Financial planning for Australians returning home
Returning to Australia can bring overseas assets, investments, pensions and accumulated wealth back into an Australian financial system that may have changed while you were away. Majenda helps returning Australians bring these pieces together and plan how their finances should be structured once they are back home.
What We Help With
Repatriation planning is about more than transferring money home. It is about understanding how your overseas wealth fits into your Australian financial position.
Superannuation
Review how Australian superannuation fits within your broader position and the contribution or retirement strategies available to you.
Investments
Consider how overseas funds and investments may be incorporated into an Australian investment strategy.
Retirement Planning
Bring pensions, superannuation, investments and expected income together when planning for retirement in Australia.
Cross-Border Coordination
Coordinate Australian financial planning with the international tax and overseas advice required as part of your return.
Is This Service Right For You?
Majenda’s current international focus is primarily Australians returning from the United Kingdom, the Middle East and Switzerland.
This service may be relevant if you:
- are preparing to return to Australia after living overseas
- have accumulated substantial assets while abroad
- expect to transfer significant funds to Australia
- hold investments, pensions or property overseas
- need to reconsider your Australian superannuation position
- are approaching retirement or returning to Australia to retire
- want your tax and financial planning decisions considered together
- expect to keep assets in more than one country after returning
More About Repatriation Financial Planning
Returning home changes the financial picture
Years spent overseas can leave your financial affairs spread across several countries and different types of assets.
You may return with cash from the sale of overseas investments or property, a UK or other foreign pension, employee shares, Australian superannuation, foreign currency and investments you intend to retain overseas.
Once you return, these assets need to be considered as part of one Australian financial position.
Questions may include:
- How much should remain invested overseas?
- How should funds brought back to Australia be invested?
- What role should superannuation play?
- How should an overseas pension fit into the wider plan?
- How will your investment strategy change once you are resident in Australia?
- Are you returning to work, approaching retirement or already financially independent?
- How should tax considerations influence the order of financial decisions?
The answers depend on your circumstances, objectives and the assets involved.
Tax planning often comes first
For many returning expats, financial planning begins before the financial advice itself.
Decisions involving overseas property, investments, pensions and foreign income can have Australian tax consequences, particularly as your residency changes.
That is why Majenda often starts with international tax advice while a client is still overseas, helping identify issues that may need attention before the return.
Once the client is back in Australia, or when Australian financial advice can appropriately be provided, Majenda Financial can help develop the financial strategy that follows.
This creates a clearer transition from:
International tax planning before the move
↓
Returning to Australia
↓
Australian financial planning after the move
One financial plan, even when your assets are in different countries
Returning to Australia does not necessarily mean every overseas asset needs to be moved or sold.
Some clients continue to hold property, investments, pensions or other assets offshore after returning.
The important part is understanding how those assets fit within the wider financial plan.
Majenda can help consider the Australian side of:
Funds Returning to Australia
How available cash and investments may be incorporated into your Australian financial position.
Australian Superannuation
The role superannuation may play in accumulation, investment or retirement planning once you return.
Overseas Assets You Retain
How foreign investments, property or pensions fit alongside your Australian assets.
Retirement Income
How different sources of income and capital may work together when planning retirement in Australia.
Investment Strategy
How your Australian investment position should reflect your circumstances, objectives and tolerance for risk.
Ongoing Tax Coordination
Where financial decisions have tax consequences, Majenda Australia and Majenda Financial can coordinate the relevant Australian advice.
How our repatriation financial planning works
1. Book a Time
2. Understand Your Position
3. Coordinate the Advice
4. Build the Australian Plan
Majenda Financial develops and implements the Australian financial strategy appropriate to your circumstances and the agreed scope of advice.
Planning your financial return to Australia?
20+ years
Working with Australian expats
Tax + financial planning
Related Australian advice coordinated within Majenda
Cross-border experience
Understanding the transition from overseas life back to Australia
Why Majenda?
Majenda has worked with Australian expatriates for more than 20 years, helping clients deal with the tax and financial consequences of living overseas and returning home.
Director Geoff Taylor is qualified in both tax and financial planning and holds a Master of International Taxation degree from the University of Sydney.
This combination is particularly relevant to repatriation planning because the decisions made before returning can directly affect the financial strategy that follows.
Majenda Australia provides Australian tax and international tax advice.
Majenda Financial provides Australian financial planning advice as a Corporate Authorised Representative of Paragem Pty Ltd, AFSL 297276.
Where specialist advice is required under another country’s laws, Majenda can work alongside appropriately qualified overseas advisers.
Frequently Asked Questions
When should I start financial planning for my return to Australia?
It can be useful to start considering your return well before the move, particularly if you have significant overseas property, investments or pensions.
Tax planning may need to occur first, while the Australian financial planning stage can follow when appropriate.
Can Majenda provide financial advice while I am still living overseas?
The ability to provide Australian financial advice to someone living overseas depends on the relevant financial-services laws and Majenda’s authorisations.
Majenda can discuss your circumstances and provide Australian tax advice while you are overseas where appropriate. The financial planning stage may commence once you return to Australia or when Majenda is permitted to provide the required advice.
Should I move all my overseas assets back to Australia?
Not necessarily.
Some returning expats retain property, investments, pensions or other assets overseas. Whether assets should be retained, sold or transferred depends on your circumstances, objectives, tax position and the relevant rules in each jurisdiction.
Can Majenda help me decide what to do with funds I bring back to Australia?
Majenda Financial can provide Australian financial advice on how available funds may fit within your investment, superannuation and retirement strategy, subject to your circumstances and the agreed scope of advice.
Can you help with my UK pension as part of the repatriation plan?
Yes.
Majenda Australia can advise on the Australian tax aspects of a UK pension, while Majenda Financial can provide Australian financial advice where appropriate.
Where UK-regulated pension advice is required, an appropriately qualified UK adviser must provide that part of the advice.
Do I need international tax advice as well as financial planning?
Often, but not always.
If your return involves foreign property, investments, pensions, employee shares or other overseas assets, Australian international tax issues may need to be considered before financial planning decisions are made.
Majenda can determine which advice is required and the appropriate sequence.
Can Majenda help if I am returning to Australia to retire?
Yes. Repatriation planning can include Australian superannuation, investments, retirement planning and the integration of overseas assets or pensions into your Australian financial position.
What should I send before the first meeting?
A brief summary is helpful, including:
- where you currently live
- your expected return date
- your main Australian and overseas assets
- pensions and superannuation interests
- your employment or retirement plans
- the main decisions you need help with
This gives us enough context to determine the appropriate next step.
Bring your financial position together before your next move
If you are preparing to return to Australia or have recently come home, speak with Majenda about how your overseas assets, Australian superannuation, investments and future plans fit together.