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Retirement plans and pensions for multi-national company

Shanghai Expat Forum Index » Hot Topics Forums » Visas, Taxes, and Legalities

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seamaster

Newbie

Joined: Jan 01, 2005
Posts: 4

Status: Offline

Posted: Jan 22, 2005 - 05:18 PM
Post subject: Retirement plans and pensions for multi-national company

Ok, I'm not old, but yes we should all plan and save for retirement when we're young, right? Being an expat and working overseas, just wondering what other expats are doing with regards to planning for their retirement today. I'm starting to find out that there are different regulations in the US regards to income earned overseas and how it eliminates the options of contributing to a 401K or IRA. I don't think my situation is unique as there are other Americans and epats living and working in Shanghai. Suggestions, recommendations, tips, or ideas?

bravojohnny

Raver

Joined: July 08, 2004
Posts: 497

Status: Offline

Posted: Jan 22, 2005 - 07:47 PM

Same here start spilling out peeps

Kiwi

Post Boaster

Joined: May 07, 2003
Posts: 4763

Status: Offline

Posted: Jan 22, 2005 - 09:35 PM

Dunno. . .

If you want to save for retirement how about you just save some money and invest it? Seems straightforward enough.

I don't understand all the the intricacies of 401ks, IRAs etc, but I don't see the big problem here. So being outside the US may mean you lose advantages like employer contributions to your retirement fund, but on the other hand you probably pay less tax. Wouldn't the savings in tax probably offset any disadvantages from not being able to contribute to a 401k?

Newbie

Joined: Dec 04, 2004
Posts: 4

Status: Offline

Posted: Jan 25, 2005 - 01:25 PM

It very much depends on how long you intend to remain expatriate. Offshore retirement plans offer tax-free growth which is great however, for US nationals, any payment made when resident in the States is treated as a taxable event and the benefit is lost from thereon.

So, if you're a long-term expat then go for it. If you want something more flexible that you can cash out of with little or no penalty, then those are available. If you're looking at straight lump sum investments such as a portfolio bond that allows you to switch between various funds, then these will definitely do the trick.

Take a look at http://www.offshore2online.com. There's a wide range of products on there but please have a look at the eligibility heading as not all are available to US nationals.

If you want to meet up one of our guys in Shanghai to have a chat then that's also an option. You can either pm me or fill out the contact form in the site. Cheers. Alex.

liam

Lurker

Joined: Apr 09, 2004
Posts: 22

Status: Offline

Posted: Feb 07, 2005 - 08:57 PM

I know from experience that the info etc can become overpowering but as long as you know basically what you want to do (ie save, invest and accumilate as much money as you can while here), the one thing you need to do is see a few of the offshore companies based here to get a feeling of not just what's on offer savings wise, but the company you have advising you.

I'm not going to be biased by naming mine here but I feel a lot more comfortable knowing my guys have got all the licenses etc to be in China and that they offered me investments not just from one company but several which gave me a better choice to focus on what I needed . And they're upfront on the US issues. You hear some stories of "advisers" that fly in one week a year if you're lucky.

So research the advising company, their experience, their legality here and be sure to get a full explanation on the US issues. If that meets with what you're doing, ask for a few different ideas from the different companies they deal with (if they've only got one company - are you really getting what you need or simply what they can offer you?)

Hope this helps, Liam Very Happy

hammerforlife
Fire-eater

Joined: May 24, 2004
Posts: 2701

Posted: Feb 07, 2005 - 09:31 PM

Yes I would totally agree with Liam. The subject can get as complicated as you want it to but do your research and speak to the companies involved. There are good companies and not such good ones. I found a very good one that gave great advice but it was down to a large slice of luck rather than skill on my part.