09 Oct 5 Money Mistakes British Expats Make After Moving to Singapore
By John Whittaker
Moving to Singapore gives you plenty to think about. Where to live, how much everything costs, which MRT exit you should actually be using and why a five-minute walk somehow leaves you looking like you’ve run a half marathon.
Your finances tend to come further down the list.
That is understandable, but it can also get expensive. The UK financial system does not suddenly forget about you because you have got on a plane, and some of the decisions you make in the first few years overseas can follow you around for a long time.
These are five things I regularly see British expats overlook.
1. Assuming HMRC has forgotten about you
It would be nice if leaving the UK worked like this: you get on the plane, HMRC waves you off and everyone goes their separate ways.
Unfortunately, HMRC isn’t generally known for being that accommodating.
Whether you remain UK tax resident is determined under the Statutory Residence Test. It looks at how many days you spend in the UK, but also at things such as property, work, family connections and your recent residence history.
So simply having a Singapore address and an Employment Pass does not necessarily make the UK tax system disappear.
If you retain enough UK connections, you may still be UK resident and potentially taxable there on worldwide income.
It is much better to establish your position properly than assume you are non-resident and discover a few years later that HMRC takes a different view.
2. Leaving old pensions and ISAs to look after themselves
This is probably one of the most common ones.
You leave the UK, start a new job in Singapore and your old pensions and ISAs sit exactly where you left them. Nothing appears to be wrong, so they get ignored.
Ten years later you might have several pension pots, different investment strategies, overlapping charges and absolutely no idea what half of them are invested in.
That doesn’t necessarily mean you should move them. Sometimes leaving them exactly where they are is the right answer.
But it should be a decision rather than an accident.
It is worth reviewing the investments, charges, beneficiaries and overall structure periodically. The same applies to your UK State Pension record.
ISAs can normally remain open when you move overseas, although most non-UK residents cannot continue contributing to them.
The important point is simply not to confuse “nothing has happened” with “everything is fine”.
3. Ignoring currency risk
You earn Singapore dollars but still have expenses in pounds.
Perhaps there is a UK mortgage. Maybe you are paying university fees, supporting family or regularly transferring money back home.
That means movements in GBP/SGD can affect your monthly finances even when absolutely nothing else has changed.
Most people don’t want to become amateur currency traders, and I wouldn’t recommend trying.
What is worth avoiding is transferring large amounts whenever you happen to remember and accepting whatever exchange rate your bank gives you.
Banks are businesses. They aren’t exchanging your money as a public service.
For regular payments, scheduled transfers can make sense. Multi-currency accounts can also be useful, particularly if you regularly hold both sterling and Singapore dollars.
And if you are transferring a large amount, look at the exchange rate and charges rather than concentrating only on the headline transfer fee. That is often where the real cost is hiding.
4. Underestimating how much Singapore costs
Singapore is a fantastic place to live.
Cheap, it isn’t.
Rent is usually the obvious one, particularly for expats who do not have the same housing options as Singapore citizens.
Then you start adding everything else.
International school fees. Medical insurance. Flights home. Taxis. Eating out. Maintaining a UK property. Children’s university costs.
Individually, none of it necessarily looks alarming. Add it all together and the number can be rather different.
I would rather see someone build a realistic budget and discover they are comfortably within it than convince themselves everything will work and spend the next two years wondering where their salary goes.
Insurance deserves particular attention.
Singapore has excellent healthcare, but private treatment can be expensive. Check what your employer provides and what happens if you leave that employer.
The same goes for life insurance, critical illness and income protection. A UK policy does not automatically mean you are properly covered after moving overseas.
Finding that out when you make a claim is leaving the investigation rather late.
5. Assuming wills and estate planning can wait
Nobody moves to Singapore and thinks, “Brilliant, now I can spend Saturday sorting out my will.”
So it gets put off.
Then five years becomes ten.
Once your assets are spread across different countries, estate planning becomes more important, not less. You may have property in the UK, investments in Singapore, pensions elsewhere and family members living in several jurisdictions.
A UK will may still form part of the solution, but it is worth checking that your arrangements actually work across the countries involved.
The same applies to powers of attorney. If you become unable to deal with your own affairs, somebody needs the legal authority to step in.
Families often assume that being a spouse or an adult child automatically gives them that authority.
It doesn’t.
A relatively small amount of planning while everything is fine can prevent an enormous amount of administration when it isn’t.
So what should you actually do?
You don’t need to overhaul your entire financial life because you have moved to Singapore.
But you should know where you stand.
Check your UK residence position. Review the pensions you left behind. Understand your currency exposure. Work out what Singapore actually costs you. Make sure your protection and estate planning still work.
None of that is particularly exciting.
Then again, neither is discovering a tax problem, an unsuitable pension or an insurance gap several years after you could have dealt with it.
If your finances now span the UK and Singapore and you are not entirely sure how the pieces fit together, it is worth getting them reviewed.
You are welcome to contact me if you would like to have a conversation about it.
John Whittaker is an Authorised Representative of Global Financial Consultants Pte Ltd – No: WJE300421316 | MAS License No: FA100035-3
To learn more about how he might be able to help you, please contact John:
Phone Number: +65 8331 7103
Email: john.whittaker@gfcadvice.com
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/john-whittaker-8bbab6138
General Information Only: The information on this site is of a general nature only. It does not take into account your individual financial situation, objectives or needs. You should consider your own financial position and requirements before making a decision.
*Please note that John Whittaker is not a tax agent or accountant and none of the content outlined here should be taken as personal advice. You should consult your tax agent and financial adviser to review your current personal finances and financial goals to consider whether this strategy is appropriate for you.