It is all about the planning, solutions, implementation and continuing support (PSIC). 

We take as long as is necessary to understand your situation and listen to your hopes and plans for the future. It is time well spent because to be effective for you, we work to understand first, which then guides the process for your planning.  In fact it governs how you and your adviser approach each step in our PSIC process..

So, why do wealthy expatriates become clients of The Spectrum IFA Group in Spain?

• Secure document exchange and secure email
• We take into account your views, especially in your approach to risk
• We look forward, not just backwards at past performance
• Cashflow modelling allows you to see what your financial future could look like and includes a “What if” function to allow you to see potential outcomes before you commit to a decision
• Investment portfolios are built according to your individual objectives, using a discretionary fund manager if appropriate. Historic performance data from 1990 to 2023 is used for reliable and realistic cashflow forecasting
• When you become a client of The Spectrum IFA Group in Spain, we take into account the impact of the following in our planning and investment recommendations: Wealth tax, Income tax, Capital gains tax, Inheritance tax, Gift tax, Property tax and how to mitigate the impact of these taxes
• We plan across generations
• We understand both UK and Spanish taxes, how they work together and where they conflict, to help with cross-border tax planning
• Our assistance has included planning leading up to and post business sales, structuring share option vesting, managing property sale proceeds, investment of lottery/premium bond wins and gifts and advice for adult children of clients.
• Ongoing service which follows a clear process to ensure long-term planning remains fully aligned with your circumstances
• The Spectrum IFA Group has been advising in Spain for 23 years. We currently have 17 advisers across the group who have been with us continuously for 20 years or more
• Additional tax guidance and reporting – in Catalonia I work with only two firms of tax lawyers after vetting dozens.
• I call on the support of a specialist Visa lawyer to advise on and apply for visas
• We have a specialist mortgage service within the group – Spectrum International Mortgages is a mortgage broker in Spain with extensive experience handling high value transactions. A search of one estate agent’s offering in the area around S’Agaro, Costa Brava, shows the following available properties:

– 31 over €1M
– 13 over €2M
– 7 over €3M
– 3 over €4M
– 1 over €5M
– 1 over €6M
– 2 over €7M
– 1 over €8M
– 6 with Price by Request

• Our mortgage solutions are available as a stand alone service or as part of our PSIC process – the PSIC process itself is best suited to clients with €500,000 or more to invest

If this is how you want your planning to be managed, book an initial call directly with Barry Davys, at a time that is convenient for you, using his online service. You will be offered the choice of a phone call or a video call when choosing your time.

Are you planning to relocate to Spain and don’t know where to start? Are you a Spanish national thinking of coming back to Spain after more than 5 years in the UK?

Barry Davys was a guest with the Spanish Chamber of Commerce alongside Kle&Vera – the international law firm, in the UK for a recent webinar on Relocating to Spain & the Financial Insights.

You can watch part of this webinar below:

If you have any questions after watching the video or would like to talk to Barry, please use the online calendar booking system to choose a time that suits you.

Ever feel like your wallet has a mind of its own? You set out to save, but somehow end up splurging on that fancy coffee machine or the latest gadget. Let’s delve into the psychological phenomenon known as behavioural confirmation and see how it might be influencing your financial decisions.

What Is Behavioural Confirmation?

Behavioural confirmation is a type of self-fulfilling prophecy where our expectations about others lead them to behave in ways that confirm those expectations. In the realm of personal finance, this can manifest when we project our beliefs onto our spending habits, leading to outcomes that align with those beliefs—even if they’re detrimental.

Spending Habits: The Self-Fulfilling Cycle

Imagine believing you’re terrible at budgeting. This belief might cause you to avoid tracking expenses, leading to overspending, which then reinforces your initial belief. It’s a vicious cycle where your expectations shape your behavior, confirming your original assumption.

Similarly, if you think you’re a savvy investor, you might take on riskier investments without proper research, leading to potential losses that challenge your self-perception.

Investments: Confidence vs. Overconfidence

Believing in your investment prowess is great, but overconfidence can be costly. You might ignore warning signs or dismiss advice, thinking you know best. This can lead to poor investment choices, reinforcing the belief that the market is unpredictable, rather than acknowledging personal missteps.

Imagine believing you’re the next Warren Buffett after a couple of successful trades. This mindset, while empowering, can sometimes lead investors astray. Overconfidence bias is a well-documented phenomenon in Behavioural finance, where individuals overestimate their knowledge, underestimate risks, and exaggerate their ability to create returns.

Initial Success: An investor experiences early gains, attributing success solely to personal skill.

1. Increased Risk-Taking: Buoyed by confidence, the investor undertakes riskier investments without thorough analysis.
2. Neglecting Diversification: Believing in their ability to pick winners, the investor concentrates holdings, ignoring the benefits of a diversified portfolio.
3. Ignoring Contradictory Information: The investor dismisses data or advice that challenges their beliefs, leading to potential blind spots.
4. Potential Losses: Without proper risk assessment and diversification, the investor becomes vulnerable to market downturns, leading to significant losses.

Real-World Implications

• Excessive Trading: Overconfident investors often trade more frequently, incurring higher transaction costs and taxes, which can erode returns.
• Underestimating Risks: Believing they can predict market movements, these investors may overlook potential pitfalls, leading to investments in volatile or unsuitable assets.
• Confirmation Bias: Overconfident individuals tend to seek information that supports their views, ignoring evidence to the contrary, which can reinforce poor investment choices.

Mitigating Overconfidence

• Seek Diverse Perspectives: Engage with financial advisors or peers to gain different viewpoints and challenge personal assumptions.
• Implement Checklists: Before making investment decisions, use a checklist to ensure all factors, including risks and alternatives, are considered.
• Embrace Humility: Recognize the limits of personal knowledge and remain open to learning and adapting strategies.

Think of your financial beliefs as that friend who insists they’re bad at directions. Every time they get lost, they say, “See? I told you!” But maybe, just maybe, if they used a map or GPS, they’d find their way. Similarly, by challenging our financial self-perceptions and seeking guidance, we can navigate towards better financial health.

At the Spectrum IFA Group we can help you by being your GPS through the financial world and design your bespoke road map to make sure we you get to where you want to go.

Happy (Almost) Summer, everyone!

So far this year, the weather has been very unusual, to say the least. Hopefully, things will start to feel a bit more normal soon – which brings me nicely to the financial world, which has been anything but normal! Sometimes it feels like many of us are just pawns in the game that very powerful people play.

In my world, however, many of these ‘games’ are understandable from a financial perspective, and we don’t panic. Instead, we factor in all scenarios and focus on the medium- to long-term goals for our clients.

This month, I’ve put myself in my readers’ shoes and asked:

“What financial planning should I be doing while living in Spain?”

Whether you’re new to Spain (generally considered to be less than three years) or well-established, it’s important to stay financially organised and understand what actions you need to take.

Living abroad as an expatriate requires thoughtful financial planning to navigate both Spanish and international financial systems. Here are the key areas to consider:

1. Understand Tax Residency and Obligations
In Spain, spending over 183 days within a calendar year establishes you as a tax resident, meaning your worldwide income and assets may be subject to Spanish taxation. It’s crucial to understand the rules around tax residency to avoid unexpected liabilities.

2. Strategise Property Sales and Investments
If you own property in your home country, consider carefully when to sell. Selling property in the same tax year you become a Spanish resident can lead to significant capital gains taxes. Planning the sale before relocating may help mitigate this issue.

3. Establish a Comprehensive Estate Plan
Creating a Will that covers both your home country and Spain is essential to ensure your assets are distributed according to your wishes. It’s wise to consult with advisers experienced in cross-border estate planning to navigate the complexities.

4. Optimise Currency Management
Managing currency exchange efficiently can help minimise losses due to fluctuating exchange rates. Consider using multi-currency accounts or international banking services to provide greater flexibility and cost savings.

5. Savings, Investments & Pension Planning
Ensure these are structured to reduce future tax liabilities—whether that’s for withdrawals, passing assets to your spouse or children, or aligning with your investment expectations (e.g., risk/reward balance). Most importantly, work with someone you trust to help manage these assets.

6. Consult with Experts
Whatever your budget, make sure you work with a recommended lawyer, tax adviser, accountant, and financial adviser. In Spain, you are considered guilty until proven innocent, and it can take years to resolve legal issues—during which your bank accounts or assets may be frozen. Many expats are unaware of this, especially if they come from countries where the opposite presumption applies.

7. Use Your Life Experience
When choosing the right advisers, trust your gut—or your “spider senses,” as I like to call them. You’ve built up intuition through life experience, and more often than not, it’s spot on.

Engaging with financial advisers who specialise in expatriate services can provide tailored guidance on investment strategy, tax planning, and navigating financial matters in both Spain and your home country.

By proactively addressing these areas, you can establish a solid financial foundation for your life in Spain – ensuring both compliance with local regulations and alignment with your long-term goals.

I’m here to help you get organised and take those financial worries away. If you’d like to discuss any of the topics above in more detail, or would like an initial consultation to explore your personal situation, you can do so here.

Click here to read independent reviews on Chris and his advice.

How It’s Impacting Investors and What’s Driving It

In today’s economic rollercoaster, market volatility has become a feature, not a bug. Thanks to inflation, interest rates, and politicians who change their stance more often than they change their ties, investors are left riding waves of uncertainty

What Is Market Volatility?

Market volatility refers to how wildly asset prices swing around. It’s measured with stats like standard deviation or the VIX—aka the “fear index.” When VIX is high, it means traders are about as calm as a cat in a bathtub.

Think of volatility like a political debate: a lot of shouting, some overreactions, and nobody quite sure what the outcome will be—but everyone’s got an opinion.

How Volatility Is Affecting Buyers

1. Increased Risk Aversion

When markets get shaky, investors run for the hills—or more precisely, into gold, bonds, or the financial equivalent of curling up under a blanket and binge-watching Netflix: cash. It’s not that they don’t want to invest; it’s just hard to focus on stocks when the economy’s behaving like a budget committee after three espressos.

2. Short-Term Focus and Emotional Decisions

High volatility often leads to panic selling and FOMO buying—essentially the investment version of speed-dating your portfolio. One bad news headline and people dump their assets faster than a politician deletes tweets after a scandal.

3. Greater Demand for Diversification and Alternatives

With public markets swinging like a metronome at a concert, investors are looking elsewhere: real estate, private equity, and alternatives that don’t fluctuate every time a central banker clears their throat.

Alternative strategies are basically the Switzerland of investing—neutral, quiet, and generally unaffected by the chaos going on next door.

4. Hesitation in Major Life Investments

When markets are turbulent, people freeze. Buying a house. Starting a business. Investing in that avocado farm you saw on Instagram?! Better wait until the economy isn’t throwing daily tantrums like it’s on a sugar high.

Inflation and Central Bank Policy

Central banks are trying to tame inflation with interest rate hikes—kind of like trying to put out a grease fire by hitting it with a calculator. Every time Jerome Powell or Christine Lagarde so much as raise an eyebrow, markets react like they just heard tax hikes are back on the menu.

Recession Fears

Recessions, Soft landings, Hard landings… No landing? At this point, the economy is basically being piloted by someone reading the instruction manual upside down. With mixed signals and conflicting forecasts, markets are responding like passengers on a turbulent flight—fastening their seatbelts and ordering strong drinks.

Tech and Social Media Hype

Social media has turned investing into part-time entertainment. Between Reddit-fueled pump-and-dumps and influencers recommending crypto in between smoothie recipes, market swings have become more meme than metric. Add algorithmic trading and you’ve got a digital casino with fewer rules and more drama than the House of Commons.

Earnings Uncertainty

Earnings season now feels like a bad date—lots of build-up, dramatic reveals, and someone always ends up disappointed. With rising costs and unpredictable demand, analysts are doing more guesswork than polling firms during a leadership race.