The pandemic is forcing some older workers to revise their financial planning for retirement. One option is retiring abroad to a destination that is more tax efficient and has other lifestyle benefits, like Portugal.

The deadline of 31 December 2020 is fast approaching, after which moving to Portugal from the UK will be subject to a new raft of rules, some of which are still unclear.

Don’t miss out – get prepared now. Get the answers and get ready.

Our first event on this subject on 29th October 2020 was oversubscribed, so we will be addressing this topic again on 17th November 2020.

During the webinar we will briefly summarise the issues discussed before, and then consider fresh questions around tax planning, currency management, and receiving your British state and personal pensions in Portugal. We will be devoting more time to answering your questions live during the discussion, so send them in advance to  info@portuguese-chamber.org.uk  if you have a specific question for us.

If you cannot attend but know someone who might want to move to Portugal, please forward this invitation to them!

Limited tickets available – Book asap!

Christina Hippisley will moderate the webinar, and John Mather will explain some of the financial implications of the pandemic for older workers and savers, and also detail the reasoning behind his choice of Portugal for his retirement.

The 30-minute session will cover three sections of 10 minutes

1) Introduction

2) 10 mins – Summary of the financial and lifestyle issues behind my move to Portugal

3) 10 mins –  Tax planning, currency management, and receiving your British state and personal pensions in Portugal.

4) 10 mins – Questions from the audience

The webinar will last 30 minutes and there are a limited number of places – first come, first served!

Have a specific question you want answered? Send us an email in advance and we will endeavour to answer it during the webinar.

The moderator of this webinar is Christina Hippisley, General Manager at the Portuguese Chamber of Commerce in the UK

Christina has been the General Manager at the Chamber since 2009. She started her career in advertising and media relations, working first in London before moving to Lisbon, where she spent 10 years living and working in advertising and media related-businesses. Having built a successful book and contract magazine publishing business in Portugal, with offices in Lisbon and the Algarve, she sold the business and returned to London. Christina moderates the Moving to Portugal webinars and introduces the speakers.

About the Portuguese Chamber of Commerce in the UK

This is a member-led organisation active in both Portugal and the UK. It promotes and supports two-way business initiatives and bi-lateral trade by organising regular webinars, live conferences and networking events across several business sectors.

Christina’s guest for the webinar is John Mather

Despite ‘retiring’ recently to Portugal after a lifetime in the financial services industry, John is still retained by 40+ clients to advise generally on over £600m of investment assets.

John’s most recent role was as a Director of Stanbridge Family Office in Russell Square, London. He has now taken up a position with Beacon Wealth in Portugal, taking his own advice on relocating to the Portuguese island of Madeira (with all its attendant tax and lifestyle benefits) and not leaving Europe.

John, who is a member of the Chamber, is now spending more time advising others who are relocating to Portugal on the implications of residence and domicile on their lifestyle, on a one-to-one basis. John’s aim is to pass on to others genuinely holistic, experienced financial knowledge so they can prepare for the challenging times ahead.

Background to the Webinar

Age is recognised as a major risk factor in the pandemic. The Institute for Fiscal Studies has examined this age/risk relationship not in terms of mortality, but in its overall impact on those nearing the end of their working lives.

In a new Briefing Note, the IFS draws on data from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA) Covid-19 study to investigate how older workers (defined as in their 50s and above) have reacted to the pandemic, including how their retirement plans have already been affected by the crisis.

The data were collected in June–July 2020 and the main retirement-related findings were:

– Nearly 25% of employees aged 54 and over who had been working before the crisis were on furlough in June–July 2020, while of those who continued to work, 20% were on reduced hours. Among the self-employed aged 54 and over, a third were not working, and among those who were working only 20% reported they could carry on their work as normal.

– 5% of those aged 66–70 and 14% of those aged 71 and older who were working immediately before the crisis reported being retired by June–July. Although the sample size means the finding should be treated with caution, only half of those retirees said that they had left work because they were ‘planning to retire around now anyway’. The corollary is that the other half was forced into ‘early’ retirement.

– 13% of older workers have altered their retirement plans because of the pandemic, with 8% planning to retire later and 5% planning to retire earlier. The research found that there was little association between income and the probability that an individual is now planning to retire earlier, but those with the highest incomes are nearly 5% more likely to be now planning to retire later. A similar probability of later retirement applied to those working from home (who tend to be the higher earners).

– Surprisingly, the IFS found little difference in the change in retirement plans between those who are clinically vulnerable or extremely clinically vulnerable and those who are not. However, the IFS also notes that the question was addressed to existing employees in June-July, by which time a significant proportion of those aged 66 and older, who were employed pre-crisis and clinically vulnerable, had already chosen to retire.

– One group that the IFS found to be significantly more likely to be planning to retire later was those with defined contribution pension funds who reported that the value of their accumulated pension had declined from its level before the pandemic. All else being equal, the IFS reckons these individuals have a 5% greater probability of now planning to retire later than those without any defined contribution pension saving.