Why Moving Offshore from Australia Starts Long Before You Leave

• WATCH EPISODE 7 FIRST
• This article is based on Episode 7 of the Complete Wealth Control series – “Why Implementation Starts Long Before You Leave Australia.”
• If you prefer video, watch the episode above for the full discussion with Virna White.
• The article below distils the key ideas for Australian business owners who prefer a written version or want something they can refer back to.

Introduction

One of the biggest mistakes Australian business owners make after receiving international strategy advice is assuming they have plenty of time before implementation needs to begin.

They think:

“We’re not leaving Australia for another year.”
“Maybe two.”
“We’ll work through a few things first, then start implementing.”

It sounds logical.

But it reflects a misunderstanding of what implementation actually involves.

Implementation is not what happens after every decision has already been made. Implementation is how the strategy gets worked out, sequenced and carried into action.

If your international transition involves Australian businesses, structures, assets, advisers and future plans, those elements need to be considered as part of one coordinated process.

There is one transition.

And the earlier that transition is worked through, the more opportunity there generally is to make deliberate decisions rather than react under pressure.

The Misunderstanding About When Implementation Begins

Why The Departure Date Is Not The Starting Point

Recently, I spoke with a successful Australian business owner who had already received strategic advice.

His accountant had been involved in discussions about his Australian position. Afterwards, he said something that sounded perfectly reasonable:

“My accountant and I will sort out the Australian side. Then I’ll come back to Wealth Safe to implement the international side.”

The issue was that his Australian businesses, structures and assets were all part of the same international transition.

His accountant had an important role to play because they understood the business, its history and its existing position. But the context had changed.

The client was no longer planning only for an Australian future. He was considering how his Australian position would work as he established his life overseas.

That meant decisions involving his Australian affairs needed to fit within the broader architecture, including:

• what happens first;
• what happens later;
• which adviser needs to be involved; and
• how one decision affects another.

When those decisions are split into disconnected workstreams, the client can accidentally become responsible for the strategy, coordination and sequencing themselves.

Without necessarily realising it, the client has effectively taken on the role of Chief Strategist themselves.

Why Australian And International Decisions Must Be Planned Together

One Transition Requires One ‘Strategic Architecture’

A sophisticated international transition should not be treated simply as a handover between one adviser dealing with Australia and another dealing with everything overseas.

It is one integrated transition.

Your Australian accountant may understand:

• the business;
• existing structures;
• Australian assets;
• historical transactions; and
• the way the business has operated.

Other specialists may understand:

• international structures;
• residency;
• overseas entities;
• banking; or
• the destination country.

Each professional may provide valuable advice within their area.

But those answers still need to work together.

An individual decision may appear sensible on its own and still create problems when viewed alongside the broader international position. Something that looks operational may affect the architecture of the transition.

That is why the important question is:

“Who is responsible for making sure the entire transition works as one strategy?”

Why ‘Technically Correct’ Advice Still Needs To Align

Technical advice can be correct and still be incomplete if it is not connected to the wider plan.

The important issue is whether the advice supports:

• the intended residency direction;
• the future business position;
• the ownership structure;
• the timing of asset decisions; and
• the life the owner is trying to create overseas.

Without that broader responsibility, the client can become the person deciding what happens first, what happens later and which adviser handles each part.

In other words, the client has accidentally become the Chief Strategist.

How Wealth Safe Carries The ‘Architecture’ Into Action

‘Strategy Advice’ Designs The ‘Architecture’

Wealth Safe’s role as Chief Strategist is to design the architecture of the international transition through Strategy Advice. Where the client then engages Wealth Safe for Implementation, that architecture is carried forward into execution.

That architecture is designed through Strategy Advice.

Strategy Advice should clarify:

• the direction being pursued;
• the major dependencies;
• the questions that need to be resolved;
• the specialists who may need to become involved; and
• the sequence in which decisions need to be considered.

This gives the client and the relevant professional advisers a shared view of the transition before individual decisions begin to accumulate around it.

‘Implementation’ Carries The ‘Architecture’ Into Action

Implementation is where that architecture is carried through into action.

That means understanding:

• the dependencies between decisions;
• the sequence in which different matters need to be addressed;
• which specialist expertise is required; and
• how each individual decision fits within the international position being created.

Wealth Safe may work with your existing accountant and other professional advisers where their knowledge and expertise are important. We may also bring in specialist expertise from within the Wealth Safe ecosystem where the transition requires it.

The key point is that the individual pieces cannot be allowed to determine the architecture.

The architecture determines how the individual pieces fit together.

The Chief Strategist carries the architecture from strategy through implementation, understanding the dependencies, determining the sequence, bringing in the right specialist expertise at the right time, and keeping individual decisions aligned with the international position the client is trying to create.

‘Residency First’ Does Not Mean ‘Leave Australia First’

Why Residency Strategy Comes Before Structures And Assets

One of Wealth Safe’s core sequencing principles is:

Residency First. Structures Second. Assets Last.

But Residency First does not mean Leave Australia First.

It means the residency strategy comes first. The intended residency position needs to be understood before decisions about structures and assets are worked through.

Some matters may need to be considered before departure. Some may need to wait until later. Some Australian businesses or assets may remain exactly where they are.

The important question is not simply:

“What should I do?”

It is:

“What should happen now, what should be prepared now and what must wait?”

Some Decisions Happen Before Departure, Others Later

The physical departure date is one milestone. It is not necessarily the point at which every part of the strategy begins or ends.

Implementation may involve preparing certain matters before departure while allowing other decisions to remain open until the relevant circumstances develop.

The appropriate sequence depends on:

• the position being created;
• the decisions that depend on one another;
• the business and assets involved; and
• any control gates that determine when a particular step can move forward.

This is why Residency First is a sequencing principle, not an instruction to leave Australia before anything else can happen.

Sequencing And ‘Control Gates’

What Should Happen Now And What Can Wait?

Implementation may begin six months before departure.

It may begin 12 or 18 months beforehand. In some cases, the transition may need to be considered several years before the owner expects to relocate.

The appropriate timing depends on the client’s position, objectives, business and future plans.

The practical question is:

“What should happen now, what should be prepared now and what must wait?”

That question keeps implementation deliberate. It separates decisions that can progress immediately from decisions that depend on a later event, a clearer position or another part of the strategy being completed first.

Good implementation is not about rushing every decision. It is about making sure important decisions have not been left until the available options are much narrower.

How ‘Control Gates’ Affect The Timing

Sometimes one major event determines when part of the strategy can move forward.

For one business owner, the relevant control gate was the sale of his Australian business. Until that happened, he needed to remain actively involved in Australia.

That became a control gate.

A control gate tells us what cannot happen yet. It does not mean “nothing can happen yet”.

Other parts of the strategy may still progress. Decisions can be clarified. Dependencies can be identified. Documentation can be prepared. Specialist input can be coordinated.

Then, when the control gate is reached, the next stage is not being invented from scratch. It has already been considered within the broader architecture.

When Should Implementation Begin?

What Triggers The ‘Implementation’ Phase?

Once you have received Strategy Advice, the key question is not:

“When am I getting on the plane?”

It is:

“Have I decided that this is the strategic direction I intend to pursue?”

If the answer is yes, implementation can begin even if:

• you do not yet know exactly where you will live;
• you have not sold everything;
• the departure date is still some time away; or
• every detail of the future has not been resolved.

The trigger for implementation is not necessarily the departure date. It is the point at which the client has decided that an international transition is the direction they intend to pursue.

Why You Do Not Need Every Answer Before Starting

Implementation is the process through which those decisions are worked out, sequenced and ultimately executed.

You do not need every answer before implementation begins.

You need:

• a clear strategic direction;
• an architecture capable of guiding the decisions that follow; and
• an understanding of what needs to happen now, later or only once a control gate is reached.

That is why implementation should not be postponed simply because some details remain unresolved. The unresolved details form part of the work that needs to be sequenced and worked through.

Conclusion

A well-designed international transition should not feel like jumping off a cliff.

It should feel like crossing a bridge that has been carefully built before you need to walk across it.

The objective is not simply to leave Australia. It is to leave properly, with a clear understanding of:

• what stays;
• what changes;
• what happens before departure;
• what happens afterwards; and
• how each decision fits within the larger strategy.

Implementation is not what happens after everything has been worked out.

Implementation is how everything gets worked out.

Strategy Advice designs the architecture.

Implementation carries that architecture into action.

And the Chief Strategist keeps the transition aligned as the individual decisions are made.