Chas5

My wife is american and I will be moving from the UK to the US around Christmas.

Can anyone recommend a good UK or US financial advisor who is good on the tax implications of this move? Could be based in either UK or US.

Thanks for your help

Charles

Bob

Welcome to BE

And it probably depends on where in the US your looking for, but can always do a search for info as it's come up previously, there's been a few recommendations, mostly out in CA.

another bloody yank

I don't need to pay someone to tell me I don't have any money.

frrussre

There is a ton of bad ones.
Reg

Ray

If they are good at finances ...why are they working ...

expatadvisor

If you are leaving the UK permanently then perhaps you can do no worse than speak to your local tax office who will advise you on any forms that you may need to complete to reclaim any tax overpaid and also finalise your tax affairs here in the UK, Form P85 is typically issued. If you have pensions and investments such as ISA's then speak to the IFA who may have arranged these for you in the first place as they have a duty of care under the FSA Treating Clients Fairly rules to offer continuous advice should you require such advice.

I would agree that there are thousands of so called financial advisors out there of which I admit to being one- regulated in the UK by the FSA, many of whom I would not touch with a barge pole. I do not tout for business, being in business for over 20 years, I have a long and established loyal client bank and do not take on many new clients these days - no need to. I do not receive commissions but charge fees.

Perhaps the person who states that they do not need a fianncial advisor to tell them that they have got no money may have some if they listened to some decent advice and then followed that advice through. The biggest problem that I have found over the years is that whilst people appreciate the need for tax efficiency, saving money etc they ignore the basics even having cash in current accounts paying little or no interest, having mortgages with higher interest rates than needed, when a simple remortgage could bring substantial savings on outgoings. These are just basic things, people are lazy and do not follow through with the obvious.

On the otherside I do come across expats who have arranged their fiances via offshore unregulated brokers advisor, like one gentleman recently who arranged an offshore pension with Hansard unaware that the advisor netted over £18,000 commission for arranging the contract. (these advisors do not have to disclose their commissions!! and are completely unregulated). This plan charges the client 8% per annum for the first two years contributions made into the plan for the whole of the plan term. I also agree that even regulated advisors have been responsible for appalling advice in the late 80's and 90's re pensions, however it is interesting to note that advice given by banks contributes to over 60% of all upheld compliants, followed by direct sales people and then IFA's with a mere 13%.

My simple advice to anyone whether in the UK or abroad is that if it sounds to good to be true it is !!, and if you have no shadow of doubt about anything finance reated then do not do it, or else seek another opinion.

Chas5

Thanks very much for the sound advice re the tax office. And that other stuff about intertia is great too.

I'm moving to Boston, but the search I ran just turned up material on the West coast.

I've never used a financial advisor in the UK, as I've put together the bits and bobs I have myself. It's just that there might be some obvious pitfalls and precautions I could take before moving, about which an advisor might be able to give me a steer.

Has anyone used a bank or firm of accountants for this?

Thanks

Chas

Bob

You might have luck finding someone in London before you go....don't know about advisors in Boston, but most are sharks or arseholes, it ain't mass-ass-a- two-shits for nothing

Though one thing worth doing, sort out the P-85 to claim back your taxes before you go, take it to local inland rev office, it's easier than doing it from abroad, same for setting up overseas voting, which is best done with a proxy in the UK if you've got folks or someone you'd trust to be your proxy because you never get the form sent here in time to send it back before it's to late.

Anyway, worth checking the financial advice in the wiki as well, it's general, but it's a good starting point, and keep bank accounts open and all that fun stuff, oh, and get an AmEx card if you don't have one already as it's helpful in starting out your US credit history, which is a mare, and up there as one of the most important things to sort out, along with medical insurance

Oh, and there's a HSBC branch in Boston, so if you bank with HSBC, they might be able to help.