Finding a Reliable IFA, British Expat in the UAE

SandSausage

Hi,

I'm a British expat living in the UAE and I'm looking for help/suggestions please, on how to find a reliable IFA. Trust is main concern, there's a stack of organisations here proclaiming to operate within UK regulations but I'm unsure of what to look for?

We are still unsure whether we will retire back in the UK or elsewhere (time is on our side with this decision), so we need to fully understand our options and require an IFA with the appropriate experience.

Thanks

xylophone

https://financialuae.me/tag/dubai-ifa/

Worth a look?

FatherAbraham

What problem are you looking to solve by finding an independent advisor?

Do you pay any income tax?

TBC15

You will have to be a bit more specific, what you got what you want to do.

SandSausage

FatherAbraham - I do pay tax on rent received from my UK property, not sure why that matters?
I'm looking for financial advice for pension/savings from a reliable IFA who operates under UK regulations. There are 1000's of so called IFA's operating in the UAE, very few are legitimately independent or regulated and are simply looking for their next commission.

Johnnyboy11

SandSausage wrote: »

FatherAbraham - I do pay tax on rent received from my UK property, not sure why that matters?
I'm looking for financial advice for pension/savings from a reliable IFA who operates under UK regulations. There are 1000's of so called IFA's operating in the UAE, very few are legitimately independent or regulated and are simply looking for their next commission.

I'd be extremely wary of taking financial advice from anyone in the UAE, as there are so many horror stories of people being wiped-out having transferred DB pensions into hign-risk, high-fee offshore investment vehicles. There's a whole industry out there tracking down UK expats, and they are very efficient at it. Why not choose a UK based IFA registered with the FCA, see here: https://register.fca.org.uk/ ?



Your UK tax residency status is something you might consider taking professional advice on. It can be more difficult than you think to become and remain UK non-resident.

FatherAbraham

Income taxation matters because UK retirement saving is largely about deferring taxation on earned income, so that one pays less tax overall.

It's important realize that pensions drawn in the UK attract tax, so it's a financial error for a non-resident like you to take your current tax-free income and pay it into a UK-taxable pension scheme.

Since you don't pay income tax, you don't need to use pensions savings, as you have no tax advantage of doing so.

Thus, you can focus on portfolio construction and asset accumulation using general investment accounts (GIA), which should mean lower charges.

Pensions investment is all about deferring income taxation. If your earned income isn't taxed, then don't go anywhere near pensions arrangements!

Johnnyboy11

A couple of exceptions to the above. First, it is still possible for a UK expat to pay Class 2 NICs (or Class 3 NICS) to build up entitlement to the UK State Pension. Second, subject to conditions, a UK Expat can pay £2,880 into a UK pension in the year they leave the UK and for the following 5 tax-years, and get the automatic 20% uplift.

Malthusian

SandSausage wrote: »

I'm looking for financial advice for pension/savings from a reliable IFA who operates under UK regulations.

As you have a UK residential address it should be possible to stay within the UK regulatory system, especially if you have a UK bank account to go with it. You will likely have to do more shopping around.

You could try searching Unbiased for advisers near the area you might retire to, or ask friends / relatives back in the UK if any of them use an IFA.