Relocation, expat assignments, and immigration
• Banking, currencies, and cash management
• Real estate – both residences and for investment purposes
• Taxation in the United States and abroad
• Entrepreneurialism and business ownership
• Investments and asset allocation
• Retirement planning
• Estate planning
Every attempt has been made to make the information in this book as accurate, timely, and usable as possible. But since (a) every family's situation is unique, (b) financial rules, regulations, and treaties are constantly changing, and (c) international financial issues often involve great complexity, in almost every case it will make sense for you to seek out qualified, competent, and caring professional advisors to assist you. At least have someone look over your shoulder and check your assumptions; in most cases, it's worth spending the time and effort to find an individual or firm to work closely with. Please allow us to take this early opportunity to say a little about our firm and its founder.
The members of our professional team here at Worldview have a passion for all things international, from travel and languages to culture and, of course, investing. That is, we were drawn to cross-border wealth management because we had a passion for international people, culture, and financial matters in the first place. We also enjoy learning and seeking answers to questions, which is a good thing, because wealth management laws and strategies for cross-border families are always changing and evolving. There is always something new to learn and apply.
Along with our international focus, our firm is dedicated to being a true holistic wealth advisor. We do not have commissioned salespeople who are always angling to make the next sale or otherwise generate a commission. Instead, we specialize in advising clients through a personalized financial planning process, for which we charge a fixed one-time fee. For clients who want our ongoing help with managing their investments, we work on a fee-based model – charging a small percentage of the total amount of financial assets that we oversee – which allows us to better sit on the same side of the table as our clients.
We abide by a fiduciary standard; we do what is right for our clients and put their best interest first. Because we employ a professional advisory approach rather than the more traditional sales-focused approach of most financial advisors and stockbrokers, we are able to focus our time on first understanding our clients challenges, and then finding solutions and answers for them. Furthermore, our professionals have the highest level of credentials in our industry, including CPA (certified public accountant), CFA (chartered financial analyst), and CFP (certified financial planner).
For over a decade now, we have operated in this advisory manner and professionally dedicated ourselves to learning about all of the issues and questions facing cross-border families. Over time, we have worked hard to consolidate much of what we have learned into the volume you are now holding. What you find in The Cross-Border Family Wealth Guide, then, is the result of our research and experience in working with hundreds of families with cross-border issues, as well as what we have learned from interviews held with dozens of cross-border experts working in this area.
As a CFA (chartered financial analyst) and a CPA (certified public accountant), there are many directions I could have taken my career. I chose to focus on advising cross-border families not only because I enjoy the intellectual challenge and constant learning that is required, but also because I love meeting and getting to know the many exceptional people who come my way.
Our firm's clients tend to be extremely interesting, globally oriented, multicultural, highly intelligent, and well-educated people. They are generally very appreciative not only of the quality of the investment, tax, wealth management, and long-term planning advice that we provide, but of our inherent appreciation for who they are and what they have accomplished.
For all these reasons, I have personally dedicated myself to doing whatever it takes to make sure that we give our clients the best possible advice. For example, we consciously cultivate and rely on a large network of trusted professional partners and colleagues in many different fields, an absolutely necessity given that no single professional or firm can keep track of it all.
In just the same way that I have dedicated myself to helping my clients, I have also pledged myself to putting together the best possible, most understandable, and most useful book that I could. If you are reading this, I want you to know that I am committed to your long-term financial future and to helping you and your family not just survive, but thrive, wherever you are in the world.
Acknowledgments
I want to first thank my dear friend and long-time business partner, David Colvin, who is with CLVN Tax and Financial Advisors in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. His friendship and our intellectual banter have been a constant part of my life since we met at university in 1989, and it was with his encouragement that I began to specialize in cross-border wealth management so many years ago. He taught me the basics of cross-border taxation, and our wealth management brainstorming sessions have been the single most important contributor to my growth over the years into an expert in this field. Thanks DC!
I would like to express my gratitude to Tim Kochis, who in addition to writing a terrific forward for this book, has been a wonderful supporter and mentor to me since we met in San Francisco. He is a big picture thinker and a true visionary for our industry. I really appreciate him taking an interest in me and in my vision for Worldview.
I have been fortunate to have gotten to know many respected professionals working in various fields of cross-border advice, including business and estate planning attorneys, tax advisors and accountants, bankers, HR professionals, immigration attorneys, association leaders, insurance brokers, and relocation providers. I'm glad to have been welcomed into the world of cross-border advice by these professionals, and many of them were very generous with their time by allowing me to interview them for this book. During these interviews I was able to learn about the most common questions and challenges they see among their clients, which helped me to expand the advice within this book greatly.
I want to make a special mention of the contributions of Russell Mansky, who is with Spott, Lucy & Wall CPAs in San Francisco. He has a vast and technical knowledge in the area of cross-border taxation, which he so generously put to use in his review of certain chapters of this book. Other professionals who generously contributed their knowledge to this effort include: Jordi Argente, Shaun Dublin, Ming Fang, Stephen Foster, Jacob Glickman, Michael Gottschalk, Jason Graham, Scott Jones, Gary Kaplan, Eng Khoo, Vince Lau, Gopal Shah, Carol-Ann Simon, Carole Jodi Trent, Mark Walters, Mark Weaver, and Ajay Whitmore.
I'm lucky to have found a small but passionate group of employees and colleagues who've shared in my journey of building Worldview into the leading wealth management firm serving cross-border families. I want to acknowledge my current and former team members for their significant contributions to this effort, and for their genuine and unfailing concern for serving our clients and their best interests.
The cross-border area of wealth management is highly complex and is always changing. As such, to be successful one must be energized by the need to constantly research and learn new things. I've been fortunate to have a wonderful community of wealth management peers to rely upon throughout my journey. I'd like to especially thank all of my friends at the CFA Society of Portland, and in particular the people with whom I served on the Board of Directors for so many years. Also, I very much appreciate the FPA and financial planning community around San Francisco for welcoming me and for inspiring me to continue to make financial planning a larger element of my firm's core value proposition.
I want to recognize the significant contributions of my writing partner, Jordan Gruber, to this project. His professional skill and passion for doing good work, combined with the personal interest he took in my project, without question made this a far better final product. Throughout the two years it took to finalize my manuscript, Jordan never waivered in his commitment or his optimistic outlook for what