Planning engagements

Every adviser you have met understands one side of your situation.

Your accountant in Bengaluru knows what an NRO account is. Your tax adviser in Stockholm knows how your investment account is taxed. Neither has seen the other half, and the expensive mistakes live exactly where the two halves meet.

I do the planning work myself, for a small number of households who live in Western Europe or Scandinavia and hold wealth somewhere else. The app is how the work gets delivered, and you keep it afterwards.

What you actually leave with

Not a forecast to the year 2050. The first thing you get is a gap list: the things in your current setup that will cost you money in the next two years, and roughly how much each one costs.

Then the plan that closes them, in order, with the reasoning written out. You will disagree with some of it. That is the point of writing it down.

It is not only a look backwards. What you are missing counts too: the size of your retirement shortfall and which kind of provision closes it, what the education number actually is and when it starts, what to restructure before a move rather than after. Naming the right kind of thing is planning. Naming the product is someone else's job, and I will tell you what to ask them.

How an engagement runs

01Talk

The first conversation

You talk, I listen and ask. Family, assets, liabilities, every country you touch. At the end you get a package and a fee in writing, and a decision to make. Nothing proceeds until you have made it.

02See

You send documents, I build the picture

Statements, grant letters, deeds, pension paperwork, returns. The system reads them and fills in your file before you ever see it, so your job is correcting rather than typing. If you'd rather not share documents, we type it in together.

03Plan

The plan

The gap list first: the things that will cost you money in the next two years, and roughly how much. Then the plan, in writing, with the reasoning shown so you can argue with it.

04Keep

Then twice a year, plus whenever you need it

We meet every six months to re-run the plan against what actually changed. On top of that you get two meetings a year whenever a question comes up. Send the question through the app first and the answer is ready when we sit down.

One fee covers the year: the plan, a review every six months, two more meetings whenever you need them, and the app. Engagements are priced as annual packages, depending on the countries and moving parts involved, and quoted in writing after the first conversation. Never a percentage of what you hold.

Is this for you?

I work with a small number of households, so it's worth knowing before you book. Three questions.

Tax residence, not citizenship.

2. Which other countries hold your assets, pensions, income or filing obligations?

Include anywhere you still have an account, a property, a pension or a return to file.

3. Household income, before tax

Nothing you select here is sent anywhere or stored. When you book, the booking form asks the same questions, plus what you most want to sort out, so I can prepare.

Answer questions 1 and 3, and pick any other countries, to see whether this is for you.

What this is

  • Planning across the countries you're tied to, in one place
  • What to do next, not only what you already have
  • A written gap list, priced and in order
  • Your documents read and structured, and yours to keep
  • A review every six months, plus two meetings whenever you need them
  • A year of the app, included rather than sold separately

What this is not

  • Investment advice on specific products
  • Anyone managing or holding your money
  • A percentage of what you hold, now or ever
  • A substitute for filing your returns

I am not a licensed investment adviser and this is not investment advice. The line is a real one and worth being precise about: I will tell you that you need retirement provision and how big the gap is, and which category of thing closes it. I will not tell you to buy a particular product or a particular fund. That is the regulated part, and it is genuinely someone else's to do.

We take engagements where we can properly cover the jurisdictions involved. Where a question requires regulated product advice, local tax representation, or specialist legal work, we say so and help frame the question for the right professional. The practice works in English and is based in Basel, Switzerland.

Questions

Who is cross-border financial planning for?
Households living in Western Europe or Scandinavia whose wealth, pensions, income or tax obligations span more than one country, typically with household income of €120,000 or more. We take engagements where we can properly cover the jurisdictions involved.
What happens in the first conversation?
You describe the situation as it is: the countries you're tied to, what you hold, and what you're unsure about. You leave with a package and a fee in writing, and nothing proceeds until you decide.
Do you give investment advice or sell products?
No. Planning covers goals, structure, timing and tax position. Naming a specific product or fund is regulated advice and someone else's job; where a question needs it, we say so and help you frame it for the right professional. NettWorth never charges a percentage of your assets.
Do you file tax returns or represent me with a tax authority?
No. We frame the cross-border question and prepare you for your tax professionals in each country. Local filing and representation stay with them.
How much does it cost?
Engagements are annual packages covering the plan, a review every six months, two more meetings whenever you need them, and a year of the NettWorth app. The fee depends on the countries and moving parts involved and is quoted in writing after the first conversation. It is never a percentage of what you hold.
Where are you based, and which language do you work in?
Basel, Switzerland. The practice works in English. NettWorth is owned and operated by Raining Code Technologies AG.

The first conversation commits you to nothing.

Bring the situation as it actually is, including the parts you have been avoiding. Those are usually the ones worth money.