Financial Education in The Workplace for Expats
The one life skill most people wish they were taught at school is practical financial knowledge, from how to budget, the importance of savings, how taxes work, understanding pensions, the world of investments, and, tying it all together, what is financial planning.
This gap in knowledge can be compounded when you are an international professional living outside your home country. Much of what you may have learned might be different, or not applicable when you move to a different country. There may be different laws, rules, restrictions, taxes, investment structures and opportunities. Then there are the compounding effects of culture and language that can make it difficult to know where to start.
In this article, we are discussing the importance of financial literacy to help you to make good decisions and where to get it. If you didn’t receive financial education as part of your schooling, as most people did not, the workplace can be a useful place to learn about the financial world where you are living and working. You can contact us to discuss how we can deliver workplace financial education to your international staff.
Getting good financial information relevant for expats is not easy. It must be appropriate for you and your circumstances, in the context of where you are living, where you are from, and your future plans. Finding that advice from someone that is qualified, and experienced can make the difference between being able to live the life you want to live or just the one you can afford. Getting bad advice though can leave you worse off than when you started.
Financial education through a company financial wellness programme can be a real value add for expat employees and can remove some of these obstacles of where to get relevant financial information. At Black Swan Capital, we work with companies to provide financial education and individualised financial advice and planning for their staff. For the international employee, this can make sure their financial goals are not put on hold just because they are living in a new country. It can help them to ensure they are setting up the best way for where they are living taking into account all the factors that can make managing life as an expat complex.
It can also be good for businesses. There has been much reported in recent years presenting financial stress as one of the most common stresses effecting people and that it can impact quality of life, workplace productivity, employee health and wellbeing and can increase absenteeism. A financial wellness programme is good for staff, and because they can feel more in control of their financial lives, is good for the company.
How can you arrange this?
If you are a client of Black Swan Capital, and are happy with th financial planning and ongoing advice your receive, don’t keep us a secret. You can let your colleagues, boss or HR department know about us and see if we can help your team, department or whole company with expat- tailored financial planning education sessions.
If you are heading up HR people and culture, or if you are a company director, implementing a service to provide financial education and access to specialised advice for your staff can be a real and material value add for your staff. It can give your staff confidence that the people they are speaking with are qualified, licensed, experienced and specialists in working with people like them. It can give them information and educate them so they can make good decisions for themselves, and offer additional support when needed.
A company financial wellness programme can be relevant for new international staff that have just arrived, for those employees that have been there for a longer time and are integrated into their environment, and for those that are about to move on to a new county, or back home.
If you would like to implement a staff financial wellness programme at your company, run some educational events or make financial support accessible for your staff, contact us today at info@blackswancapital.eu.
