Mark66

Hi, I'm considering opening a Florida office. I'm a British Financial Advisor currently working in Dubai, I'm doing very well but feel a move would suit my family. I soley deal with Brits and do not intend to compete with US advisors. I've travelling throughout Florida, mostly whilst hour building in a Cessna. My question is, where do the majority of retired Brits live in Florida? My speciality is releasing UK Pensions, hence the retired market rather than the employed market.

Any feedback will be appreciated.

Mark

christmasoompa

Are you a US citizen? If not, what visa will you be moving over on?

If it helps, my grandparents moved to Naples after retiring.

Welcome to the forum btw.

tonrob

My parents are in Clermont. There will be a fair few in the general Orlando area as many purchase properties pre-retirement with a view to doing holiday rentals for some years before they retire. The abundance of B2s also mean that some rely on the income received from renting out for 6 months of the year post-retirement. If you're into releasing UK pensions then I guess you're looking for LPRs/Dual Citizens though, which will be a sub-set of the British retirees in Florida.

Mark66

Sorry if this reply shows up twice, my 9 month son just swiped my ipad and my unfinished reply disappeared, anyway thanks for the welcome and reply. This is my first stage of research, I'll FAQ or ask about LLC's and Visas later but first I want to see if I need to focus on Orlando, WPB, Naples etc.

Do Brit expats cluster around Golf Clubs or Waterside properties? Is there a British Business Group or Embassy network? Where would you go to have a glass of wine and watch the British expats socialise - boat clubs, sports centres, golf clubs?

TIA

Mark

Bob

Visa first, seriously. It will be the toughest thing, have a word with a immigration lawyer on possibly L1 for a company transfer if you keep the foreign aspect going, or investing in a business....or possibly finding someone to employ you.

The wiki here gives you the general routes available, they are slim, they are tough, if you don't see a easy route then you've just saved a lot of reseach.

Focusing on Brits will be really limiting yourself too, you've got the B2's who won't be living here permanently so not much use to you, then a even smaller circle of Brits retiring there.

The Consulate in Orlando might do networking events, I know the one in Boston does fairly regularly for different types of folks, mostly tech/science groups, but it's a good way to meet people. There is also a Brit Florida group on LinkedIn, and quite a few others.

Ray

OMG .. the Days of the Raj are long over
and your business has been tried before..some of the experts are still jailed

Octang Frye

Ray, that was a gem of a post.

See you at the Bombay Bicycle Club for brunch? The potato skins are to die for.

scrubbedexpat099

I am not sure you have thought through the business model.

The vast majority of British in Florida are based in the UK, so why would they consult with someone based in Florida?

Many of the others have been self employed and have used their savings to buy a business in the US as a method of moving.

There will be a few who have been moved by their companies, but Florida is not an obvious destination for company moves.

The ones that have gone the investment route are no doubt well represented.

Have you researched your market and competition?

Nutmegger

There seem to be two main snags to your plan:
a) There is no retirement visa that allows Brits to spend their twilight years in the US, other than the six months in, six months out B2 that Bob mentioned.

b) Anyone with the kind of pension that would make your eyes light up is unlikely to be retiring to Florida!

ljaw2002uk

The whole thing seems rather sinister to me. The OP sounds like one of those conmen that go door to door pretending to be from the water board, preying on pensioners.

fatbrit

Well that's okay, then. Sure you'll be able to sort out the visa if you're not doing anyone out of a job.

ScousePete

Disney

Mark66

Well thanks for the humorous replies folks, and in the case those of you who advised me to "do my research" well my original post did imply that this was in fact my first bit of research. When I posted a similar post in ex pats Dubai over four years ago I received similar scepticism which mostly proved to be wrong.

I'll continue with a trip soon, renew my PPL and fly around a bit asking the same questions face to face. If the answers are the same then I will have had a nice vacation and poured about $6000 into Floridas economy, then return to Dubai and plan my semi-retirement to Cyprus or Spain at the age of 45.

Come on now, there must be some positive people out here!

Mark

christmasoompa

There are, but they may not be in the US forum.

Given that it's the toughest country to immigrate to, and that you haven't yet mentioned what visa you intend to get, plus the fact that the good folks in this forum get the 'how can I move to Florida' question on a weekly basis (mostly from people without a hope in hell of getting a visa), it's perhaps no surprise that they weren't full of joy and optimism for you!

anotherlimey

The visa issue will negate any positive advice given. Without that everything fails.