Quote:
Originally Posted by Guvernator
My plan which I have already made headway into is to diversify, don't want to go into too much detail but the ultimate goal is to move my wealth abroad to a country where they have a much more positive attitude to wealth and taxation thereof and also where your money goes a lot further. Properties abroad is the direction I'm heading, want to sort out a nice place for me and my family to live and a few more to bring in some rental income and I'll be set.
I'll pop back to the UK from time to time for shopping trips and visits but I don't plan on living out my old age in a country which has one of the highest costs of living in the world and who insist on taxing you to the hilt throughout your working life and then taxing you again when you retire and then even after you die through inheritance tax, they can f*ck right off.
As stated before, I am taking positive action to plan my OWN financial future on my own terms, not relying on some pension pot which may or may not even deliver what I want dependent on the whims of a government who don't know how to plan for the financial stability\future of this country.
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With the utmost respect, I would point out that a lot of UK residents have already tried something similar to what you're suggesting and many came unstuck. Anyone investing in Cypress, Greece, Spain, Portugal, Ireland, the new EU Member States or US property and real estate has seen massive hits to their portfolios, some of which may take up to a decade or more to recover. There's no doubt that there are now some very interesting properties available for relatively small money, but that doesn't guarantee a return necessarily.
Points to watch with such a strategy include;
1. Currency fluctuation risk....can really hurt when currency shifts 20 or more percent the wrong way
2. Property taxes for non-Doms...often targeted by Governments because doing so is very popular with voters
3. Forex laws....related to the repatriation of capital....often easy to move capital in but not back out of many countries
4. UK tax liability....UK residents are typically liable for tax on foreign earnings. And if there's no tax treaty then double taxation is a real possibility
5. Social laws regulating property rental....it can be a real problem in some countries if a tennant loses their job or becomes infirm. and can't pay the rent.
6. Contractual obligations; for example remediation of environmental issues
7. Ownership issues.....ownership in many former East European Countries for example is still a contentious subject.
7. Loss of tax shelters at source....very often its not how much you earn but how much you've managed to shelter from tax that makes the difference.
While far from being an expert, I've lived and owned several houses abroad, so know something about that which I speak.