The Household CFO

The Household CFOA Financial Guide for Expat Spouses

By: Chad Creveling, CFA, and Peggy Creveling, CFA

Table of Contents

Introduction: Taking Charge of Your Finances—Together 3

Chapter 1: Setting Goals—How to Prioritize What’s Really Important Together 5

Chapter 2: Banking in a Foreign Country 8

Chapter 3: Strategies for Boosting Your Family’s Savings 10

Chapter 4: What You Need to Know About Investing 13

Chapter 5: Insuring Against Risk 16

Chapter 6: College Funding for Expat Kids 20

Chapter 7: Estate Planning Basics—Beyond a Will 23

Conclusion 26

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We’ve outlined a number of things that household CFOs can do to get their family’s finances organized and better managed so that expat couples can achieve their goals—together.

Introduction: Taking Charge of Your Finances—Together

Whether you’re experienced “old hands” or relatively new to living overseas, managing household finances can be especially complex for expat couples. Throw into the mix the excitement of living abroad, expat packages, tax equalization, school fees, and other perks, and the sense of urgency surrounding the need to plan ahead can be greatly diminished. Many expats don’t know where to begin in organizing their finances, so they don’t get started. Some couples may also have the idea that the working spouse should make financial decisions since they’re the breadwinner, although lack of time and specialized knowledge can make this difficult.

This is where the trailing spouse can come in. Even if you’re taking care of children, you may have more time available and can often take the lead in setting up and managing the family finances. If your offer to serve as Household Chief Financial Officer (CFO) is made constructively and in the spirit of partnership, you’ll likely find that rather than resenting a perceived intrusion on a traditional role, your working spouse will welcome the help.

The benefits of having one spouse serve as Household CFO include:

• Better cooperation—You’ll work together as a true partners to achieve financial goals that are important to you both.

• Emergency back-up—Both spouses are involved, making each one knowledgeable and capable of handling the family finances if so required.

• It gets done—Financial plans/tasks are proactively managed and implemented, so they don’t just remain as good intentions.

• Peace of mind—Having a plan, sharing responsibilities, and thinking ahead can remove much of the financial stress in couples’ lives.

In this book, we’ve outlined a number of things that household CFOs can do to get their family’s finances organized and better managed so that expat couples can achieve their goals—together. Given the limited time in everyone’s jam-packed lives, we’ve tried to avoid too much general information and instead focus on specific actionable steps, including:

Chapter 1: Setting Goals—How to Prioritize What’s Really Important Together—You have to decide where you want to go before you plot a course to get there. Of course, you can’t plan your life in minute detail, nor would you want to. Nevertheless, a discussion of broad longer term goals along with more detailed shorter term goals can help focus your efforts and avoid heading in two different directions or heading nowhere at all.

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Chapter 2: Banking in a Foreign Country—You need the right combination of foreign and local financial institutions in the right jurisdictions to provide the proper mix of banking, credit, and investment products to support your life as an expat. Whatever you set up needs to be simple, convenient, and cost effective so that you don’t become overwhelmed. Too much complexity is one of the major obstacles to staying on top of your finances.

Chapter 3: Strategies for Boosting Your Family’s Savings—Achieving financial security depends on getting into the habit of saving early and is often more important than investing in building financial security.

Chapter 4: What You Need to Know About Investing—Constructing an appropriate globally oriented portfolio, minimizing fees and taxes, choosing appropriate investment products, and avoiding the emotional pitfalls of investing will help you build the wealth you need to achieve your financial goals and provide a comfortable retirement.

Chapter 5: Insuring Against Risk—Unexpected events happen and it’s important to plan ahead to avoid endangering your financial security. Knowing what types of risk are transferable and what you need to plan for, along with knowing the types and amount of insurance you need, are vital to providing a “security blanket” for your family.

Chapter 6: College Funding for Expat Kids—The skyrocketing cost of college education makes it essential to start planning early and to take advantage of all the tax-advantaged savings vehicles available to you. In addition, expat kids often have the choice of attending university in multiple countries, which makes currency decisions a critical part of the planning process.

Chapter 7: Estate Planning Basics—Beyond a Will—Putting proper estate planning documentation in place is vital to protecting your family, minimizing taxes, and ensuring your assets are transferred according to your wishes. This is particularly important for expats whose assets often span multiple countries and tax jurisdictions.

In the following chapters, we discuss each of these topics in more detail. By the time you finish reading this book, you should be ready to assume the role of household CFO and have a fairly comprehensive action plan for taking the steps needed to help get your finances in order, so that you and your spouse can achieve your goals and obtain financial security.

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One of the most important first steps in getting control of your finances is to draw up an initial financial plan.

Chapter 1: Working Together to Set Goals

Now that you’ve read the introduction to The Expat Spouse as Household CFO, you and your partner may have agreed that in order to most effectively manage your family finances, the non-working spouse will take on the role of Household Chief Financial Officer (CFO). With perhaps more time available than your working spouse, you can take the lead in setting up and managing the family finances. Remember that ultimately it’s vital that financial decisions are made together, so if you take on this role constructively and in the spirit of partnership, your working spouse will likely welcome the help. This chapter deals with the first crucial step: setting goals.

The Importance of Setting Goals Together

It goes without saying that if you show up at the airport with no ticket and no idea of where you want to go, you’re never going to get to your destination. Yet that is exactly what many expat couples are effectively doing with their finances―by failing to plan, they’re inevitably planning to fail. Therefore, one of the most important first steps in getting control of your finances is to draw up an initial financial plan. This includes a financial starting point, a set of long-term financial goals that you both would like to achieve, and short-term “stepping stones” to help you along the way. This chapter will help you and your spouse avoid going nowhere financially by giving you tools to outline where you are today. You’ll also be able to clearly define where you want to go and how you plan to get there.

What’s Your Starting Point?

For many people living overseas, knowing the current status of their finances may be easier said than done. Accounts are often strewn about the world in different currencies, and many overseas financial institutions don’t issue regular statements. Yet it’s vitally important that both you and your spouse have a solid grasp of your assets, your liabilities, how much income you have, and how much you’re spending. These are the basic financial details that any successful company must have, and this information is similarly essential in order for your household to make good financial decisions.

Now is the time to get out all your financial information together: savings, investments, pensions, credit cards, loans, insurance. You can do this together if your partner has time, or you can gather everything on your own for discussion later. Dig out statements for every account you may have, including those stray accounts that you may have left open in a country where you used to live. If you don’t have current records, make a note to get up-to-date statements for each account.

Once you have all your records together, choose a base currency that you normally think in as your reference currency, and translate each statement into that currency using current exchange rates. Then construct the following statements using a spreadsheet or personal finance software such as Quicken that has multi-currency capability:

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• Net worth: Using the same currency, list and total all your assets and all your liabilities. The difference between the two is your current household net worth.

• Income statement: Add up all household income, including salary net of tax, dividends, interest, and any other cash inflows such as net rental income

• Expense statement: Total all expenses, including basic living expenses, children’s education, travel, and discretionary spending such as dining out and gifts. If you aren’t sure on some items, look for clues on credit card statements, checking accounts, and cash withdrawn from bank accounts.

• Net income: The difference between your household income and expenses is your net income. You can calculate this on a monthly basis and sum it up to get your net income for a year. If you’re not yet retired, then hopefully this is a positive number!

This exercise may take several hours or perhaps part of a weekend to complete, but it’s extremely important to do if you’re going to get control of your expat household finances. The result of your efforts will be satisfying—not only will your household finances be more organized, but you’ll also have something few expat households manage to achieve: an accurate snapshot of your current household financial position. You and your spouse can make a date to go through the details together to be sure you both understand where you currently stand in terms of net worth and your ability to save.

Where Do You Want to End Up?

This next step is much more fun than the previous one. As a reward for the hard work, now you’re in a position to discuss and outline your long-term financial goals. This is where the two of you work out where you want that airplane ticket to take you, financially speaking. You and your spouse will want to discuss and agree on these goals together, but you can also do the preliminary work by coming up with some initial ideas. Financial goals should be specific, and answer questions like who, what, when, and where. Here are some examples of what long-term financial goals might look like:

• By age 60, Jack wants to retire with Diane in a tropical location and enjoy a lifestyle with living and travel expenses similar to what they pay now.

• Diane wants to purchase and live in a two-bedroom condo near the beach in Costa Rica.

• Jack and Diane want to send their two kids to four years of private university in Boston.

• Jack wants to buy a sailboat in the next five years.

At this stage, don’t be too concerned about whether all of your goals are achievable. Just get some ideas down on paper, and then set aside some time when you and your working spouse can discuss your ideas together.

Remember that this is intended to be an enjoyable discussion―you’re really talking about your life dreams. If it helps, make it a working date at your favorite coffee shop or bar. Prioritize what’s most important to each of you and come up with goals that you both can agree on. As you begin to solidify your goals, write them down, and plan to review and update them periodically. Over time, your priorities may change, or the goals themselves may change. But you’ll only have a chance of getting to your destination if you agree on where you want to go now and begin organizing your finances so that you can get there.

Draw Up Short-Term Goals to Act as Stepping Stones

Once you and your spouse have agreed on where you are heading, the next step is to draw up some short-term goals that act as a pathway or stepping stones to help get you there.

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One short-term goal for every expat household needs to be to maintain an emergency cash reserve. Depending on your specific family situation, your cash reserves should cover at a minimum several months of living expenses or possibly more.

Besides an emergency reserve, other examples of short-term goals for Jack and Diane could be:

• Set a monthly savings target of X amount to fund retirement goals and invest it in an appropriate, low-cost diversified portfolio in an appropriate tax jurisdiction for their situation.

• Track current living expense spending using a spreadsheet or a multi-currency program like Quicken to get a clear idea of how much is being spent and to look for possible areas of additional savings.

• Budget and plan expenses for thier next vacation and agree to try to stick to the budget as much as possible.

• Research how much a two-bedroom condo costs in Costa Rica today, and make some assumptions about how much it might cost when they retire.

• Plan a longer vacation in Costa Rica to see how much they really like it there.

• Research how much the private university college costs today and what it might cost when the kids are ready to attend. Look into college scholarships for which they might qualify.

You and your spouse can work together to create your own list of short-term goals.

Keep Going on Your Path to Financial Success

If you and your spouse have gotten this far in your planning, you’re doing great in your new role as Expat Household CFO. Together, you and your spouse will need to review progress periodically. Going forward, it may require some discipline on your part to help your household track and achieve its nearer-term goals, but this is where your role as the Expat Household CFO can really prove to be invaluable. If you’re willing and have the time and interest, you as the accompanying spouse can really make a difference in your household’s overall ability to achieve financial security.

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“One of the first things you’ll want to do is take a close look at where your bank accounts are located.”

Chapter 2: Banking in a Foreign Country

As the newly appointed Household CFO, one of the first things you’ll want to do is take a close look at where your bank accounts are located. If you don’t already have a local bank account in the country where you live and work, now may be the time to think about opening one.

As part of an expat household, it may not at first seem necessary to open a local bank account. However, there are several reasons why you might choose to do so. Simply put, having a local bank account can make managing your overseas finances easier and cheaper. For example, using a local account means you and your spouse can receive salary and overseas fund transfers, pay local bills, have ready access to the local currency, while also minimizing fees on international ATM transactions and foreign exchange. To help you get started banking in a foreign country, here are some considerations and tips.

Choose a Bank that Fits Your Needs

Once you and your spouse have decided that having a local bank account will be helpful to managing your overseas finances, the next question becomes: Which bank should you choose? In some cases, your spouse’s company may dictate where their salary must be deposited. But if you’re free to select your own bank, here are a couple of pointers to help in your selection:

1. Convenience—Where are bank branches located, and what are their operating hours?

2. Language—Can you communicate with the bank’s staff?

3. Services provided—Does the bank provide expats with services you’re interested in, such as savings and checking accounts, debit cards, online access, multi-currency options, and bill pay?

4. International transfers—How easy is it to transfer funds overseas, and what are the fees?

5. Other fees—How competitive are fees for services such as ATM withdrawals, checkbooks, and local fund transfers?

6. Online access—Does the bank have a consumer website, what language is it in, and how user-friendly is it?

7. Telephone access—Is there a bank consumer hotline available in a language you understand, and how long do you have to wait on hold before you can talk to someone?

8. Depositor protection—How safe are your deposits? Are they insured up to a certain amount?

9. Interest income—What rate does the bank pay for deposits? Can you invest in fixed deposits with excess cash?

10. Customer service―To gauge the bank’s overall level of service, check with other expats about their banking experiences.

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Opening an Account

Once you have selected a local bank, it’s time to open accounts. At a minimum, consider opening a savings account with ATM or debit card access, and, if available, a checking/current account as well as a local-currency credit card. You’ll want to apply for joint access to the accounts, so plan a time when you and your spouse can go to the bank together.

Check in advance as to what documents you’ll need to bring with you. At a minimum, you’ll need your passports or other personal IDs, and depending on the local rules and regulations, you may also need to show evidence of where you live (rental agreement or utility bill). Your spouse may need to bring a work permit or other proof of employment. Finally, in some countries, banks may also ask to see a copy of a statement from your home-country bank.

Joint Accounts

In most cases, it makes sense for you and your spouse to have joint access to your new local bank accounts. However, be sure you understand in advance what “joint access” means in your local country—it may be different than what you had previously understood. For example, be clear whether one or two signatures are required on withdrawal slips or checks, and whether either party can initiate foreign wire transfers or close the account. If necessary, consider getting a local power of attorney drawn up that covers the account so that either of you can enact critical financial transactions in case of an emergency or in the other’s absence.

Keeping Track

As with any bank account, you and your spouse will want to keep records of the cash flows in and out of the account. While most banks will send you monthly statements, these may get delayed or lost in the mail. If possible, sign up for online access to your account. This will enable you to balance your finances on your own schedule, rather than waiting for a monthly mailing.

To further help in recordkeeping, consider using a personal financial software program to track your accounts. Multi-currency programs like Intuit’s Quicken can be invaluable to expatriates not only in helping to track all of your bank accounts (foreign and home), but also in keeping accurate records of your household’s income, expenses, and other financial assets.

For Americans: Reporting Foreign Bank Accounts Using FBAR

If you’re a U.S. citizen, be aware that there are additional U.S. tax filing requirements for Americans with overseas accounts. Specifically, if you own or having authority over a foreign financial account (including bank accounts) and the aggregate value of all foreign financial accounts is over USD 10,000 at any time during year, you’re required to report foreign accounts each year to the Department of the Treasury using Form TD F 90-22.1 “Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR).” These filing requirements may change in the future, so it’s important to check with your U.S. tax advisor for any updates to the requirements.

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It’s clear that many people significantly underestimate the savings they need to acquire for retirement.

Chapter 3: Strategies for Boosting Your Family’s Savings

Now that you’ve sat down with your spouse and identified some of your long-term and more immediate financial goals and also begun to set up the financial accounts required to manage and simplify your life as an expat, it’s time to come up with a plan to fund your future goals. This is probably the most important task for you and your spouse to complete, especially if you’ve waited a bit longer to get started.

The Importance of Savings

In a special series of reports on pensions, “70 or Bust!,”1 The Economist took a look at the state of retirement pensions in developed countries and concluded that most people are just not saving enough to support a comfortable lifestyle in retirement.

There are a number of reasons for this. People are living longer and spending more time in retirement. Meanwhile, demographic trends and a decade of poor investment returns have resulted in underfunded public and private sector pensions. At the same time, there’s been a massive shift in the responsibility of funding retirement from the employer to the individual employee, or from Defined Benefit (DB) plans (where the employer pays) to Defined Contribution (DC) plans (where the employee pays). As reported in The Economist, “Between 1979 and 2009 the share of employees in DB pension plans in America fell from 62% to 7% of the total … whereas those in DC plans rose from 16% to 67%.”

On average, the lack of individual savings may indicate that people are still hoping someone else will pay for retirement. Whatever the reason, it’s clear that many people significantly underestimate the savings they need to acquire for retirement, as well as overestimate the investment returns they can achieve. As Tony Webb of the Centre for Retirement Research in Boston pointed out in The Economist’s special report, even a seemingly large retirement portfolio of USD 1 million will buy an inflation-linked annuity of just USD 45,000 a year.

Unfortunately, in many cases, USD 45,000 is far less than the average expat household spends on basic living expenses, let alone other major retirement expenses such as healthcare or travel. To support a comfortable middle-class retirement, most expats will need to substantially increase their savings rates.

10 Steps to Start Your Savings PlanThe sooner you get started saving, the easier it will be.

According to William J. Bernstein in the book Investor’s Manifesto, “Each dollar you do not save at 25 will mean two inflation-adjusted dollars you will need to save if you start at age 35, four if you begin at 45 and eight if you start at 55. In practice, if you lack substantial savings at 45, you are in serious trouble.”2

1The Economist, April 7, 2011. http://www.economist.com/node/18529505?story_id=185295052Bernstein, W. The Investor’s Manifesto. Wiley, 2009.

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Clearly, it’s important to get started saving as soon as possible. But while almost everyone understands the importance of saving, it’s often hard to put the principle into practice. If you’re struggling to get started with saving, consider these 10 action steps.

1. Set and Prioritize Goals

If you’ve followed the advice in Chapter One, you should have already covered much of the work of setting and prioritizing goals. The key is to be as specific as possible. Determine amounts and time frames. Set ideal and acceptable targets. Prioritize. Not all goals are equally important. You might want a BMW, but you could live with a Honda if that meant a more comfortable retirement. There are many ways to fund college for your kids (including borrowing), but you can’t borrow to support your retirement.

2. Determine How Much You Need to Save

Ideally, you should determine how much you need to save annually to fund each goal and then, based on the amount you can actually save, allocate those savings to the most important goals first. Determining how much you need to save depends on the future amount you need to fund, the time available for saving and the returns you can achieve on your savings. The longer the time horizon and the higher the return, the less you need to save.

To determine these amounts, you can use an online financial calculator or seek help from a qualified financial advisor. You can also do the math yourself.

3. Set Realistic Expectations for Investment Returns

Many people under save and fall short of their goals due to unrealistic investment return expectations. If you think you can achieve double digit returns year in and year out, you will be sorely disappointed. With an average inflation rate of 3–4% per year, you should be looking at an average return of 6–9% per year, depending on how much risk you’re willing to take with your savings. You won’t get this every year, but when you average your annual returns over time, they will likely be somewhere in this range.

4. Determine How Much You Can Save

Here is where you match your plans with reality. Determine how much you really can save. Most savings will come from salary, but a significant amount can be generated by being more efficient and less wasteful with the money you do have. Create a budget if you have to and figure out what you can live without or where you can substitute something less expensive. Savings can come from being more tax efficient, cutting unnecessary fees, and avoiding interest on consumer credit. Most people look for the big things, but cutting several little things can also add to big savings.

5. Revise Goals if Required

After determining what you can really save, go back to your goals. What can you afford? What needs to be adjusted? By reprioritizing and adjusting your goals, you can link your actual savings to the attainment of realistic goals. This is a critical step. For most people, there is no clear link between their actual savings and the financial goals they would like to achieve.

6. Build in Slack

No matter how well you plan, life is unpredictable and stuff happens. You need to build in some slack to your plan. Jobs don’t last forever, people get downsized, emergencies occur, and planned for investment returns don’t materialize. Assume that unplanned events will occur, and build that into your long-term savings plan.

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7. Find Out About Employer-Sponsored Plans

Find out what pension/savings plans and other benefits your employer offers and take advantage of them. This includes employee stock options, restricted stock, and deferred compensation plans. Take the time to understand your employer benefit plans or get help from someone who does. Many times, employers match employee savings in these plans. This is basically free money, but many employees don’t take advantage of it due to lack of knowledge, time, or indecision.

8. Find Out if You Are Eligible for Tax-Advantaged Savings

Beyond employer-sponsored plans, find out about the other tax-advantaged savings opportunities that may be available to you. This may not be as important for non-American expats, but even non-U.S. expats can be taxed on investment funds left in home country accounts rather than invested offshore. Also, be wary of trading tax savings for the excessive fees found in many offshore “savings/pension” opportunities.

American expats, though they live and work outside the United States, may still be able to take advantage of traditional IRAs, Roth IRAs, SEP IRAs, solo 401(k)s, 401(a)s, 403(b)s, and other savings vehicles. Either do the homework yourself, ask your tax advisor, or find a financial advisor who is familiar working with expats. Tax-deferred saving can be a big help in achieving your goals.

You may also be able to take advantage of various tax-advantaged opportunities in your country of residence. For example, in Thailand there are company provident funds, LTFs, and RMFs, all of which provide tax-deferred or tax-exempt savings subject to meeting the rules of each plan.

9. Prioritize Your Savings

Allocate your savings to the accounts where you get the biggest bang for the buck first. Typically, that will be employer-sponsored savings plans where you receive an employer match. After that, you will be looking at tax-exempt and tax-deferred savings vehicles followed by taxable savings. Just ensure you maintain enough savings outside tax-advantaged accounts, which typically levy penalties for early withdrawals, to meet unanticipated expenses and other short-term goals.

10. Beware of Misleading Advertising in the Offshore Markets

Finally, in the offshore world, beware of schemes marketed as a “Savings Plan,” “Pension,” or “College Fund.” Many of these are high-fee insurance-linked investment schemes, where the high fees and predatory nature of various contractual features often negate the benefits. There are many more options available in the offshore markets for investors today, and it pays to do your homework.

Whatever your goals, you will have the greatest chance of achieving them if you get started early, save more than you need, and plan for some slack in your plan. Just get started!

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Chapter 4: What You Need to Know About Investing

Saving is one of the most important tasks you can take on as an expat household. Unfortunately, very few of us will be able to save enough to afford to keep all of our savings in cash or in a savings account. Therefore, in addition to saving, it’s also important that you learn how to invest your savings wisely.

Investing is a full-time profession for many, and a myriad of books have been written on the hows and whys of making smart investment decisions. Expats also must consider the role that different currencies and tax jurisdictions should play in their portfolio. Given the complexity involved, our goal here is to simply introduce you to some of the concepts behind successful investing, as well as to provide you with some additional resources and book recommendations to further your understanding.

Speculating vs. Investing

In popular media, speculating is often confused with investing, but there is an important difference between the two. Speculating involves betting on the direction of short-term price movements, while investing is purchasing assets that generate an economic return over time. Betting on the short-run (also called market timing) is generally a losing proposition―you may occasionally get lucky, but you’ll generally lose over the long run. This is because short-term returns, driven by market greed and fear, are inherently unpredictable. On the other hand, long-term investment returns are ultimately driven by the cash flows generated by the underlying businesses. Having a calculated, well-thought out long-term investment strategy is much more likely to work for you than trying to time the market and hoping to get lucky.

The Relationship Between Risk and Return

Return is generally defined as how much you’ve made on an investment, and it is measured in percentage terms versus the original cost of the investment. At a basic level, we often think of risk as the possibility that a given investment will lose money. In the investment world, risk is often defined as deviation from the return that was expected. Risk is often measured in terms of annual volatility or standard deviation from the mean, but both risk and return can be measured in either the short or long-term.

The important points for you to remember when it comes to investing are:

1. It is really the long-term return and risk taken that should concern you.

2. There is a link between the amount of risk taken and the expected return of an investment.

Generally, you have to take on more risk (in this case, annual volatility in the price of your investments) in order to get a chance (not guarantee) of a higher long-term return.

In addition to saving, it’s also important that you learn how to invest your savings wisely.

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Diversification—Not Putting All Your Eggs in One Basket

Diversifying means spreading investment risk between many investments. Holding a couple of concentrated positions in individual stocks, even market favorites like Google or Apple, rarely makes sense. The risk of something going wrong in owning just a couple of stocks is simply higher than can be justified by the potential return those stocks may generate.

A better strategy is to purchase the entire asset class (in this case US Large Cap Growth stocks). While some of the companies in an asset class may experience real difficulty, overall a broadly defined asset class will not. Instead, the value of the asset class can be expected to appreciate over the long run, corresponding with the aggregate growth of the underlying companies in that particular asset class.

In today’s world, buying an asset class is easy to do―you can purchase an index mutual fund or exchange traded fund (ETF) that tracks the entire asset class. That way you get the overall growth of the asset class combined with diversification benefits, but at a far lower cost than you could on your own.

Asset Allocation―The Driver of Long-Run Returns

Allocating your savings between a defined mix of different asset classes is called “asset allocation,” and numerous studies have shown that it is asset allocation (as opposed to market timing) that is the major driver behind the long-run return of a portfolio. The greater proportion of volatile asset classes (equities and alternatives) that you include in your portfolio, the greater your chance at a higher returns over the long run. But to have a shot at the greater long-run returns, you’ll have to put up with volatility. Remember that while diversification will reduce your risk of loss, it doesn’t guarantee that your portfolio won’t experience a down year.

Investment Portfolio Returns―What to Expect

The following table is intended to give you some realistic expectations of what kind of returns an investment portfolio might generate over the long run, as well as what types of short-term (single-year) losses you might have to put up with on the way to achieving those returns. As this table shows, if you were to look back after more than 30 years of investing, the pathway to the end result would have been volatile, but if you were to take an average of the return achieved, you would find that you’d done well.

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Investment Portfolio Returns (1970-2010, in U.S. Dollars) Broad Asset Allocation

Equity: Fixed Inc Risk

20% : 80% Low

40% : 60% Moderate

60% : 40% Moderate

80% : 20% High

Avg. Annual Return

Total Real

8.1% 3.8%

8.5% 4.2%

9.1% 4.7%

9.7% 5.4%

One Year Range of Returns

2.2% – 14.06%

0.5% – 16.6%

-2.0% – 20.3%

-4.8% – 24.3%

End Valueof

$10,000

$247,424

$287,861

$358,161

$450,133

Worst OneYear Loss

(2008)

-4.0%

-11.6%

-21.0%

-30.0%

Passive vs. Active Funds―Why Minimizing Fund Fees Matters

To get exposure to a certain asset class, you can either choose a passively managed fund such as an index mutual fund or an ETF, or you can choose a mutual fund with an active fund manager. In most cases, buying passively managed funds is preferable. This is because, in general, most active managers don’t outperform their passively managed funds peers in a single year, let alone consistently over the many years you plan to

Source: Ibbotson & Associates, MGP

Notes: Both equity and fixed income are globally diversified among several sub-asset classes. Returns are pretax and exclude fund fees and assume annual rebalancing. Real return excludes average inflation of 4.38% per year during the period. One Year Range of Returns corresponds to one standard deviation, or the range that returns fell within two out of every three years

invest. While there are exceptions, in general it just doesn’t make sense to purchase an actively managed fund which may have a front- or back-load fee and running costs of 1.75–3% or higher each year. All this can equate to giving up a substantial portion (more than half) of the real rate of return that you might otherwise have expected to receive over time.

The Importance of Rebalancing

When the markets get rough, you may be tempted to bail on your investment portfolio and move to cash. Conversely, when markets are booming, you may also feel enticed to put all of your holdings into the hot asset classes that have already run. In fact, that’s exactly what market greed and fear will be telling you to do.

As tough as it may be, when your portfolio’s asset allocation percentage holdings have moved substantially away from your targets (or perhaps once a year) you’ll want to rebalance your portfolio back to the original weightings. This may require you to sell what has outperformed, and purchase what has underperformed, or it may be done by adding new cash savings. Rebalancing is a discipline that sounds easy, but can be difficult since it goes against what most market players will be doing. However, it will ensure that over the long run you buy low and sell high, one of the basic principles to successful investing.

Further Resources

We hope this chapter has provided a few useful concepts to help you succeed in investing. If you’re interested in learning more about this topic, we encourage you to take a look at some of the following books:

• The Investor’s Manifesto: Preparing for Prosperity, Armageddon, and Everything in Between by William J. Bernstein (Wiley, 2009).

• A Random Walk Down Wall Street: The Time-Tested Strategy for Successful Investing (10th edition) by Burton Malkiel (W.W. Norton, 2011).

• All About Asset Allocation (Second Edition) by Richard A. Ferri, CFA (McGraw-Hill, 2010).

• Investing in an Uncertain Economy For Dummies® by Sheryl Garrett (with three chapters contributed by Chad Creveling & Peggy Creveling) (For Dummies, 2008).

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Chapter 5: Insuring Against Risk

Saving and investing are a key part of managing your expat household finances. But in addition to saving, you also need to protect against risk. If you’re lucky―and we certainly hope that you are―nothing will ever go seriously wrong for you and your family. But unfortunately, the reality for most of us is that at some point, something adverse will happen. Your spouse may lose their job or your family business may fail. Someone could fall seriously ill, become disabled, or even die. While none of us wants or expects anything bad to happen, it’s important that we nevertheless plan for the possibility.

Having adequate insurance coverage is one way expat families can protect themselves against the negative financial consequences of unfortunate events. Yet insurance is one area where we often see gaps in an expatriate’s coverage, and/or areas of insufficient coverage. While many expats have some employer-provided insurance, corporate group policies may be insufficient to meet a family’s actual needs and could be of little use if the breadwinner is no longer employed at that company. You also need to understand the terms of your expat policies and realize that the regulations governing them may not be the same or as stringent as your home country. It pays to read the fine print.

To help you make sure that your family has adequate protection against adverse events, we’ve listed the main types of insurance every expat household should consider, along with some of the key features to watch out for. Pull out your existing insurance policies and review your coverage in light of the list below. Understand what you’re covered for and for how much. You can then determine whether you have any gaps that need to be addressed or areas where you need to bump up your coverage.

If think you need additional insurance, contact several insurance providers and review potential policies side by side along the key variable for that type of insurance. The insurance agent/broker is there to help you, but be aware that he may be representing interests other than yours. You will need to do some homework and be prepared to ask the right questions to ensure you’re getting the type and amount of insurance coverage you need.

One additional note, if you decide to replace a policy, don’t give up a policy you already own until you have obtained new coverage.

Health Insurance

Health insurance is your first priority and is one area where you should not skimp. To keep premiums affordable, elect for a high annual deductible on a comprehensive policy. You want to cover the major medical expenses, not every cough and sniffle.

In addition to saving, you also need to protect against risk.

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Policies available to expats can range from the pretty good to those that offer little more than glorified travel insurance. Few, if any, will approach the coverage and protections of a national health insurance plan. These considerations may not be a big concern for those who can repatriate to their home countries and plug back into to their national health systems. But for long-term expatriates and Americans, obtaining an adequate policy is critical.

When reviewing expat healthcare policies, ask the following questions:

• What are the annual and total policies limits per family? Per person?

• Are there limits on specific types of treatment or conditions?

• What is the difference between chronic and acute conditions?

• Does the policy cover chronic conditions?

• What is considered a chronic condition?

• Does the policy cover pre-existing conditions after an exclusion period or not at all?

• What conditions are excluded?

• What are the deductibles (excesses)?

• Are they per year or per claim?

• Is it a family deductible or per person?

• Is the policy guaranteed renewable as long as you pay the premium?

• Under what conditions can the insurer cancel the policy?

• Can policies be canceled on an individual basis?

• If you are covered by your employer, what happens if you are no longer employed?

• Can you convert to an individual policy without proving insurability?

Life Insurance

If someone is dependent on your income, you need life insurance. If not, you generally don’t. You also don’t need life insurance on your kids. Remember, the point of life insurance for most expats is to replace income if the policy holder dies. As for type of coverage, most expats only need a term policy, not a cash value, permanent, or investment-linked policy. Using life insurance as a vehicle for saving and investing is not generally a good idea.

Before buying life insurance, ask yourself these questions:

• How long does the policy to be in force?

• How much insurance do you need?

• Are the premiums level for the total insurance period or do they increase annually?

• Can you reduce coverage as your insurance needs decline?

• What’s required if you need to increase coverage?

• Is the policy guaranteed renewable on an annual basis as long as the premiums are paid?

• Can you convert the policy to a permanent policy without proving insurability again?

• For a work-provided policy, what happens if you leave your employer?

• Can you convert your corporate policy to an individual policy without proving insurability?

• What happens to the premiums if you convert to an individual policy?

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Disability Insurance

Disability insurance is one area where many expats are lacking. Some employers provide disability insurance, but many don’t. And of those that do, many polices only cover short-term disability. This is an area you will likely have to cover yourself as an expat or negotiate with your employer to pick up the premiums.

Before you purchase disability insurance, ask these questions:

• How much income is replaced? Ideally, you want at least 70%.

• How long will the benefits be paid? For a long-term policy you want coverage at least to age 65.

• How is disability defined?

• Is the coverage for “owner’s own occupation” or any “suitable occupation”? You want to avoid a policy that only pays benefits if you are unable to work in any occupation.

• Is the policy guaranteed renewable as long as you continue to pay the premiums?

• Under what terms can the policy be cancelled?

• How long is the elimination period, or the time you need to wait before benefits kick in?

Long-Term-Care Insurance

Long-term-care (LTC) insurance is a relatively new type of insurance and is not available in all countries. Where it’s available, long-term care insurance covers the cost of nursing home care and a variety of home-based nursing care. This type of care can be expensive, with residency in a nursing home costing between USD 50,000 and USD 100,000 per year depending on the area. These expenses are not typically covered by health insurance or other types of insurance.

Generally, you would start to consider this type of insurance when you are between 50 and 60 years old in order to keep premiums reasonable and to avoid being denied coverage for pre-existing conditions. If you’re considering buying a policy, check that your insurer has been in the LTC business for at least 15 years and has strong rating by several insurance rating agencies.

Questions you’ll want to ask about a long-term-care policy include:

• Will the policy cover you in your country of residence? Policies may not be available in all markets and many policies will not cover you outside the country of issuance.

• What services are covered?

• What requirements need to be met before coverage kicks in?

• How long will the coverage last? (The average stay in a nursing home is three years.)

• How much coverage do you need? Check the costs of nursing home care in the area where you will use the policy.

• Will you have other sources of income?

• Is there an annual inflation adjustment? You’ll want 5% compounded (not simple) if you are under the age of 70 to keep up with healthcare cost inflation.

• How long is the elimination or waiting period before benefits kick in?

• What is the insurer’s history of premium increases?

Other Insurance

We’ve discussed some of the major types of insurance that all expat families should consider. In addition, you will need to ensure you have adequate homeowners or renters insurance, as wells as auto insurance. Consider umbrella liability insurance, which is usually attached to a homeowners policy and relatively inexpensive, to

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cover accidents that occur on property you own or rent as well as covering automobile accident claims. Expats who are professionals, entrepreneurs, or business owners may need other types of insurance as well.

Having the right amount of insurance coverage is an essential part of your financial planning and critical to ensuring the security of your family. Make sure you have the right types and amounts of coverage. Do your homework and ask questions. This is not an area where you want to make assumptions or rely on a benevolent salesman.

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As an expat, there are a number steps you can take to meet the costs of college education.

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Chapter 6: College Funding for Expat Kids

Aside from planning for retirement or perhaps buying a house, saving for a child’s college education is one the biggest expenses most expat families will face. The costs of tuition, room and board, books, and supplies run anywhere from USD 20,000 to over USD 50,000 per year at the most elite universities. A four-year education for three children can run anywhere from USD 240,000 to USD 600,000. On top of that, college costs are increasing at twice the rate of normal inflation, or at an average rate of about 6% per year.

Faced with these numbers, you have to wonder if a college degree is even worth it. Fortunately, as an expat, there are a number steps you can take to meet the costs of college education.

1. Start Early

You’ve heard this before, but if you plan to pay for your kids’ college, you’ll be best off if you start saving early. Ideally, you want to start the day your child is born. By saving USD 200 per month and earning an average of just 6% per year over 18 years, you will have accumulated USD 77,471. If you wait until your child is five, that amount drops to USD 47,089. And if you wait until they’re 10, you accumulate just USD 24,566.

If you save through the entire 18 years, USD 43,200 of the total USD 77,471 comes from savings while USD 34,270 comes from investment earnings. Wait until they’re 10 and the investment earnings drop to USD 5,366 on total savings of USD 19,200.

If USD 200 a month sounds like a lot, consider that for many expats that’s the cost of one to two dinners out per month or not much more than month’s supply of Starbucks’ frappuccinos.

2. Save Rather Than Borrow

Considering the cost of borrowing makes the case for saving even stronger. The reason is simple. With saving you earn interest, and with borrowing you pay interest. Let’s say you need USD 100,000 to fund college in 10 years. If you can earn 6% per year on average, you will need to save USD 7,587 per year to reach USD 100,000 in 10 years.

On the other hand, if you borrow USD 100,000 at 6% repaid over a period of 10 years, your annual repayments would be USD 13,587.

The choice is pretty clear. Save USD 7,587 per year now or pay USD 13,587 per year later.

3. Separate College Savings from Retirement Funds

There are a number of reasons to separate college savings from your retirement funds. First, the differing financial aspects of college funding and retirement demand it. For college, you have anywhere from 5

to 18 years to save a specific amount which will be spent in a relatively short time in a specific currency. For retirement, you will likely have 20 or more years to accumulate savings, the accumulated savings need to last another 30 years or so, and the currency you need for retirement may be entirely different than the currency you need to pay for the cost of college. These financial objectives have substantially different accumulation periods, distribution requirements, and currency objectives. As a result, they demand entirely different investment portfolios.

Secondly, from a psychological and practical stand point, it is generally easier to maintain separate pools of money to fund such differing objectives. This makes it easier to set explicit goals and manage and measure progress. It also makes it less likely you’ll underestimate the true cost of funding both goals, which can happen when separate goals are lumped together and only vaguely defined.

Finally, while most parents don’t want to hear this, it very rarely makes sense to sacrifice your retirement goals to fund college for your children. There are many ways to fund an education. There aren’t so many ways to fund your retirement, especially if you’ve waited to begin saving.

4. Match the Currency in the College Portfolio to the Currency of Your College Expenses

Expat kids are lucky. As global citizens not only do they receive life-enriching cultural experiences and top-notch educations, but they also tend to have their choice of global universities pick from. All that choice is great, but it can make saving for college a bit more difficult. Currencies, even developed market currencies, can be extremely volatile as evidenced by the last few years. You don’t want to be saving in USD only to have the USD collapse against the AUD just before your child heads off to university in Sydney.

If your child is young, you still have time and can generally spread the college portfolio’s exposure over a number of developed market currencies. As your child gets older, however, you will need to start to make some choices. Once your child is within five years of attending university, you should ensure the bulk of the underlying currency exposure in the college portfolio matches the currency of the university expenses you will be paying.

5. Dial Down Portfolio Risk as College Entry Nears

Unlike retirement portfolios that distribute only a small part of the portfolio value in any one year and have 20 or more years to weather the market’s ups and downs, funds for college are needed during a specific and short period of time. This means that as this point draws near, you need to limit the risk in the portfolio to ensure all the funds are there when you need them. This is another reason why you want to start early. With 18 years to go, you can afford to invest in equities that may earn a return of 8% or more but are extremely volatile. By the time your child is between 8 and 10 years old, though, you will need to start reducing the equity portion. By the time your child is in high school, most of the portfolio should be in lower-risk and lower-return fixed income matched to the currency of your child’s future college expenses. It’s not worth the risk that the portfolio could plummet by 20% or more just as your child is entering college.

6. Take Advantage of Tax-Advantaged Plans if Available

Some expats are lucky in that they have the opportunity to accumulate savings “offshore” and avoid tax on their investment earnings from their home country and country of residence. Others, such as Americans and expats living and working in countries that tax worldwide income and assets, need to look for ways to save on taxes. A number of countries offer tax-exempt savings vehicles to encourage saving for education as long as the funds are used for legitimate education expenses.

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The tax savings can be considerable. Going back to our previous example in point number one, saving USD 200 per month earning 6% per year for 18 years results in accumulated funds of USD 78,236. If those returns are taxed at 33%, a marginal tax rate many U.S. expats find themselves in, accumulated savings drop to USD 63,952, a difference of USD 14,284.

Those expats subject to tax on their investments can explore options for tax-deferred/exempt savings. One of the best options for expat Americans is a 529 College Savings Plan.

7. Supplement Savings with Grants, Scholarships, Work Study, and Government Borrowing

For those who find the estimated cost of college daunting or who may have started saving a bit late, the good news is that you probably don’t need to fund the full amount. In fact, most students do not pay the full rack rate for college. According to the latest numbers from the National Center for Educational Statistics in the United States:

• 71.9% of students at four-year public universities and colleges received financial aid.

• 81.7% of students at four-year private colleges and universities received financial aid.

• For students attending college full time, the average amount of aid received was USD 12,700.

• Only 5% of students attended the most expensive schools. The average cost per year (tuition and fees) for an in-state, four-year public institution was USD 16,140 and USD 36,993 for a four-year private institution.

While you will likely have to save to help your children fund their education, you are unlikely to have to fund the full amount. Many countries and universities have grants, scholarships, work study programs, and government-subsidized borrowing for education expenses as well as tax-advantaged vehicles to encourage education saving. Even if your child is accepted at a pricey university, such as Harvard, many elite schools have very generous financial aid packages for those who need it.

Funding college can be a huge expense for many expats, but you can take steps to make the cost manageable by planning early. Don’t be daunted by the numbers―a combination of early saving, smart investing, and financial aid can make funding a college education affordable for nearly all expats.

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Chapter 7: Estate Planning Basics―Beyond a Will

If you’ve had a loved one pass away without a basic estate planning document such as a will, you know that heartache may not be the only thing you have to deal with. You also know how difficult it is to put the deceased’s affairs in order. Yet if you asked a group of expats, you’d likely find that a majority either don’t have a will, or have not updated their will to address their situation as an expat.

This is unfortunate, because dying intestate (without a valid will) can make things complicated for those left behind no matter where they live. This is even more so the case for expatriates, since their affairs are often spread across several countries. To avoid headaches and heartaches for you and your family, as well as to protect your assets, you and your spouse will want to execute a will, as well as several other legal documents that can assist you in the event one of you becomes incapacitated. In this chapter, we offer an overview of some of the basic estate planning documents you and your spouse should have to help get your affairs in order.

Will

A will is a legal document that addresses what should be done with your assets when you die, as well as what happens if both you and your spouse die at the same time. Wills also help to make the probate process―or how your estate is handled through the court system after your death―more orderly. If you have minor children, wills can be used to appoint a guardian or set up a trust.

Why you and your spouse each need a will: If either you or your spouse die intestate, the laws where your assets are located will decide how those assets are distributed. This distribution may be different from what either of you had intended, and the legal process for sorting everything out could take many months or even years. By making sure you both have valid wills in the legal jurisdictions where you have assets, you can make sure that your assets go to who you intended, and in a timely fashion. If you have children, you can appoint the person who will serve as their legal guardian should you both pass away at the same time.

Cross-border issues: If you have property or assets in more than one country (and depending on how those assets are titled), it may make sense to have a geographic will drawn up according to the local laws specifically covering the assets in each country. You will want to seek legal advice as to whether this is advisable in your situation, and to make sure each will is drawn up correctly so that there are no conflicts between the documents or anything that could make one or both of the wills invalid. Since you likely live in a different country than most of your other family members, make sure your heirs and executor know how to access your wills.

To avoid headaches and heartaches for you and your family... you and your spouse will want to execute a will.

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Living Will or Advance Health Care Directive

A living will, also called an advance health care directive, is a legal document that gives instructions as to what should be done if you are unable to make decisions due to illness or incapacity. This document can list the type of medical treatment you would prefer, such as under what conditions you would want to remain on life support or be given pain medication. It can also list other wishes, such as whether you prefer to die at home or in a hospital or hospice, whether you want a religious practitioner to attend to you, or whether you want other visitors. You can designate a single person to make decisions on your behalf if you cannot, or you can use a durable power of attorney for health care for this purpose (discussed below).

Why you and your spouse each need one: A living will can help you avoid unfortunate and heartbreaking situations, such as the one faced by the family of Terri Schiavo in the United States, by providing clear and convincing evidence of what your wishes are when you are no longer able to express them yourself.

Cross-border issues: You’ll need to check to see if living wills are honored in your country of residence, if one drawn up in your home country will suffice for both locations, or if you need to use different formats. Your local hospital or care practitioner should be able to advise you in this area. Make sure that your spouse and others know that you each have a living will and what your wishes are, and give them each a copy. Consider also giving copies to your health care practitioner, and/or legal or religious advisor.

Durable Power of Attorney for Health CareA durable power of attorney (POA) for health care gives a person you designate the ability to make healthcare decisions on your behalf, and to hire or fire medical personnel. It takes effect when a doctor decides that you are not able to make your own decisions, such as if you are in a coma or too ill or injured to be able to express yourself in any manner. Durable POAs for health care are sometimes combined with living wills in one document.

Why you and your spouse should have one: You and your spouse will want to have a durable POA for health care to avoid the difficult situation where a court order is needed to make medical decisions on your behalf. A durable POA for health care allows each of you to make decisions for the other, rather than leaving it to a doctor, a distant relative, or a judge who may not know what you or your spouse would want. In the event that you may be incapacitated at the same time, you can also appoint alternates to act on your behalf.

Cross-border issues: As with living wills, you’ll want to check to see if a durable POA for health care from your home country would be honored in your country of residence, or if you would need a different format.

Durable Power of Attorney for Finances

A durable power of attorney for finances is a legal document that allows for someone else to manage your finances on your behalf. This type of document can either take effect immediately, or it can be “springing,” meaning it is designed to take effect under certain circumstances, such as if a doctor certifies that you are unable to make decisions for yourself.

Why you and your spouse should have one for each other: Even under normal circumstances, durable POAs for finances can be extremely useful. For example, if one of you is out of town or otherwise not available, the other will be able to take care of normal financial transactions. However, at a minimum, a springing durable POA for finances that takes effect if one of you becomes incapacitated would allow the other to make necessary financial decisions for you both, without the need for a court order.

Who Can Help You

While it’s tempting to try to save money by using pre-printed forms or handwritten (holographic) wills, it is easy to make a mistake or omit a necessary phrase that could invalidate all your efforts. Your best bet

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therefore is to find an estate planning attorney in your home country who can walk you through the basics of getting valid basic estate planning documents in place. You may also wish to consult with an estate planning attorney in your country of residence, or in any location where you and your spouse own significant assets. Finally, for living wills and durable POAs, you’ll want to check with legal advisors and health care practitioners in your country of residence to make sure that these documents are drawn up using a format that will be honored there as well.

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Conclusion

We’ve discussed some of the steps you can take to begin organizing your expat financial life. Of course, if you’re new to expat life (or just inexperienced with financial planning in general) you may be feeling a bit overwhelmed. That’s normal. We were once in your position―new to the expat lifestyle and unsure about what steps we should take to create a secure financial future. Our advice to you in this book is based not just on our years of experience as financial advisors, but also on our experience as expats ourselves. We understand the rewards, and the challenges, that come with living an expat lifestyle, because we’ve been through them too.

As financial advisors, our goal is to help other expats make the most of their lives abroad, pursuing opportunities, planning for the future, and taking steps to achieve their financial goals. We hope that the information in the previous chapters will help you to do that. By assigning one spouse the role of “Household CFO,” we believe it will be easier for you to work together to prepare for the unexpected, take proactive steps to improve your financial situation, turn your dreams into reality, and create peace of mind.

Now that you’ve finished reading this book, we encourage you to work together as a couple to implement some of the strategies we’ve described. By creating a comprehensive financial action plan, you’ll be able to take steps that will allow you to get your household finances in order so that you are able to achieve financial security and truly enjoy all the benefits of an expat lifestyle.

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We understand the rewards, and the challenges, that come with living an expat lifestyle.

Specializing in helping expatriates throughout Southeast Asia build and preserve wealth.

About the Authors

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Chad Creveling, CFA

Chad is the Managing Director of Creveling & Creveling Private Wealth Advisory. His experience in institutional research, corporate advisory, and private wealth advisory has given him a firm grasp

of the financial issues and challenges facing his international clients, as well as the experience and analytical skills needed to help them evaluate their options and make good planning decisions. In addition to being a Chartered Financial Analyst, Chad has been certified by the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc. to advise on U.S.-related financial planning matters. A former U.S. Army Infantry officer, Chad is known for his good judgment, clear thinking, and solid decision-making skills. He brings to his clients an exceptionally high level of dedication, a clear communication style, and a genuine desire to help them reach their financial and life goals. Chad has commented on expat financial planning issues for The Wall Street Journal, Financial Planning Magazine, Human Resources Executive, Acclimate Magazine and other media outlets.

Peggy Creveling, CFA

Peggy is the Executive Director of Creveling & Creveling Private Wealth Advisory. In her previous position as an institutional head of equity research, she pushed her analysts to go beyond the

surface story and delve into more detailed analysis of economic forecasts, industry trends, and corporate cash flows. As a result, her team produced higher quality recommendations for their fund manager clients. In addition to being a Chartered Financial Analyst, Peggy has been certified by the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc. to advise on U.S.-related financial planning matters. A former U.S. Military Intelligence Officer, she was known for her ability to grasp complex concepts quickly and communicate thoughtfully and with insight. Patient, clear-headed, and articulate, she welcomes her private clients’ questions and works with them to make the most of their financial resources. Peggy has shared her knowledge for financial planning for expats with publications such as Mintlife, Expat Women, OffshoreRed, and The American Women’s Club of Thailand Newsletter.

3 Sukhumvit Soi 30, Khlong Toey, Bangkok 10110 Tel: +66 2 661-2716 | crevelingandcreveling.com

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