investment for retirement

cheerfulcat

Hi, shiredeon,

If you are willing to bear the currency risk the HYP has so far proved a very satisfactory investment strategy. I would certainly want to balance it by keeping the rest of the cash in a deposit account in Euros. However before making any decisions I would see a tax advisor specialising in French tax...

Edinvestor wrote:

So do you reckon the tax credit would be acceptable over there, no further tax to pay for BRTs?

Having spent the best part of the afternoon yesterday trawling the web I have come to the conclusion that the French tax regime is of such Byzantine complexity as to make the UK regime look a model of crystal clarity. I think that whether you have the extra 11% "social charge" to pay on the dividend depends on your tax band but I'm not entirely sure.

I suspect that this is one of the few occasions where an insurance bond ( assurance vie in France ) might come in handy.

shiredeon

"I suspect that this is one of the few occasions where an insurance bond ( assurance vie in France ) might come in handy."
not sure what you mean cheerfulcat, could you elaborate,(at your leisure of course) thanks

EdInvestor

Having spent the best part of the afternoon yesterday trawling the web I have come to the conclusion that the French tax regime is of such Byzantine complexity as to make the UK regime look a model of crystal clarity. I think that whether you have the extra 11% "social charge" to pay on the dividend depends on your tax band but I'm not entirely sure. I suspect that this is one of the few occasions where an insurance bond ( assurance vie in France ) might come in handy.

Having done the same, I quite agree.Interesting to note that once over state pension age no social charge is payable. Pensions are not counted in the wealth tax calculation ( which looks fairly low and manageable for anyone over the threshold but with less than a million...)

Income tax allowances especially for families also seem pretty high.

There appear to be considerable tax perks on investing in *French* shares on an LTBH basis.There are also various ISA type accounts for savings ( but no apparent competition on interest rates therein, how old-fashioned).

It appears that the UK divi tax arrangements would be acceptable ( except for the possible addition of the social charge if under 60/65) and there wouldn't be extra tax to pay on rental income covered by the UK personal allowance, hence this is a popular source of income among expats.

The "assurance vie" is obviously worth investigating but should be regarded with the usual suspicion appropriate for all insurance investment bonds for the usual reasons ( likely high charges, deferred tax rather than tax saving, likely capital depletion, non-optimal investment choice, lack of transparency).

Always see if you can obtain the same or better advantages in a simpler and cheaper way.

EdInvestor

http://www.parisfranceguide.com:81/index.php?module=pagemaster&PAGE_user_op=view_page&PAGE_id=23

http://www.renovationfrance.net/MortgagesAndLoans.aspx?Action=1887186931&ID=7640dd54-5201-4dcd-a7ea-e9cc7898b361


AV tax still looks high.

shiredeon

so excuse my ignorance, is my proposed plan not sound, and do i think again.

shiredeon

i see a bit more now, can uk stocks be held in a ppb or only french

EdInvestor

I suggest you seek specialist advice, as mentioned some time ago.

cheerfulcat

shiredeon wrote:

"I suspect that this is one of the few occasions where an insurance bond ( assurance vie in France ) might come in handy."
not sure what you mean cheerfulcat, could you elaborate,(at your leisure of course) thanks

Usually I don't like insurance bonds, which are a sort of tax wrapper, because they can be very expensive. But in this case the assurance vie, as Ed has shown, could be very useful in reducing your tax bills. But again, you do need expert advice. Your best bet is probably to register with one or both of those sites and ask for recommendations - I would be looking for a tax expert, rather than an IFA.

incidently, how would you go about generating 25k from deposits in uk, i guess you'd have to have a large number of accounts as those that offer good rates seem to be capped.

They are usually capped at £1m - £2m so not a problem in your situation!

so excuse my ignorance, is my proposed plan not sound, and do i think again.

So much depends on the tax situation that it is difficult to say. If you were living in the UK I would say yes, the plan is sound.

shiredeon

that's reassuring, i will try and glean some info on tax in france, many thanks for all your inputs, nick

shiredeon

last post i promise, should i cash in my executive pension early (selected retirement date 65) fund about 150k and use it to increase my hyp or leave it to run full term.