Comment prendre sa retraite à 50 ans?

By Cedric Privat
This article is published on: 30th September 2020

30.09.20

Qui n’a pas rêvé un jour de pouvoir arrêter de travailler avant l’âge légal de la retraite? 50, 40, 30 ans? Et si ce rêve était réalisable?

La question peut faire sourire, surtout si vous résidez comme moi en Espagne à Barcelone, avec un prix de l’immobilier exorbitant et des salaires souvent moins élevés qu’en France.
Pourtant, de plus en plus de personnes y arrivent, alors pourquoi pas vous?

Le Frugalisme :
Le mouvement FIRE (Financial Independance, Retire Early), né aux Etats-Unis dans les années 2000, défend le principe de vivre simplement et de faire fructifier son argent pour pouvoir vivre de ses rentes.
Il s’inscrit dans un mouvement économiste du Frugalisme “Qui se nourrit de peu, qui vit d’une manière simple.” (Larousse)
Pourquoi ne pas s’en inspirer?

Comment?
• Économiser : s’acquitter de toute dette (surtout celle de votre bien immobilier), réduire son train de vie, éliminer les frais superflus, supprimer certains loisirs, épargner davantage dès le 1er du mois.
• Définir un budget : il sera indispensable de bien calculer vos besoins mensuels afin de définir votre patrimoine retraite et ainsi fixer votre objectif.
• Investir : en plus de votre résidence principale vous devrez investir judicieusement l’argent épargné dans des placements financiers, des actions ou de l’immobilier.

Les frugalistes suivent une « règle d’or » dite des 4% : disposer d’un patrimoine au moins 25 fois supérieurs au montant de ses dépenses annuelles. Si elles s’élèvent à 2.000 euros par mois, il faudra par exemple un patrimoine de 600.000 euros, permettant de vivre des 4% de rendement généré.

Quand commencer?
Bien évidemment, le plus tôt possible. Une retraite anticipée deviendra vite un rêve oublié si on débute trop tard, mais tout dépendra également de votre implication à la cause.
Les nouvelles générations se soucient de plus en plus tôt de leur retraite et pour cause; les prévisions des pensions publiques de retraite sont à la baisse et l’âge légal de départ à la retraite ne fait qu’augmenter.
Le frugalisme demandera une forte réduction de vos dépenses, il est souvent accompagné par une conscience écologique afin de se tourner vers un mode de vie décent et responsable.
Nos sociétés capitalistes amènent de plus en plus les individus à se poser des questions sur le rapport qu’ils ont à l’argent et au travail.

Qui peut appliquer cette méthode ?
Bien évidemment, toute retraite anticipée sera plus facilement accessible aux classes moyennes et supérieures. Pour beaucoup, il est déjà suffisamment compliqué de mettre un peu d’argent de côté.
Une recherche Google rapide vous permettra de lire les expériences de nombreux “jeunes retraités” à travers le globe.
Les méthodes divergent, mais la discipline est de rigueur. Certains retournent vivre chez leurs parents quelques années et économisent 70 % de leur salaire, d’autres travaillent pendant 10 ou 15 ans à un rythme à la limite du soutenable, certains vont compter des années chaque centime possible et enfin les plus privilégiés qui reçoivent un salaire confortable vont tout simplement faire plus attention, s’organiser et investir malin.

Cette méthode vous intéresse mais vous vous posez des questions ?

N’hésitez pas à prendre conseil auprès de professionnels à votre écoute.

Le groupe Spectrum à Barcelone vous propose d’effectuer un audit sans frais ni engagement afin de mieux vous organiser dans la préparation de votre retraite, anticipée ou non.

Nous vous aiderons ensuite à comparer et choisir le placement financier le mieux adapté à votre situation et préférence.

Which Assurance Vie is best?

By Katriona Murray-Platon
This article is published on: 7th September 2020

In answer to the question of where do you put your money for maximum tax efficiency, an assurance vie is certainly the best place to put it. The French have continued to favour this investment over the years. According to the French Insurance Federation (FFA), in 2019 the premiums paid into assurance vies increased by 3.5% in 2018, to a total of €144.6 billion. I subscribe to a French financial magazine and every year they do an article on the best assurance vies in the market. This gives me an interesting insight into which products are recommended for the typical French investor.

What is interesting to note is that it is very rare for bank assurance vies to appear in this list. Banks have several assurance vie products under different names with different offers and it can be hard for the consumer to understand and compare performance and costs. Every member of my household, including my children, has an assurance vie, because even after social charges on the part in Euro funds, they are more likely to outperform any cash savings accounts. For example, the Livret A (the preferred savings account of the French) and the LDDS now only pay 0.5% interest per year and any other savings account offered by banks only generally offer between 0.2-0.3% interest which is not exempt from tax and social charges.

The French tend to favour investments in Eurofunds, believing them to be a safe option. Whilst this may be true if the investment horizon is less than three years, in the longer term inflation has a negative effect. The days of glory of the Eurofunds was around 2013-2014 when rates reached 2.5%. In 2019 the average rate on Eurofunds was 1.5% compared with 1.8% (net of fees) in 2018. However when compared with inflation, which was 1.8% in 2018 and 1.1% in 2019, there wasn’t much ‘real’ growth. Social charges are taken at source on such investments which further impacts performance. If your investment horizon is over three years and closer to between five and eight years then you should be investing at least partly in equities to produce a positive return above inflation. If it’s security you are looking for, the more diversified your assets, both in terms of asset classes and geographical location, the better your portfolio will be to weather market fluctuations.

The advantage with bank assurance vies is that you can start with smaller amounts to invest and build up with regular monthly amounts. However as a financial adviser with a high level of French, even I find it difficult to understand what exactly is in these assurance vies and where the underlying investments are held. Usually you are given the option of eurofunds and euro equities. It is rarely possible to hold assets in a different currency. We work with assurance vie providers who can allow you to hold assets in sterling and dollars as well as euros, which would allow you to leave this money to beneficiaries living in the UK or the US and avoid transferring the money into euros at today’s exchange rate. If you wanted to invest in euros but are holding sterling, over time it can be switched into euro funds at the appropriate time and with advice from your financial adviser.

It is not easy to change assurance vies. The French government changed the rules at the beginning of last year allowing people to change contracts but only with the same insurer. However this depends on whether the insurer will allow you to change contracts and whether they have anything better to offer.

If you are in your 40s, 50s or 60s and your investment horizon is longer than eight years, and if you find that your assurance vie is not performing as it should, or you no longer get the proper advice/service from your financial adviser/assurance vie provider, you could consider encashing the policy and finding a better investment. Professional guidance from an authorised financial adviser is essential to determine whether this this option is appropriate for your circumstances.

If however you are over 70 and set up the assurance vie before 70, or you set up the assurance vie over eight years ago and are benefitting from the income tax abatements of €4600 per person (€9200) per couple, it may not be in your interest to change assurance vie providers. There are still many benefits of setting up a small assurance vie after 70 to benefit from other abatements, but that will depend on your situation and you should discuss options with your financial adviser.

I would always advise speaking to a financial adviser before going into any investment whether French or foreign. You need to be aware of the past performance of the investment (although this is no promise of future returns), the reputation of the investment company and the costs and how this may affect investment performance. For more information about assurance vies in general please see our guide but if you are considering this type of investment please do contact your local financial adviser.

There is more to (investment) life than the FTSE100

By John Hayward
This article is published on: 2nd September 2020

02.09.20

Dependence on the UK stockmarket has damaged wealth

In the last 5 months, life has not been easy. We have all had to change our lifestyles to one extent or another and we don´t know exactly what lengths we will need to go to in order to remain safe. Hopefully the worst has passed and we can get back to thinking about our future in a positive way and not have to constantly worry about coronavirus.

Aside from the pain of having to wear a mask, in the last 5 months I have had concerns about work, I have learned new words and phrases linked to coronavirus, and I have obtained a new Spanish residence card. Certain things have not changed during this time. People read the same newspapers, watch the same television programmes, express their disdain for Donald Trump, and base their investment decisions on the performance of the FTSE100.

New investment trends

Whilst certain business sectors have suffered over the last few months, others have prospered and have a positive outlook. Technology has come to the fore, both in terms of purchasing goods and communication.

Investments and the FTSE100

Aside from the investment vehicle and the tax structure your investments and pension funds are held within, it is important that the investments themselves are well managed. Some people have held off investing through fear of coronavirus. There are also those who had previously delayed investment decisions until Brexit had been sorted out. The consequence of this has been that they have missed out on growth over the last 5 years, even with the downturn in March/April, as well as suffering from the real loss through inflation if they have left their cash in the bank.

Most UK nationals refer to the FTSE100 to find out what is happening with stockmarkets. This is mainly due to it being the one we, as followers of British financial news, are most familiar with. The FTSE100 has been lagging behind global stockmarkets in the last few months. However, the FTSE100, the index of the top 100 companies in the UK, only represents a small percentage of global stockmarkets. Almost 40% of the 100 are banks/financial, oil/energy and consumer staples which include retailers. All of these sectors have been hit by coronavirus. It is overweight in certain sectors and, although they are all big companies, their recent losses are reflected in the movement of the index. Banks especially have had a rough time. Therefore, it is far from being a stockmarket index which represents all global markets and sectors. I appreciate that it is an indicator, but it shouldn´t be used as a decision maker.

You will see from the chart below that by referring to, or even relying upon, the performance of the FTSE100 in order to make investment decisions could have been a mistake. It compares the FTSE100 with the US S&P500 and Nasdaq, and Japan´s Nikkei. The chart runs from the start of 2020. The FTSE100 is D, the blue line.

Not only has it been important to be aware of global stockmarket performance, but there are other sectors and assets to invest in. For example, gold, that was not immune to the panic in March, has shown itself to be in demand as a safe haven.

Well managed investment portfolios

I am pleased to say that all my invested clients are better off now than they were at the end of March. The most pleasing thing is that not only did they suffer relatively low falls in March but now many have made a complete recovery. We do not push people towards FTSE100 tracker funds. They may be cheaper but that is because there is little or no management. As is often the case, cheapest is not the best.

Conclusion

Active investment management has proven itself to be the best approach, certainly in problematic times. We recommend investment managers who are able to access global shares and other assets. They can buy and sell on a daily basis and not commit you to funds that can become restricted or illiquid. Many of my clients have been pleasantly surprised by the “bounce” of their investment value since March. The FTSE100 has struggled and it has been assumed that this is the case generally. They are also surprised how the United States stockmarkets, with all of the Trump and election issues, have done so well. At times there seems little or no correlation between day to day life and stockmarket performance. In fact, history has taught us that when there is panic and depression, stockmarkets tend to do well.

Over the next few weeks I shall be publishing more articles, so stay tuned:
• The expense of using your bank for insurances
• Life insurance for general living expenses and Spanish inheritance tax
• Currency exchange – your ‘free’ facility could be costing you thousands
• Applying for the new TIE – not compulsory for some but could be beneficial

With investments, there are plans that I can recommend that are clear to understand and tax efficient, and I explain the full details before you commit. The Spectrum IFA Group is not tied to any one company and I can offer you independent, impartial advice and guidance.

Contact me today to find out how I can help you make more from your money, protecting your income streams against inflation and low interest rates, or for any other financial and tax planning information, at john.hayward@spectrum-ifa.com or call or WhatsApp (+34) 618 204 731.

Living in Spain after BREXIT

By Chris Burke
This article is published on: 27th August 2020

27.08.20

After the results from the UK’s General Election, it seems we are closer to Brexit than ever before, so are you prepared for it living in Spain?

Documentation to remain in Spain

There are many rumours among non-Spanish people of what you need to do to stay in Spain should Brexit happen. The response from the Council recently has been, should you hold a NIE and an Empadronamiento, you are proving you are resident in Spain, so for now these should suffice. However, if Brexit does go ahead, Spain could draw a ‘Stay in Spain’ line in the sand which would then need adhering to. In the worst case scenario, a renewable 90-day tourist visa would give you time to adhere to whatever the new rules are. Spain has said publicly it will reciprocate what the UK does, and the UK knows there are far more British people living in Spain than the other way around in the UK.

UK Private and Corporate Pensions

The current HMRC rules state that if you take advantage of moving your UK pension abroad it must be to either where you are resident OR in the EU (due to the UK being in the EU). If this is not the case, you would have to pay 25% tax on the pension amount. Therefore, it is very likely that as the UK would be leaving the EU, these rules would not be met and the 25% tax charge would start to apply to pension movements outside of the UK. This could be the last chance to evaluate whether it’s better for you to move your pension or not and take advantage of the potential benefits, including being outside of UK law and taxes.

National Insurance Contributions

If you were to start receiving your State pension now, you would approach the Spanish authorities and they would contact the UK for their part of the contribution, taking both into account. Before the UK joined the EU, you would contact each country individually and receive what they were due to pay you. If this becomes the case again, for many British people the UK part of their State pension would potentially be more important, as it is likely to be the bulk of what you receive. We don’t know how Spain will act with regard to state pension benefits to foreigners; therefore it would make sense to manage the UK element well if this is your largest subscription.

I recommend two things here; firstly check what you have in the UK so you know where you are. You can do that here:

https://www.gov.uk/check-national-insurance-record

You can contact the HMRC about contributing overseas voluntary contributions at a greatly discounted rate, from £11 a month: you can even buy ‘years’ to catch up:

https://www.gov.uk/voluntary-national-insurance-contributions/who-can-pay-voluntary-contributions

I have mentioned this in Newsletters before, but it really is a great thing to do, both mathematically and for peace of mind. Many people I meet living away from the UK have ‘broken’ years of contributions which is leaving themselves open to problems in retirement.

TIP: If you have an NI number, you do not necessarily have to be British to do this.

Investments/stocks/shares/savings

Time apportionment relief

Statistically, in 75% of British expat couples living abroad, at least one of them will return to live in the UK. It remains to be seen whether this changes if the UK leaves the EU, however, you can easily save yourself some serious tax if you have this in your plan of eventualities.

You can, in effect, give yourself 5% tax relief for every year you spend outside the UK by positioning your investments/savings correctly. Then, upon your return, you can take this tax relief when you are ready, such as in the following example:

Mr and Mrs Brown invested £200,000 ten years ago when they were living in Spain.
After this time, it is now worth £300,000
They returned to the UK and have been resident there for the last year (365 days)

They decide, after being back in the UK for 1 year (365 days) to cash in the investment, taking advantage of ‘Time Apportionment Relief’ which will be calculated the following way:

£100,000 (total gain)
multiplied by the number of days in the UK (365)
divided by total number of days the investments have been running i.e. 10 years (3650 days)

Resulting in a £10,000 chargeable gain (that is what you declare, not the tax you pay).

There are other potential tax savings as well, but they depend on other circumstances. If you have your savings/investments set up the right way you can take advantage of this.

If you have any questions or would like to book a financial review, don’t hesitate to get in touch.

Tax break for pensioners moving to Italy

By Andrew Lawford
This article is published on: 14th August 2020

Anyone like the sound of living in Italy and paying only 7% tax?

Generally speaking, if you are contemplating the move to Italy you will be thinking about many things, but saving on your tax probably isn’t one of them. So let me give you a nice surprise: if you are in the happy situation of being a pensioner considering moving to Italy, 7% tax on your income is possible, subject to a few rules, for the first 10 years of your residency in the bel paese.

This all came about in 2019’s budget and had the aim of encouraging people to move to underpopulated areas of Italy. Initially, the rules were that you had to take up residency in a town with fewer than 20,000 inhabitants in one of the following regions: Abruzzo, Basilicata, Calabria, Campania, Molise, Puglia, Sardinia or Sicily. Subsequently, the criteria were extended to include towns in the regions of Lazio, Le Marche and Umbria that had suffered earthquake damage and which have fewer than 3,000 inhabitants.

Of course, being Italy, something had to be difficult in all of this, and indeed the law makes reference not to a list of towns but instead tells you to look at ISTAT data (ISTAT is the Italian statistical institute) for the population levels on 1st January in the year prior to when you first exercise the option.

Given the difficulty in finding out exactly which towns would be covered by this rule, I delved into the ISTAT data and also dug out the relevant references to earthquake-struck towns with fewer than 3,000 inhabitants in the other regions mentioned above. I have put all of this in an Excel file which gives a list of towns eligible for the

pensioners’ tax break in Italy divided by region and then further by province, so that you have a rough geographical guide as to the areas you could consider moving to Italy.

As I was sifting through the ISTAT data it suddenly dawned on me that if the cut-off is 20,000 inhabitants, then almost the whole of Southern Italy is eligible for this 7% regime, and you can include in that some truly delightful places such as Vieste in the Gargano (Puglia), or even the island of Pantelleria. This is possible because Italy is divided up into municipal areas that sometimes have more feline than human inhabitants. Obviously, if you are looking for raucous nightlife then you are likely to be disappointed by what is on offer, but if, on the other hand, you like the idea of not having too many people around, then you could do worse than the town of Castelverrino in Molise (population 102) or Carapelle Calvisio in Abruzzo (population 85). Perhaps one day you could even become mayor.

Flat Tax Regime

This new flat-tax regime comes amid a move by a number of European countries to attract pensioners to their shores. Portugal offered a period of exemption on income tax for foreigners (the benefits of which they are now reducing) and Greece has recently announced the intention to offer a 7% flat tax on foreign-source income for pensioners (I wonder where they got that idea from?), which is also promised for 10 years. There is some discussion about the fact that the EU is not generally well-disposed towards these preferential tax regimes, which could lead to them being phased out in a relatively short period of time – so for those looking to make the most of them, time could truly be of the essence.

The great thing is that the 7% rule applies not only to your pension income, but can be applied across the board to any foreign-source income and there is also a substantial reduction in the complexity of the tax declarations that must be made. There are further tax-planning opportunities in all of this, because much will depend on whether you are planning on being a short-term or long-term resident of Italy.

As always, the devil is in the detail as far as tax and residency planning is concerned, and the year of transition when you first establish residency in Italy is key to setting yourself up in the most efficient manner.

So if the above sounds interesting, please get in touch and I would be happy to send you the list of eligible towns and discuss how the rules of the regime apply to your situation.

The folder…

By Chris Webb
This article is published on: 10th August 2020

10.08.20

I´ve been playing around with this article during the past few days, trying to fill in some spare time during the weeks of this long hot summer we have here in Spain. I realised quite quickly that writing things that will be of genuine interest could be quite hard so for this article I´ve decided to share with you what I personally am doing at home right now.

Considering some limitations of movement right now it would be a great time to give this some thought.

One piece of advice I always give to my clients is to prepare “THE FOLDER”. You´re immediately wondering what I´m going on about, let me enlighten you to what it is and why you should do it.

For me personally I am reviewing my folder and checking its updated. Interestingly I needed to refer to my folder yesterday and realised I still had some older information on there which isn’t relevant anymore, so tonight’s job is to review and update.

There are many scenarios where you´ll be thankful for making the folder. When I moved house two years ago I went straight to the folder and had all of the companies contact information as well as policies or account details which made informing them all much easier, on the flip side I´ve also lost a family member where finding their folder reduced the stress in dealing with their estate.

In moments of stress you find yourself trawling through endless pieces of paperwork to ascertain assets and account details, then you get that lightbulb moment…….. why wasn’t it all documented.

What is THE folder?
It is a single file (digital or physical) where you keep all your important personal and financial information together. It allows easy access to these documents if you’re no longer around to help. It is even more important to have it in place where one family member takes the lead on the family finances. That includes paying bills, managing accounts and storing documents.

As a family we decided to do both a physical folder and a digital folder. The digital folder is password protected, both me and the wife have access to this, and we have shared the password with close friends should anything happen to us. In the digital folder we have shared as much information as possible for all our assets.

For the physical folder it is vital to only list information that would not create a problem should that folder end up in the wrong hands. So, we have only listed the names, telephone numbers, policy / account numbers of all our assets in this folder. It would give enough information for someone to be able to deal with our affairs with minimum hassle.

Is it worth the effort?
Well, I think it is worth the effort. A time of loss can be stressful enough without having to try and piece together the deceased’s financial affairs. This can be a really difficult time for family members.

However, preparing THE folder is much more than avoiding stress; if you leave behind an administrative nightmare you could delay access to inheritors’ access to funds and potentially cost a small fortune in legal fees.

To give you an example of this, the UK Department of Work and Pensions estimate that there is currently more than £400 million sitting in unclaimed pensions pots in the UK. Imagine trying to find out if you have one.

Which is best physical or digital?
As I mentioned, we have done both and I believe most people would do the same. Some people still love to have information in physical form, something you can get your hands on. The younger generation tend to rely solely on digital devices. I don’t think it matters which way you do it, as long as you do it.

What goes in the folder?
Its essential to list what assets you have, where they are and important contact information for each asset. Keep copies of any insurance policy documents, pension statements etc. I have put a small list below which would help most of you, but you do need to look at all your assets individually to make sure the list is right!

Life insurance policy documents
Personal pension documents
Employer pension details
Details of any entitlement to state pensions
List of bank accounts with account numbers, login details, passwords etc
Details of any credit cards
Property, land and cemetery deeds
Proof of loans made
Vehicle ownership documents
Stock certificates, brokerage accounts, investment platform details, online investment account details
Details of holdings of premium bonds, government bonds, investment bonds
Partnership and corporate operating/ownership agreements (including offshore companies)

How often should ‘THE’ folder be reviewed?
I would recommend reviewing the folder on an annual basis, but if you’re extra diligent with it you should review and update every time something changes. For example, if you change insurance companies then add the new details and delete the old. This is a continuous job, its not something you do once and never look at again.

Finally…
Tell someone about your folder. Someone needs to know you have made one and whether it´s digital or physical. There is very little point going to all this effort if know body knows it exists.

Now I´m off to review my own folder, and it needs reviewing. I noticed yesterday that whilst my financial assets are up to date, I haven’t updated our vehicle details and a few other things which had gone unnoticed. Lets do this!

If you have any questions about creating your own folder feel free to reach out!

UK Inheritance Tax and Spanish Succession Tax

By Charles Hutchinson
This article is published on: 5th August 2020

Much has been written and said on this subject, particularly in many of a 19th hole. There is a fundamental difference between the two:

The UK Inheritance Tax is upon the deceased’s estate
The Spanish Succession Tax version is upon the inheritors

UK Inheritance Tax Liability is on the worldwide estate of the deceased and all global assets are assessed and ‘gathered together’ for the purpose of probate. Once fully quantified and valued, the tax is levied at a (current) rate of 40%. There is a nil rate band of (currently) £325,000 estate value below which no tax is payable. The tax has to be paid BEFORE the estate is distributed.

Spanish Succession Tax is payable on EITHER assets being located in Spain OR on global assets if the inheritor is a resident of Spain. If neither is the case, then there is no liability. If one or both is the case, then Spanish Succession Tax is payable by the inheritor(s) whether they be a resident or non resident of Spain.

There are some essential measures one can take to either mitigate or avoid these liabilities.

One of the best and most effective is the use of (Spanish compliant) investment bonds. In Spain for example, Succession Tax is payable on assets passing between spouses (this is unlike the UK where assets can pass between them untaxed). Where an investment bond is jointly owned, the deceased’s half can pass to the spouse untaxed.

An even greater advantage is that the bond can pass down the generations with the possibility of continuing investment growth free of both UK Inheritance Tax and Spanish Succession Tax. For as long as the policy holders and lives assured continue to be appointed, the bond will continue and each generation of policy holders can enjoy capital withdrawals on both a regular or intermittent basis. Thus all inheritance tax is avoided by an unlimited number of generations.

Furthermore, should a Spanish resident bond owner pass away and their beneficiaries are non residents of Spain, there would be no liability to Spanish Succession Tax because the bond is also domiciled outside of Spain (e.g. Dublin).

For the moment, Spanish Succession Tax in the region where I live (Andalucia) is virtually non existent. There is a €1m allowance between close family members, providing their individual existing wealth does not exceed that figure. The remaining assets are also liable to a 99% exemption.

These two taxes are the only ones not included in the UK/Spain Double Tax Treaty. However, there is an unwritten rule that if it has been paid in one country, then it will not be charged again by the other. To my certain knowledge, this informal agreement has always been observed.

For information and assistance with your inheritance planning, please contact me by completing the form below of email/call:
charles.hutchinson@spectrum-ifa.com
Tel:(+34) 952 79 79 23
Mobile: 605 903 472

How to avoid Spanish taxes on your UK property and investments

By John Hayward
This article is published on: 30th July 2020

30.07.20

Being tax resident in Spain is not your choice
once you have made the initial decision to move to Spain.

Generally, once you have spent 183 days (not necessarily consecutive) in Spain, you are deemed to be tax resident and have to declare income and assets to the Spanish tax office. The tax year in Spain runs from 1st January to 31st December. Unlike the UK, which works on a part tax year basis when someone leaves the UK, in Spain you are either tax resident for the whole year or you are not.

As soon as you know that you will be taking the step to eventually become tax resident in Spain, it is extremely important to make certain that you have arranged your investments and property(ies) in a way that isn´t going to open you up to unnecessary Spanish taxes.

A lot of people will be looking to become resident in Spain before Brexit on 31st December 2020, in case the process becomes more complicated after. However, for those who are worried that applying for a residence card will automatically make them tax resident, let me dispel this fear. It does not. Therefore, you have the opportunity to apply for a residence card whilst taking action to protect your assets free from Spanish tax for 2020, becoming tax resident in Spain in 2021.

UK Property & Tax in Spain

As a tax resident in Spain, a person has to declare all of their overseas assets (over certain levels) as well as the income from these assets. Anything sold, such as a property or investments (ISAs, shares, bonds, etc.), and even a lump sum from a pension which would be tax free in the UK, will be taxable in Spain and this is where there is a potential tax nightmare.

Our advice is usually to sell before becoming tax resident in Spain, if selling is feasible and practical. If you are eligible to take a tax free lump sum, do so before becoming tax resident in Spain. ISAs are also taxable in Spain and although there are ways to legally avoid taxes whilst holding this type of investment, things can become very complicated.

Let me make this clearer with examples of someone who has a UK property and sells it after becoming tax resident in Spain.

Example 1 – Property Purchase 1986

You move to Spain and become a permanent resident, and thus a tax resident, in Spain.
You own a property in the UK which has been your primary residence since you bought it in 1986.
As you have now moved to Spain, it is now a secondary property.
You bought it for £48,000. You are selling it for £600,000. As this is no longer your primary residence, Spanish capital gains tax is due on the sale.
Even with indexation (which only applies to pre-1994 purchases), the tax bill is over €50,000.

Example 2 – Property Purchase 2004

- You bought a property in the UK in 2004 for £150,000 and are selling it now for £250,000.
- The Spanish capital gains tax on the sale would be over €20,000.
- Unlike the UK, there are no capital gains tax allowances in Spain.

The same principle applies to shares, investment bonds, and ISAs.
You have to pay Spanish capital gains tax on the difference between what you paid for them and what you sell them for, again with some indexation for pre-1994 purchases.

Plan early: Before you move to Spain to help avoid Spanish Tax

You need to draw a line under your asset values now so that you can take advantage of the more beneficial capital gains and property tax rules in the UK and start afresh in Spain without the fear of unavoidable Spanish taxes in the future.

Contact me today to find out how we can help you make more from your money, protecting your income streams against inflation and low interest rates, or for any other financial and tax planning information, at john.hayward@spectrum-ifa.com or call or WhatsApp (+34) 618 204 731.

UK State Pension & Voluntary Contributions

By Paul Roberts
This article is published on: 24th July 2020

This guide is compiled to help you find out more about your UK state pension entitlement and explain how you can top-up your entitlement by making voluntary contributions.

Most of the leg-work can be done on-line using the HMRC sites.

The sites are a joy to navigate, so don’t be fearful! Let’s go.

• To get some general information about UK state pension entitlement / the amounts you will receive and how to claim it etc, click onto the following link;
https://www.gov.uk/new-state-pension

• To check when you will be entitled to receive your UK state pension, click onto the following link;
https://www.gov.uk/state-pension-age

• To check how much UK state pension you will get , you need to click onto the following link, https://www.tax.service.gov.uk/check-your-state-pension but before you can get onto that link; you need to open up a “government gateway account” by clicking on this link and following the instructions;
https://www.access.service.gov.uk/registration/email

….and to set up the government gateway above you will need your National insurance number, your mobile phone and your passport to hand. It is a straightforward process. Once you are set-up you will be given a password, a user ID which in conjunction with an access number, given via your mobile phone, allows you to access your HMRC data and check your state pension entitlements by clicking onto;
https://www.tax.service.gov.uk/check-your-state-pension

• If you can’t remember what your National Insurance Number is then click on the following link;
https://www.gov.uk/lost-national-insurance-number

Your UK Pension entitlement depends on how many years of national contributions you have made

To see the exact number of years that you have contributed, click here;
https://www.gov.uk/check-national-insurance-record

If you want to investigate how to fill in the gaps by making voluntary national contributions (and this is the interesting bit) then click onto the following link;

https://www.gov.uk/voluntary-national-insurance-contributions/who-can-pay-voluntary-contributions

You can make top up by paying Class 2 NIC’s very inexpensively; provided you meet the conditions:

If you scroll down on https://www.gov.uk/voluntary-national-insurance-contributions/who-can-pay-voluntary-contributions – to living and working abroad you will see the following information;

Voluntary_National_Insurance__Eligibility_

If you qualify, this is the one to go for:

You can check out the following (excellent) site for a well written account of what you might get and who might be entitled to get it.
https://www.healthplanspain.com/blog/expat-tips/318-paying-uk-national-insurance-when-living-in-spain.html

To pay Class 2 NIC’s go to the following link and click on PAY NOW and follow the instructions
https://www.gov.uk/pay-class-2-national-insurance

There is a bit of form filling to do but the benefits are well worth the effort, or at least that was very much my case where I was able to backdate my contributions by 7 years at a cost of around 1000 GBP. These 7 years contributions entitle me to around 7/35 of the state pension which is something of the order of 175 GBP a week from the age of 66 in my case. If one assumes that I get there and live to be an average age, then I’ll pass away age 85ish.

So, what will I gain?
Investment 1000 GBP. Average benefits 7/35 x 175 GBP x (85-66) x52= 34,580 GBP. Wow! And that is all indexed linked. AND, apart from backdating you can set up an annual payment and keep making contributions easily and automatically by direct debit. All well worth looking at .

Good luck with it all and let me know how you get on.

Investments in the current climate

By Occitanie
This article is published on: 13th July 2020

13.07.20

Welcome to the fourth edition of our newsletter ‘Spectrum in Occitanie, Finance in Focus’.

Last month we focused on the important area of inheritance planning and wills, outlining the value of careful planning, including mitigation of French inheritance tax using the Assurance Vie. This month, to follow on from that, we take a broader look at what options are available for generating a financial return on savings and investments in the current environment of such low interest rates globally.

As a reminder, we are Philip Oxley, Sue Regan, Rob Heskethand Derek Winsland. Together we form Spectrum’s team in the Occitanie.

What are current interest rates?
Most of us in developed economies have lived in a low interest rate environment for over 11 years. In the UK, for example, the base rate was 5.25% in March 2008. One year later, after the start of the global financial crisis, it was 0.5% and remained so for over seven years before a further post-Brexit vote reduction to 0.25% in August 2016. Recent years have seen small incremental increases to 0.75% before the impact of Coronavirus resulted in the rate being slashed to 0.1%. It has been a similar story in the US and the Eurozone, where the ECB base rate is currently 0%.

Why have interest rates been so low for so long?
There are numerous reasons. These include the cutting of rates following the global financial crisis of 2008/9 in an effort by central banks to stimulate economic growth (the same reason rates have been reduced during the Coronavirus pandemic). Beyond these economic shocks, there also seems to be evidence that central banks’ firm commitment to maintaining low and stable inflation has been successful. The primary tool central banks use when inflation threatens to take flight is to increase interest rates. In most developed countries, there has been little sign of this threat and therefore inflation and interest rates have remained at low levels.

Who has benefitted from this low interest rate environment?
In a word – borrowers! Consumers with mortgages, credit card debt or car loans, businesses (many of which rely on borrowings for investment or just day to day cash-flow requirements) and finally, governments, who typically rely on the credit markets to some extent to finance their spending.

Conversely, savers have suffered hugely during this low-interest rate environment, working hard to find some level of return on their funds. It has been particularly hard for those who rely on savings for their income, such as the retired and elderly. Similarly, risk averse consumers who avoid stock market investments, preferring a more cautious strategy to nurturing their savings, have been heavily penalised for this careful approach. And worse, there is no sign of any significant increase in rates in the foreseeable future.

In the search for financial returns, many in the UK have invested in tax-efficient products such as ISAs, Premium Bonds and other NS&I products, EISs and VCTs. But for those who have subsequently become a tax resident in France, it is important to understand that all these products are taxable here.

How can you achieve a better rate of return on your savings as a French resident?
One product stands clearly above all others, which is the insurance-based investment called an Assurance Vie (AV). The AV is a French compliant life assurance bond which provides numerous tax concessions on investment growth, income and capital withdrawals and significant advantages when it comes to estate planning (which was covered in detail in our last Newsletter).The advantages of this product are numerous and include the following:
• Shelter from tax on all income and gains, and social contributions, whilst funds remain inside the AV. At the point of withdrawing funds, only the gain element is potentially subject to tax and social contributions.
• Access to capital at all times, although as AVs are designed for longer term investment, withdrawals in the early years will reduce tax efficiency and (depending on amounts withdrawn), may incur exit penalties. The tax efficiency increases over time as compound returns accumulate tax free, with the additional advantage after eight years of an annual tax-free withdrawal allowance of (currently) €9,200 for a married couple and €4,600 for a single person.
• The ‘tax clock’ to full tax efficiency starts on day one of the policy and funds added later benefit from this original start date.
• Estate planning flexibility in the form of protection from forced heirship succession law, allowing nomination of beneficiaries in accordance with personal wishes. Proceeds from an AV policy can be distributed between any number of beneficiaries, each of whom can receive €152,500 free of succession tax (so long as the policy was established and funded before the age of 70), with amounts in excess of €152,500 liable at 20% (and at 31.25% for amounts exceeding €700,000).
• Investment flexibility to match individual objectives, risk profile and currency preference (options including Sterling, Euro and US Dollar) and simplified tax reporting and annual declarations.

This tax efficiency is significant, with two simplified examples below illustrating what a valuable product the AV can be as a future source of income:

Example No. 1:
Fran is 52 years old and invests €120,000 into an AV
• 10 years later the fund is valued at €180,000
• Fran is now 62 years old and wants to draw an annual income of €12,000 per year (€1,000 per month)
• The gain on the investment is €180,000 – €120,000 = €60,000. As a proportion of the fund that is €60,000/€180,000 = 33.3%
• The gain element of €12,000 pa is 33.3%, i.e. €4,000
• Because Fran has held this AV for more than 8 years, the effective tax-free allowance for single people applies and is €4,600 per year. The gain element of drawing €12,000 pa is €4,000 (less than the €4,600) and therefore Fran will pay no income tax on drawing €12,000 per year from the AV.

Example No. 2:
Sam and Chris are 60 years old and invest €300,000 into an AV
• 8 years later the fund is valued at €400,000
• They are now 68 years old and want to draw an annual income from the AV of €25,000 per year (€2,083.33 per month)
• The gain on the investment is €400,000 – €300,000 = €100,000. As a proportion of the fund that is €100,000/€400,000 = 25%
• The gain element of €25,000 pa is 25%, i.e. €6,250
• Because Sam and Chris have held this AV for more than 8 years, as a couple their effective tax-free allowance is €9,200 per year. The gain element of drawing €25,000 pa is €6,250 (less than €9,200) and therefore they will pay no income tax on drawing an income of €25,000 per year from their AV.

Social charges apply to the gain element of withdrawals, at either 17.2% if France is responsible for the cost of your healthcare, or 7.5% if you hold an S1 certificate.

To produce a tax-efficient income stream later in life (including to supplement pension income in retirement), and to provide significant estate planning benefits (including protection from forced heirship laws), the Assurance Vie should for most people be a central feature of their financial planning strategy.

Finally, as a short-term solution for holding cash tax efficiently, there are three types of French bank accounts to consider. For general guidance, it is advisable to hold six months of your average monthly outgoings as a contingency fund for unexpected expenses. These accounts are detailed below:

➢the Livret A, available to both residents and non-residents, in which you can deposit up to €22,950 and earn interest of 0.5% per annum.
➢the Livret Développement Durable, available to French resident taxpayers only for deposits up to €12,000, also earning interest of 0.5%.
➢the Livret Epargne Populaire, available to French resident taxpayers only, paying an extra 0.5% interest for deposits up to €7,700 if your income does not exceed a certain threshold.

WHAT NEXT?

If you would like to discuss anything we have covered in this month’s newsletter, please do get in touch at Occitanie@spectrum-ifa.com
Next month we are going to focus on pensions, including the subject of drawdowns and portfolio structuring.
The Spectrum IFA Group – Occitainie
occitainie@spectrum-ifa.com