France Financial, Villasavary, Aude, Lanquedoc-Roussillon, south west France

We offer a wide range of financial advice aimed at helping English speaking expatriates adapt to financial life in France.

For English Speaking Newcomers:  

Are you taking a new direction in your life? All set to start a new life in France?
Let France-Financial be your personal guide to help you with all aspects of your new financial  life in France. There are many differences between the two systems that you need to know in order to make best use of your resources.  From tax efficient savings and investments to inheritance issues and life insurance, we can help you ensure that you make the right choices.

 

For French Residents:  

Have you been here for a while now but never quite got round to making your first tax return?  Do you have those nagging doubts as to whether you should really have that investment bond in Jersey, and whether you should be reporting it?  Have you been thinking about how your children from your first marriage will fare when the time comes to share out your estate?

 

The Spectrum IFA group is the largest financial advice firm for UK expats in France, with 15 advisers spread throughout the various regions.  We are totally independent, and work on a commission basis.  This commission is paid by financial product providers, which means that we can offer our client services completely free of charge.  We will visit you, or if you prefer you can come to us.  We will undertake a detailed study of your current financial situation and make a set of recommendations where appropriate that you are totally free to adopt of ignore.

 

Here are some of the things you should be looking out for:

 

Investments
It is vitally important to seek sound advice regarding savings and investments from an adviser who knows the differences between the French and UK financial environments. You may indeed already have an IFA in the UK who is desperately keen to keep you as a client. He will of course do his best to offer correct advice, but he may not be aware of the French tax authority's views on PEPs and ISAs, any more than he will know about the French taxation of offshore investments. You now need someone to advise you how efficient your savings portfolio is in the country in which it will be taxed.


Insurance
Things don't get a lot more boring than insurance. Well maybe pensions. Luckily for you, you won't be around to explain to your widow why you decided you couldn't afford to provide for her and the children if the worst should happen. Or maybe you thought that your pension would be enough to support your wife as the kids are long gone, but will it? On a more mundane level have you ever wondered just what all that small print in your French home insurance or car insurance policy actually says? If you need to claim, is your French up to it?


Inheritance
Please do not assume that your UK will is going to have any relevance in France for anything more than UK property. To say the least, it works differently over here. It is so important to make sure that you understand French succession law and its associated tax structure. Maybe you even thought that your savings and property would pass automatically to your wife on your untimely passing. Think again. You may well have read that inheritance tax is no longer payable between spouses, but did you realise that succession law is unchanged? Many of us these days have less than tidy family histories. If you are blissfully happy with your current partner but your three children are from two previous marriages your local notaire will have no problem allocating your estate for you when you die. It might just be worth finding out how that might pan out in advance, just in case your wishes and his plans do not match.


Mortgages
Whether you need a mortgage to finance your first property in France, or maybe to buy a second home or even a renovation project, let me introduce you to a suitable lender from my extensive range of contacts within the French banking community.

******

More about France-Financial

France-Financial is a web enterprise run by me, Rob Hesketh.  I am a partner in The Spectrum Group (TSG Insurance Services SARL), which is a pan-European group of financial advisers. We believe that it is vitally important to be registered and licensed in each of the countries in which the group operates. To that end I am registered with the Organisme pour le registre des intermédiaires en assurance (ORIAS). 

 

Take a look at the France Financial website

• My immatriculation number is 07 032 505. Please feel free to check this registration on www.orias.fr.

 

• My SIRET number is 49122857300011.

• The TSG registration details are as follows:

TSG Insurance Services S.A.R.L.

Siège Social: 34 Bd des Italiens, 75009 Paris
« Société de Courtage d'assurances » R.C.S. Paris B 447 609 108 (2003B04384), Numéro d'immatriculation 07 025 332 - www.orias.fr