Financial Planning For Global Living
Go Beyond Cross-Border Tax and Legal Complexity to Location Independence, Financial Freedom and True Life Satisfaction
Financial Planning for Global Living is a solid plan to a financially secure, happy and well-structured life… anywhere in the world.
Most of us didn’t have role models to provide the kind of financial or personal guidance we need in our new globally mobile age. Our life and wealth training came from watching our parents, who may have been skilled in the old model but not the new one.
Today, we think differently, we live differently, we work differently. We want options, not restrictions. Trying to be successful financially and have successful personal lives today, while using the skills and processes developed for lives lived in a single country, simply doesn’t work.
After extensive training and research and over 25 years of advising successful multinational families, Jennifer Patterson finally reveals the elements for reaching and sustaining long-term success. It turns out that just six pillars have the most impact on your success.
Praise for Financial Planning for Global Living
In Financial Planning for Global Living, Jennifer Patterson will walk you through the necessary steps of mastering the logistics of living a cross-border, straddled, or single-country lifestyle when it comes to your finances…Going into detail about each area of planning and strategy in regard to the ‘Cross-Border Life+Wealth Achievement Plan,” Patterson appears to know her stuff and writes in a way that the layman can understand… This is a book I would recommend to anyone…
…Drawing from her professional experience as a CFP and personal experiences of international living, Patterson has written an indispensable blueprint of practical, actionable steps people can take to create a plan that will allow them to live comfortably in any country, anywhere in the world. The advice in this book is primarily oriented towards families and couples who want to raise multinational children, but anyone seeking to carve out a global lifestyle can benefit from this book…
“Although this may be the financial planning profession’s best resource on cross-border planning issues faced by people navigating among a variety of national and local jurisdictions, Financial Planning for Global Living also serves as a valuable guidebook for how to live a better, more prosperous, more intentional life”.
“Jennifer Patterson has written a must-read primer for anyone amidst or considering cross-cultural living…Read this book – and learn from one of the best. Financial Planning for Global Living is the exhaustive field guide that should be included with every international assignment so that the issues that matter are dealt with from the start of this wonderful global adventure.”
“A must-read for anyone considering a globally mobile life, Financial Planning for Global Living provides practical tools to overcome the paralyzing fear of uncertainty to help us move our lives forward. Jennifer Patterson shows us the way to plan for a cross-border life with enough flexibility to adapt to an ever faster changing and unpredictable future, and to the complex constraints of conflicting local laws. Her process allows for both long-term flexibility and short-term focus, never losing sight of what is important: Today, right now, we can design and live a personally fulfilling life on our own terms, consistent with our core values and personal aspirations that recognizes the importance of our human capital as a key component of our wealth. Enjoy!”
“Jennifer Patterson is passionate about the importance of creating a financial foundation that supports individuals and families living globally. This book is the culmination of her many years’ experience – both personal and professional – of the realities of cross-border living, and it resonates with the warmth and wisdom she brings to this often neglected part of our lives. She blends practical guidance with a firsthand understanding of the challenges cross-border families face, helping us to achieve long-term security in an ever-changing world.”
“Having suffered the trials and tribulations of going expat in my mid-career in the 1990s, I wish that I had been given the information in this book those many years ago. Jennifer Patterson takes a complex and emotional subject and lays out a clear strategy for any individual or family trying to navigate the many conflicting forces at play when you move country, move job, and move out of a safe ‘home’ environment. Jennifer lays out a bold manifesto, based on solid principles and experience. This book can save you money, your marriage/partnership, and a lot of emotional turmoil that normally leads to ill-health. Well worth reading and acting on key ideas.”
Proven Methodology and Tools For Your Life + Wealth
First of all this isn’t like any personal finance book you’ve ever read. There’s no fluff or filler – just tools and methodology honed in the trenches that work.
It’s NOT just another personal finance book teaching you how to save money by drinking fewer lattes or by cutting back your lifestyle in any way. This book will teach you how to build a cross-border cash flow plan without budgeting or sacrificing.
It’s NOT about how to create a portfolio employing diversification or using passive investment vehicles and hoping it works out. It will introduce cross-border life + wealth investing and explain why measuring performance alone is inadequate for reaching your goals.
It’s NOT about just taking more action that you don’t want to take, particularly when you can’t see a clear path to the future or you don’t know where you’re going to be physically located. It teaches you how to create strategy with enough flexibility to adapt to an unpredictable future and the complex constraints of conflicting local laws.
A Shortcut to A Full, Financially Secure, Happy and Well-Structured Life… Across Borders.
This book is a shortcut to a full, financially secure, happy and well-structured life, across borders. And it’s easy to read. I’ve made it conversational and left out as much industry jargon as possible.
And even though I used this system personally and with clients to build and sustain wealth
It’s About MORE than Just Money.
It’s about your life.
You see, working to sustain a lifestyle or starting or maintaining a family or a relationship is always demanding. Add one or more jurisdictions to that equation and the various, often labyrinthine, rules and regulations that come with living, investing and operating in these jurisdictions, and the daily stresses are magnified exponentially. Many questions arise. Will I be successful? Will my career flourish? Will my family life suffer? Will my children adjust?
But trying to be successful financially and have successful personal lives today while using the skills and processes developed for lives lived in a single country simply doesn’t work.
Most of us didn’t have role models to provide the kind of financial or personal guidance we need in our new globally mobile age. Our life and wealth training came from watching our parents, who may have been skilled in the old model but not the new one.
Today, we think differently, we live differently, we work differently, and we want options, not restrictions.
Our personal and financial lives have transitioned from a traditional one into a global one yet we don’t have the tools to fully grasp all the options available to us or to understand how to avoid the myriad pitfalls that can endanger our finances and even our relationships as we cross borders.
Some of the outcomes you’ll get
from reading this book
Can you really create a life + wealth plan – even if you don’t have clear idea of where you’ll be living in the future? Page 28.
The process for creating a cross-border personal financial plan is basically the same as for a single country plan, right? Wrong! There are a number of areas where applying a single country approach has unintended consequences. Here’s a new approach that works better. Page 48.
Say goodbye to complicated explanations of how we build financial capital. This way of looking at it solves that problem for good. Page 39.
Global and cross-border mean the same thing, right? Wrong! Find out the difference and why knowing this is important. Page 18.
Why your estate plan may not “translate” across country borders. Page 207.
Why we’re all in one of “The 3 D’s of Life and Lifestyle.” And how you can impact your future…even if you can’t see the entire big picture of your life. Page 69.
Why even though you have a vision board and “SMART” goals, you are still left wondering why you aren’t “further ahead.” Or if you can’t agree in your marriage or relationship on what you want, this can help you too. Page 82.
How (and why) your residency, citizenship and domicile affect everything. Page 94
The truth about financial ratios and rules of thumb. How many are you following that are not serving you? Page 112.
Learn what your most powerful number is. It’s the one number that you have the most control over and you probably never really thought of it this way. Page 53.
Your life insurance will cover you wherever you live and require few changes over time, right? Wrong. Coverage shortfalls can surprise you. Learn the key issues. Page 134.
Specifically for US citizens and residents:
- Non US Bank and Asset Reporting. Page 159.
- Reporting non-US gifts and trusts. Page 161.
- What to do if you’ve left out one or more forms or assets in your tax and foreign asset reporting. Page 163.
- Why if you earn income from a non-US employer, your earnings are not automatically income tax free. Page 170. Plus, how the rules apply to self-employed individuals. Page 236.
- Why your non-US money market account might have additional tax and reporting associated with it. Page 180.
- Beware of special issues associated with retirement plans (US and non-US). Page 199.
- Special rules for US owners of companies incorporated outside the USA, plus a primer on how the rules changed in December 2017. Page 242.
Meet the Author
Jennifer Patterson, CFP®, CIMA®, TEP is a recognized pioneer in cross-border wealth and life design. She has lived overseas over half her life and raised two tri-national kids with her dual-national husband.
Jennifer is the author of several books that address financial planning and wealth management for multinational families, dual citizens and the globally mobile. She speaks internationally on the subject and has also contributed to books and publications on the subject. Jennifer is the founder of Patterson Partners Ltd., an independent financial advisory firm specializing in cross-border tax and financial planning that is known as the secret advantage to families with U.S. connections.