning. If this type of retirement planning involves an offshore pension plan, more complicated factors come into play. Infinity will always ensure you receive advice that is applicable to your specific pension rights and income level, especially if expat pensions come into play.

To take full advantage of retirement in your golden years, discuss the following with your financial adviser:

– Your retirement goals

– Information about income tax, retirement savings, investment management

– Different accounts and retirement plans, such as public pensions versus private pensions

– Which benefits of your pension fund are available for spouses

– Whether to maintain health insurance

– Monthly pension contributions and investment solutions

– Benefits of an offshore pension plan or offshore investments

– Investment decisions like property purchase

– Whether or not to take your pension as a lump or entire sum

– Estimated monthly income of your portfolio

– How to make an investment portfolio less volatile

– Any plans for changing jobs before your retirement

 

Who Is Funding Your Retirement?

Identifying the primary party ultimately providing a pension fund plays a crucial role in how to approach retirement plans.

Public Pensions

A public pension involves the government of a particular country providing a tax break to motivate individuals to save for their retirement in their country of residence. Pension schemes vary between different countries and are known by various names. For example, pension schemes are referred to as Swiss State Pension in Switzerland and Basic State Pension in the United Kingdom.

It’s essential to do your research on the different schemes and tax breaks relevant to the country you wish to retire in. Understanding your pension rights could help you greatly, and Infinity can provide you with all the information you need to make informed decisions.

Company Pension Plans

It is common practice for expats to change jobs and frequently change their country of residence accordingly. Although this is advantageous in many respects, it may also interfere with forming coherent financial plans. The risk of losing your company pension is a true threat in these cases.

Some countries utilize external funds, so their employees to prevent them from losing their money in other countries. Countries with the most favorable tax advantages are usually preferred as a base country.

However, other companies may not take such provisions, and you will have to do thorough research on the matter before you invest if you plan to change jobs, or you may lose track of all the contributions to your pension you have made over the years.

Personal pension plans

In the past, people counted on their employer’s pension plan to provide the majority of their retirement nest egg. However, these days people are responsible for saving throughout their lives to secure their retirement planning.

A personal pension plan is one way to generate an income for yourself after your working years. Depending or where you pay tax, state provision may include tax relief on pension savings, but this is not always the case in many countries.

International savings accounts

An international savings account is a great way to supplement your pension plans before you retire to ensure you never reach a point where you can no longer afford to live a comfortable life.

Despite international bank accounts having a questionable reputation due to fraudulent activity regarding tax evasion, they present honest financial benefits if managed correctly. More so than many domestic banking systems provide for expats.

A significant advantage of such a bank account relates to investment. Whether you wish to pursue an offshore investment or simply invest in the same place you will retire, you will, nevertheless have the opportunity to invest outside of your home country.

Why Is Financial Planning For Pension Funds Important?

Retirement is one of the most important chapters of expat life. However, many people simply do not know where to even begin their retirement planning, they are not familiar with retirement planning requirements, or they don’t consider the fact that they would need to make their pension plans long before they reach retirement age. However, managing pension schemes and pension planning is crucial to having a comfortable retirement.

Financial Security

Retirement can last much longer than you expect. Consider a person who retires at the age of 65, but lives to the age of 90. That would mean 25 years of retirement, which need to be funded by pension savings. Essentially, enough money needs to be available to enable seniors to enjoy life without unnecessary financial stress due to inadequate pension plans. There is a myriad of factors that could impact your financial security, and some of these factors are things that many expats who retire abroad may not consider initially. In order to retire comfortably, most expats would need to take these into consideration long before reaching retirement age.

Less Stress

There are many health problems and risks associated with high levels of stress. Worrying about things like money can take a serious toll on your physical health, and this kind of stress can lead to things like heart disease, diabetes, migraines, and sleep deprivation. It can even go as far as to cause anxiety or depression.

Therefore, proper retirement planning for expats is conducive to not only financial security but overall wellness.

Infinity has the ability to relieve a great deal of the anxiety associated with retirement planning by ensuring your pensions are managed correctly.

Taxes

Unfortunately, most expats would need to pay tax during their retirement. But taxes themselves can take a large percentage of your retirement savings, no matter how early you start saving. This is another reason why having a clear retirement plan is so vital because, without tax efficiency, you could end up losing more of your income than what you gain.

Regular savings and a successful tax strategy need to begin during the working years. Enlisting the help of multinational firms, such as Infinity Solutions, and knowing what there is to know about tax relief, can also be of help where taxes are concerned.

Better Decisions

No matter where you retire, whether that is in your country of residence or joining the retired expat community in a foreign country, having a clear plan for your retirement savings will help you make better financial decisions during your working years- and do so with confidence.

Early Retirement

Some people are forced to retire early, leaving work with a much smaller pension pot than expected. This can be a daunting and stressful experience. However, this is something that could form part of your retirement planning from the get go. And when you have made the necessary plans and arrangements, retirement at an early stage won’t be such a scary experience.

Family

Financial stress in a relationship is one of the most common causes for divorce, and in most countries, a lot of young people are simultaneously looking after themselves and their parents financially. Successful financial planning for your retirement could help you maintain healthier family relationships.

Charity

Successful retirement planning can also help you continue charitable giving if this is something you enjoy doing, as this is something you could include in your financial plan.

How Infinity Helps You

Our approach starts with a detailed report that takes clients’ existing circumstances into consideration – along with their plans, their attitude to risk – and that all-important target retirement date.

Along with income levels and geographical location, retirement objectives can change. That’s why we create flexible plans that can adapt as life changes.

As you’d expect, we have access to an extensive range of pension wrappers from some of the world’s leading providers – as well as the knowledge and expertise to advise you on the most suitable investment funds within them. Our pension planning services are available across the Asia region and we can help you get the retirement solution that best suits your needs.

Our financial advisers also conduct regular reviews – a vital part of keeping plans on track.

We can help you achieve the secure retirement you want!