In addition to all the reasons why this pension plan is great generally – please read the other articles on that topic for a full explanation – it is specifically the best one for global nomads for these specific reasons:
Firstly, this pension plan is available to citizens/residents of most countries worldwide (one notable exception is USA citizens/residents – sorry guys), and it is full globally portable – you do not need to be, or remain, a resident or taxpayer in any specific country in order to have, and keep, this pension plan. Additionally, when you reach the point of retirement, you can have either the full balance or the monthly income you want paid to any bank account, anywhere in the world, as long as it is in your name. You can keep on movin’, and your pension plan will still work, nomad-er where you go.
Secondly, global nomads have to, more than any other demographic, make a decision on where to hold their long-term assets. Whilst this does present some additional challenges for us digital nomads, it also presents us with more opportunities. With a location-independent lifestyle, we are free to choose any jurisdiction worldwide, with full justification. This means that we can choose the jurisdictions that offer us the best protections, the best account management options, and the best tax incentives. This pension plan is fully multi-jurisdictional, licensed and regulated in three different jurisdictions worldwide – Cayman Islands (UK Overseas Territory), Puerto Rico (USA Overseas Territory), and Malaysia – has additional customer service offices in places ranging from Hong Kong to Dubai to Montevideo, and is able to be issued and managed in one of seven languages. Being headquartered in the Cayman Islands has some huge advantages – in addition to being one of the major international financial centres, it also follows the British Common Law legal system, and has a 0% tax rate – no income tax, no capital gains tax, and no corporation tax – for both citizens/residents and everyone else.
A less important, but still highly valuable difference for digital nomads is that the full end-to-end process is 100% online, without any physical paperwork required. No “wet ink” signatures, no documents to get stamped and couriered somewhere – everything is done digitally, unlike the vast majority of pension-related insurance companies worldwide – even the ones which say they are focussed on international expatriates, somewhat incredibly.
The insurance company that issues these pension plans, Investors Trust, was originally set up with the specific aim of providing technologically advanced financial solutions to global expatriates, long before “FinTech” was even a word, and long before being a “digital nomad” was even a thing, and they have continually demonstrated their commitment to the global nomadic community not only by creating market-leading financial products domiciled in the most advantageous jurisdictions worldwide, but also through their ever-improving integration of new technology in their IT systems; they are the only large and long-standing multi-jurisdictional insurance company we know of which has been consistently embracing technology – and avoiding pointless paperwork – long before it became a necessity for us digital nomads, and a popular cause to reduce the deforestation of our home planet. We think this is a very good endorsement of their commitment to the global nomadic community and a good indicator of how they will continue to operate in future, which is a very important thing to consider when choosing a company to do business with for your medium-to-long term financial planning. Some of the PensionsForNomads team (we are all global nomads ourselves) have been recommending this pension plan and other products from Investors Trust to their private clients (and colleagues!) for nearly a decade, and have this pension plan for their own retirement planning.
The above reasons, in addition to the capital guarantee, minimum guaranteed future value, segregated portfolio structure to safely hold your assets independently of others, low running costs, and excellent underlying investment choice, are why we think this is the best pension plan for global nomads like ourselves.