Lived experience amounts to a set of non-negotiables: don’t go out in a blizzard without a jacket, and don’t settle for anything else than what you deserve. Give your all to avoid making the same mistake twice, and success will come naturally! Right?
I have been enjoying the latest season of ‘The Bear’ a series following a young chef’s ambition to steer this restaurant in the direction of that all elusive first Michelin star. The chef devises his own set of non-negotiables, comprising industry lessons with the intention of avoiding the pitfall of complete and utter failure. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the implementation of his incontestable ‘laws of the land’ does not come without the inevitable friction of butting-heads.
It seems then, that the inherent rigidity of non-negotiables can also prove detrimental to success, above all to your investments. Lack of flexibility causes an absence of open-mindedness, and a blindness to opportunity.
As mentioned in my previous article, I love questions. The question here is: Are non-negotiable states advisable in the categories of personal investment and the approach to mobility-related tax solutions?
I would recommend caution against assigning non-negotiables to both your professional and personal life. Granted, non-negotiables can foster excellence by promoting goal setting and developing clear forward planning. However, as opportunity often lurks around every corner, I prefer my clients to remain agile and alert.
Change is constant, they say, more constant than any long-term projections in our planning. As such, non-negotiables have the potential to hinder growth by preventing the opportunity to actively reframe our strategies to target opportunity. Lists of non-negotiables can be rife with contradictions restricting agile planning both for individuals and families.
The sustainable growth of our financial positions benefits immensely from accurate and careful analysis of our risk profiles. Protecting the value of our positions from negative growth relies on our capacity to alter our assessments accordingly. With careful analysis providing well-founded solutions at every turn of our unique financial journey, we remain informed as our investments evolve. For instance, one of our new clients holding a real estate portfolio is now reaping the rewards from an impermanent, rarely publicised law allowing tax benefits on the sale of secondary land and housing.
Originally, their portfolio was structured as a long-term solution to facilitate the passing of wealth to their next generation. The portfolio of land and housing was purchased as a combination of personal and rental (local lodging) properties. Following detailed analysis and family discussion, the current structure of this portfolio was found to limit optimisation of tax benefits needed when families work and live across borders.
As this portfolio was structured years ago as a long-term solution, without effective guidance our client may well have adopted a non-negotiable position. In short, a fruitful opportunity to adapt their investment strategy could have slipped through their fingers if not for their willingness to remain flexible in the face-off any new or appropriate tax law. As advisors, we seek to assist in the navigation of your ever-changing needs as individuals and families. Sound security for our clients comes with knowledge, rapport and focused attention.
This article is not Financial Investment nor Legal Advice
