To prepare for an initial consultation and/or the on-boarding process, we collect information through personal interviews and questionnaires. The more we know about our clients, the more comprehensive our advice. Collecting information is also required for compliance.
After you provide us with your most recent tax returns, our team will provide you with a Tax Snapshot. We've built a tool that takes in all the complex data that comprise a tax return and conveys all the most important pieces in a practical, readable, one-page summary. Internally, it also helps us facilitate our follow-up conversations with you. The sort of questions it helps us with are:
What are your maximum retirement account contributions and what is the most tax-effective account type to use?
Are you invested in Passive Foreign Investment Companies (often called "PFICs") and, if so, are they effective investments?
Are significant capital gains being unnecessarily recognized while in the highest tax bracket (23.8%)?
Is there an opportunity to roll pre-tax retirement accounts into a Roth while you're in a lower tax bracket?
...and many more!
The Initial Document Checklist gives us information we need to help you complete an account application at one of the several custodians we work with to manage your investments.
The Budgeting and Balance Sheet helps you and your advisor get a comprehensive look at your spending and assets. This provides insight into your finances and future scenarios, and answers your budgeting and planning questions.
The Investment Discovery Questionnaire provides investment and risk-profile information to complement your meeting(s) with your advisor. The results help you build your Investment Policy Statement, which maps out how White Lighthouse will manage your money.
Please find a few tools below for tracking the US tax basis in your foreign pension and the sale of a foreign residence. Many of our clients find them useful. We also have a very simple retirement calculator as well as a simple asset allocation and risk profiling model. Our Financial Planners use more in-depth tools than this, though people who are new to the world of investing may find these starter tools useful and interesting.
Our clients use this Excel-based tool to track how much tax they pay in their non-US pension. Tracking this information accurately makes reporting foreign pension withdrawals more efficient and may save taxes.
For US taxpayers, selling a property in a foreign country may result not only in taxes in capital gains and also in paying off a foreign currency mortgage. This Excel-based calculator helps you estimate your US tax liabilities on both; nevertheless, before you file your return, we advise you to consult with your tax professional.
This Excel-based retirement calculator helps you estimate quickly how much money you need to save to fund your retirement. Your White Lighthouse Advisor makes a more comprehensive analysis based on our decades of retirement planning.
This simple tool gives you a sense for how risk profiling and asset allocation work. We use the same principles, but more sophisticated, to construct a profound, tailored risk profile and portfolio.
The US Medicare system is there to help retirees pay for and insure medical expenses without wiping out their retirement accounts. To encourage participation and discourage future adverse selection, Americans are strongly incentivized to enroll at age 65 and begin paying the same way an insurance company would charge premiums. The premiums will vary based on your income and macroeconomic factors. In general, higher income means larger premiums. Medical costs are expected to continue inflating and so too are the annual increases in premiums.
There is a 7-month normal enrollment period which includes a 3-month grace period after your 65th birthday. For example, if your birthday is June 1st, your initial enrollment period is February through August. If you miss this period, you may have to pay a late enrollment penalty. A key exception to this would be if you (or your spouse) are still working and that job gives you qualifying health coverage. Late enrollment into Medicare Part B (doctors, etc.) results in penalties of 10% per full 12-month period that you're late. Late enrollment into Medicare Part D (prescriptions) is 1% per month that you are late. These penalties apply in perpetuity and have no cap.
Given your current age, this spreadsheet is a tool to see what the cost savings (or additional expense) is based on the number of years you might delay enrollment. It allows you to simulate extra out-of-pocket expenses you expect to have that would have been covered by Medicare had you enrolled. If you need assistance with using this tool, Social Security, Medicare, or have any other financial planning concerns, please don't hesitate to reach out to White Lighthouse at info@white-lighthouse.com.
Personal Financial Planning analysis often results in our clients wanting or needing additional professional services in order to implement our recommendations. In order to maintain the highest level of service for our clients, White Lighthouse maintains strong relationships with several external firms who provide related services. We only work with trusted professionals who have a proven track record of delivering quality work and referrals are generally only given to clients of our firm once we understand their requirements. Our own pricing remains transparent and we remain fee-only for all services, meaning that White Lighthouse is not compensated by commissions or payments from any source other than directly billed to our clients. White Lighthouse and its employees never receive payment or services in kind for making referrals to other service providers.
At White Lighthouse our team has a very comprehensive understanding of US tax reporting requirements, especially for overseas Americans. While we have several tax professionals on staff, we DO NOT prepare tax returns. We are happy to review our client tax returns for accuracy and to help in making good financial planning decisions. We work with several US tax preparation firms who are specialized in working with overseas Americans taxpayers with a varying degree of complexity. We try to match our client’s needs to the firm(s) that we think will provide them the best service and value. White Lighthouse will never receive compensation for the referrals we make, we only work with firms who have a history of providing excellent service.
American taxpayers in Switzerland often need help to prepare their Swiss tax returns. We work with Swiss tax preparation firms in several different Swiss Cantons who have English speaking staff, a good understanding of the US tax and financial system and are reasonably priced.
We are happy to refer our clients to a Swiss tax firm and White Lighthouse will never receive compensation for the referrals we make, we only work with firms who have a history of providing excellent service.
American taxpayers living overseas often find themselves in a situation where they need additional life insurance and they are unable to find a US-based provider who can work with them to get the appropriate level of coverage.
White Lighthouse does not sell insurance. We do work with our clients to help them determine the appropriate amount, currency and type of life insurance that makes sense for their situation. Once the life insurance needs are established, we introduce our clients to independent life insurance brokers who specialize in working with overseas Americans.
For full disclosure, please note that White Lighthouse does not receive any commissions, discounts, or compensation from referrals to any insurance company. We only recommend other service providers that have a proven track record of professional and ethical service delivery.
This service is currently only available to White Lighthouse clients.
White Lighthouse does not provide Legal services.
White Lighthouse works closely with several law firms in the United States and Switzerland. These firms provide international estate planning, legal document preparation, international tax work, immigration and other related services. For White Lighthouse clients, we will work together with you and the attorney you choose to help define your needs and implement our recommendations. This service is only available to investment management and financial planning clients of White Lighthouse Investment Management.
American taxpayers living in Switzerland often have trouble finding financial service providers who will provide any services including mortgages. White Lighthouse has recently teamed up with Davide Carnovali of HypoValor. Jonathan and Davide have worked together for over 15 years and Davide has a track record of providing excellent services to the expat community in Switzerland.
Adler Way, based in Switzerland and founded by Dr. Gordon Adler (American/Swiss), supports executives around the world with coaching and business communication consulting. Online and in person. Think: Impact. Empathy. Personal growth and change. Results. Utility. If you’re grappling with a career-, leadership- or communication challenge, contact Adler Way. Services are available in-person, by phone or online. To contact Adler Way, use the contact form on the website or reach out directly:
Dr. G. Adler
+41 79 358 77 86
Skype: gadlerway
www.adlerway.com
Focused Trainers based in California and founded by Thom and Tracey Downing provides executive health optimization and fitness programs for executives around the world and in person at their fitness center in Los Altos. Their comprehensive approach combines Eating Strategy, Sleep Hygiene, Stress Management, Exercise and Self-Care and has been available to select individuals on a virtual basis since 2017. Recently more services have become available on-line as the world is continuing to deal with the challenges of social distancing. Find out about their services at their web site or by contacting them directly.
Jonathan Lachowitz, the founder of White Lighthouse Investment Management is a client of Focused Trainers and credits their comprehensive program for his increased fitness including losing 40 pounds and maintaining a healthier lifestyle despite extensive trans-Atlantic travel. Read more about Jonathan’s successful program with Focused Trainers. Watch their interview with Jonathan on their Instagram account.
For full disclosure, please note that White Lighthouse and Jonathan don’t receive any commissions, discounts or compensation from referrals to focused trainers. We only recommend other service providers that have a proven track record of professional and ethical service delivery.
Linden Global Learning & Support offers online and on-site services for everyone involved in the social, emotional, and academic development of international students. Based in Berlin, they offer tailored and comprehensive staff and student support services to help global schools and global children thrive. Services include: academic coaching; diagnostic assessments; professional development and school consulting; counseling and mental health support; learning and behavioral support; and speech and occupational therapy.
American Citizens Abroad and the State Department Federal Credit Union have teamed up to provide SDFCU accounts for Americans living abroad. Opening and maintaining a US account has become an issue for many Americans living overseas who want to have be able to have a US checking account, receive social security benefits, or maintain US credit.
The SDFCU account is the same type of account used by Americans working at US embassies and is not affiliated with the State Department nor in any way with the US Government. The ACA Member SDFCU account is simple to open and maintain. Learn more by visiting American Citizens Abroad.
Viviana Donikian, is passionate about unlocking people's potential, guiding them, and watching them continue their own path and success.
She is a bilingual (English/Spanish) professional and entrepreneur who combines multicultural extensive experience of executive coaching, leadership development, and team coaching. As a Certified Integral Coach, her approach supports individuals, teams and organizations and enables long-lasting results of sustained change. One of her coaching niche is to support individuals and their families on cross-cultural intelligence so they can smoothly land to a different culture from their own. Having lived in Argentina, Brazil, UK and the US, besides her love for traveling internationally, she can easily relate to the initial cultural shock experienced when moving to a new country. Viviana, resides in Atlanta, Georgia with her husband and her son.
Viviana Donikian
VDCoaching@vividonikian.com
www.vividonikian.com
+1 (770) 403-0214