How Much Do I Need to Secure My Financial Freedom?

Insight | by Stephen Kiggins

Secure your ‘financial freedom’ and the peace of mind that comes with it

Securing your financial freedom means living life on your own terms. By ensuring that you're financially prepared for the future, you can make key life choices, without compromise - from funding your children's education, to having the means to step back from work when you choose to, with confidence and resilience.

This article will guide you through how to determine your financial freedom target number, show you how our four-step planning approach can help you to take control of your financial future, and illustrates the process with a real-world case study.

With a detailed plan in place to secure your financial freedom,
you can live in the moment, safe in the knowledge that tomorrow is taken care of.

Your journey starts with defining your goals; when you want to step back from work; where you plan to live; and what lifestyle you envision having thereafter:

Four Simple Steps to Secure Your Financial Freedom

1. Define Your Goals
Think about when you want to secure your 'financial freedom', targeting the age at which you want to be able to step back from work on your own terms if you choose to; and the ideal lifestyle you want be able to sustain from that point onwards, with consideration given to where you want to live, accommodation, healthcare, key life events that you need to make provision for, and your legacy and estate planning.

2. Work with a Financial Planner
Share this vision and your current financial details with one of Forth Capital's financial planning experts in a 'planning call'.

3. Visualise Your Plan
Using the latest cashflow modelling software, your dedicated financial planner will map your projected outgoings and anticipated financial commitments, and overlay your savings and investment income and growth, to simulate scenarios and prepare a robust plan with detailed recommendations.

4. Take Action
When you're happy with your personal financial freedom plan, your financial planner can start putting it into action for you – and then meet with you on at least an annual basis thereafter to ensure that your plan remains aligned to your needs.

Worked Example

Let’s consider David, a 45-year-old executive living in Switzerland.

David wants to have the option to step back from work at the age of 60 and relocate to France, maintaining his current lifestyle.

David estimates that his annual outgoings in terms of his accommodation in France and living expenses, travel, entertainment, dining out and provision for healthcare will be €112,500 [£95,000] per annum.

David uses Forth Capital’s online tool to calculate his financial freedom target number.

David establishes that his financial freedom target figure, giving him the option to step back from work at the age of 60 and sustain his desired lifestyle until the age of 100¹, is €2.6 million [£2.2 million].

David realises that his financial freedom target number is a higher value than his current savings, investments and pension arrangements are currently projected to provide for him by the age he wants to have the option to step back from work [60] - so to address that gap, he realises that he needs to speak to an international financial planner.

To create a plan for David, and bring this to life for him, the financial planner uses ‘cashflow modelling’ technology to help him visualise the accumulation of his investments and savings up to the age of 60 and to illustrate how he can then drawdown income from those investments to fund his lifestyle from that point onwards.

Financial Planning and Tax Considerations

Optimising the Value of his Swiss Pension Withdrawals

David estimates that by the age of 60 he will have CHF 1,000,000 [approximately £900,000] in his pillar 2 and pillar 3 Swiss pension funds. Upon leaving Switzerland, he would face a significant cantonal withholding tax of CHF 75,588 [£68,000], having lived in Geneva. However, with the assistance of his Forth Capital international financial adviser, David would be able to reduce this tax liability [to CHF 47,888 [£43,000], optimising his withdrawal and its contribution towards his retirement in France.

If you're an expat leaving Switzerland, learn more about Swiss pension withdrawals here, and to see how much tax you could save, use our Swiss Pension Withdrawal Calculator.

Mitigating Currency Risk

David’s UK pensions, totalling £100,000, held in GBP, accrued prior to his move to Switzerland, could potentially benefit significantly from being converted to EUR to align with his expenses in France. Currency fluctuations could otherwise significantly impact the potential future value of his UK pensions over the course of the next 15 years. Since 2001, for example the Pound has fallen in value by 24% in relation to the Euro. Working with his international financial planner, David could mitigate this potential risk by transferring his UK pension funds into an international SIPP held in EUR rather than GPB.

To learn more about managing currency risk and its potential impact on your UK pension if you plan to retire abroad, click here.

Assurance Vie as a Tax Efficient investment and estate planning tool

David could also potentially benefit from an 'Assurance Vie' policy when he moves to France, a flexible and effective investment and estate planning solution; generating tax-deferred growth and providing the flexibility to withdraw funds when needed - as well as providing him with an effective estate planning solution, reducing the inheritance tax payable by beneficiaries.

To learn about the benefits of Assurance Vie as a British Expat in France, click here.

The financial planner then creates projections of different scenarios, to show David how making different levels of contributions to his investments and pensions, stepping back from work slightly later, semi-retirement, or introducing an additional passive income stream, and the adjustments to his assets detailed above, could enable him to hit his financial freedom target number and make a positive impact on the lifestyle he would be able to sustainably afford in later life.

David is now on track to achieve financial freedom by the age of 60, confident in the knowledge that he will have the option to step back from work on his own terms, with the peace of mind that his financial future and financial legacy is secure.

Understanding the Tax Implications of Returning to the UK

David's international financial planner also makes him aware that if he should decide to return to the UK, then they must carefully plan for the implications this could have in terms of his UK tax exposure. Re-establishing UK tax residency could for example expose David's worldwide estate to UK inheritance tax [IHT] at 40%, and gains from the disposal of any assets could result in a 24% Capital Gains Tax charge. By working with his international financial planner however he can strategically manage his residency status and assets to minimise his UK tax exposure.

Take The First Step Towards Securing Your Financial Freedom

Your financial freedom starts with a conversation. At Forth Capital, we provide expert advice to help you create a comprehensive, personalised plan to secure your financial freedom.

Contact us to schedule an initial consultation and together we can make your financial freedom a reality.

FAQs

Starting the process of planning your financial future as soon as possible allows you to benefit from compounding returns, mitigate risks, and make informed adjustments to your strategy over time.

The sooner you start, the more flexibility you'll have to achieve your goals. Speak to a Forth Capital financial planning advisor to get started today.

While it is possible to manage your own finances, a financial advisor provides expertise, personalised strategies, and access to global investment strategies.

Forth Capital’s team specialises in helping expatriates and internationally mobile individuals secure their financial freedom in the most efficient way possible, wherever they are in the world and wherever they choose to go next.

¹ Research published in the Lancet* suggests that if life expectancy in developed countries continues to increase at the current rate over the course of the coming decades then the majority of people born in the UK since 2000 will live beyond their 100th birthday. With life expectancy increasing in this way, a target age of 100 has been chosen for the calculator, as we want to ensure that all our clients have planned with confidence for a future that is sustainable and affords them absolute peace of mind.

* The Lancet - Ageing populations: the challenges ahead [Prof. Kaare Christensen, MD, Prof. Gabriele Doblhammer, PhD, Roland Rau, PHD, Prof James W Vaupel, PHD] Published Oct 3 2009.

This communication is for information purposes only and does not constitute financial, legal, or tax advice.

All content is based on current UK legislation and is subject to change. All planning arrangements should be regularly reviewed in consideration of legislative updates.

Pension regulation and tax treatment vary between jurisdictions. Any reference to UK or international pension rules is portrayed in general terms and is not intended to reflect individual circumstances. Any examples provided are hypothetical and for illustrative purpose only. Outcomes will differ based on individual circumstances and local law and regulation.

Pension transfers carry specific risks and may not be appropriate for everyone. The suitability of any transfers or investments should be assessed on an individual basis.

Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results. The value of investments can fall and rise, and you may not get back the amount originally invested. 

Last updated 26 May 2025