Foreign National Arriving In The US? Simon Brady, CFP® Can Be Your Best Resource.

If you are a non-citizen individual, couple, or family coming to live and work in the United States on a green card or visa, you probably already have some idea how financial planning and money management can be a complex and alien topic in this country. The US financial system is likely very different to that of where you just came from. Simon Brady, a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ and founder of fee-only financial planning firm Anglia Advisors, specializes in offering personal finance and investment advice to foreign nationals arriving to live and work in the US.

Originally from London, he began his career on Wall Street when he moved to New York in his mid-twenties. Although he experienced a successful number of years working in a derivatives trading environment, he turned his attention to personal financial advice soon after the great market crash of 2008. He obtained his CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ designation (CFP®) which allows him to work with individuals and families throughout the US on a wide variety of personal finance issues from retirement planning to education funding, investments to estate planning. He then worked for the United Nations in New York at its credit union, primarily as a financial advisor to foreign UN staff.

In 2016, he founded Anglia Advisors with a vision to work with what he determined were three very under-served demographics: millennial professionals and families, “suddenly single” individuals emerging from divorce or early widowhood, and foreign nationals in the US. For many foreign nationals coming to the United States to live and work, even the most basic personal finance concepts can be alien and daunting .. 401ks, IRAs, the need for college planning, the different role that insurance and especially your credit plays in your life. He outlines a list of the main concerns they face in an article he wrote on his blog.

According to Brady, the worst part is that no one prepares them for what to expect when they arrive. Most receive little to no guidance from their former employer back home, their present US-based HR department or their immigration attorney. So many turn to possibly well-meaning, but likely uninformed and unqualified, sources like the person they sit next to at work or a brother-in-law and that can prove catastrophic in some cases. Brady aims to offer a more qualified and informed alternative to those non-citizens who are just arriving in the US.

When meeting with any new foreign national client, Brady’s policy is a 2-3 hour initial consultation in which he educates and informs his clients of what they can expect from living and working in the United States from a personal finance standpoint, he answers questions they may have, assesses their current financial situation and works with them to develop a plan for their financial future. It is primarily an awareness-raising exercise where the client is told what specific issues impact them as non-citizens, what they should take care of and what items are the most important for them to deal with.

Following the consultation, the client can optionally continue to work with Brady on an ongoing hourly basis and have their assets professionally managed if they would like.

Furthermore, Brady is proud to operate as a fiduciary, fee-for-service advisor, meaning that he charges either a flat fee for a one-time single session or hourly project-based fees for ongoing financial planning services. He receives no commissions of any kind from any third-party providers and does not sell any financial products to clients. His only compensation comes from the client in the form of fees for advice which eliminates the conflicts of interest that most financial advisors suffer from since their living is based on the commissions they earn on particular products that they must convince their clients to buy, regardless of if that product is in the client’s best interest or not.

Regardless of circumstance, Brady’s sole obligation is to the client paying his fee, not to the investment firm or insurance company offering commissions to flog their products to as many clients as possible without concern for their suitability to the client. The experience of moving to the United States can be intimidating, but Brady aims to give newly-arrived foreign nationals one less thing to worry about.

To schedule a call, or to simply learn more about Anglia Advisors’ services, visit https://www.angliaadvisors.com