There must be a thousand and one different ways of providing for your long term future and retirement from the yachting industry. The course of action you choose will depend very much on whether you are making this industry a lifetime career, or you intend to ?settle down? in a few years time.

If it is the latter then it might be an idea to read the ?Short Term Savings and Investment? article.

In reality you will probably adopt a series of different strategies to achieve your goals.

What is important in the selection of those strategies? Given the fickle nature of the business one major consideration is flexibility. It is important that the flexibility exists to adapt to both your changing circumstances and possibly your changing goals.

One of the first objectives that most people have is to buy property. It is after all a basic instinct to find shelter! While there are fluctuations in the property markets, as many will attest to after recent events, property in the long term is generally a good bet. This is especially so now as there are bargains to be had in various areas of the world. It can also be used in the future to generate an income stream from rent. You may decide to build a portfolio of different properties, the income from one funding the next.

What is interesting is there are now cross border mortgages available in a number of countries to non residents of those countries. These are ideally suited to the yachting industry because of its general nomadic nature. What is really interesting is that these mortgages are available in a wide range of currencies and can be switched into different currencies at any point through the term of the mortgage. This means that you can have the mortgage in the currency of your salary thus avoiding the fluctuating payments associated with currency exchange. It is conceivably possible to play the exchange rates with your mortgage, witling the mortgage down with long term currency shifts, although this does involve an element of risk!

Another strategy is savings and investment into various products. These include life assurance bonds, which may have tax advantages depending where you reside or where you intend to retire to, ?pension? plans, direct investment into investment funds, or investment in the equity markets.

The selection of the right product is very much an individual preference and there can be no blanket advice on this subject, except that it is necessary to seek professional advice from a regulated advisor. They will discuss your current circumstances, take into account the provisions you have already made, consider your aims, any anticipated hurdles in the future and most importantly your ?attitude to risk?.

It is vital that you ensure you understand any products and charges that are proposed.

Trevor Illingworth

General Manager

ICM Financial Services Limited

e: ti@i.im t: +44(0)1624 682426 f: +44(0)1624 682403

ICM Financial Services Limited is licensed to conduct Investment Business by the Isle of Man Financial Supervision Commission.