What Makes France an Attractive Place for US Expats? Zoom in April 28th and Find Out!

Brian Dunhill

I’ve been working with Brian Dunhill of Dunhill Financial since 2013. I was introduced to him by my currency brokers at Moneycorp, whom I’d worked with since 2009. At the time, Brian and his team of financial advisors were working in Brussels and he wanted to expand by tapping into the Paris market. So, he contacted me.

The moment I heard his polite introduction, I said, “Brian, I need you. If you can fix MY problem, then likely you can help my clients, too.”

At that moment, I was in the midst of a tax audit by both the French Fisc (the French equivalent of the IRS) and the U.S. IRS at the same time, rendering my life a living hell for almost two years. I had tons of lawyers, accountants, tax advisors, etc., but no one who could really look at the overall picture and help plan a survival strategy. The French lawyers advised rolling over, playing dead…doing whatever the Fisc wanted me to do, pay the price even if their claims were unfounded, because, as they professed, it was impossible to fight the Fisc.

That might be true, and I can tell you that as I sat with three auditors, all “fonctionnaires” (civil servants), all middle-aged French white men, in the same room with my “expert comptable” (accountant, equivalent to a U.S. CPA) and tax attorney, I could feel their daggers. I was an American woman who had come to France, started a business, made a little money…and they hated me. They were out for blood and that’s what they got.

Brian came along and saved the day. He looked at the entire situation and recommended a plan that not only would satisfy the Fisc, but would keep me financially afloat. The sleepless nights I was having, the Xanax I was taking to calm the anxiety were no longer necessary. Once his plan was in action, I could rest easy about my personal and professional future, even if some of his recommendations were hard to swallow. I knew then that he’d be an asset to my clients, as much as he had been an asset to me. We formed a strong alliance.

Since then, we’ve recommended Brian and his firm to all of our clients. He’s the perfect person to work with North American expatriates as he understands exactly what we are dealing with—our lives on both sides of the big pond. He was born in Belgium to American-British parents. His father is a financial advisor, so it was in his blood. He attended university in Florida and San Francisco—that makes him as American as any of us. And, he’s also young (at least from my perspective, just a few years older than my daughter), smart as a whip, sweet as pie and completely personable. From a licensing standpoint, Brian is a Certified Financial Planner (CFP) with a professional certification conferred by the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards (CFP Board) in the United States. To receive authorization to use the designation, the candidate must meet education, examination, experience and ethics requirements, and pay an ongoing certification fee…all of which he meets.

Okay, if you’re thinking right about now that I’m infatuated with Brian Dunhill, you’re right. If it weren’t for him, I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t be happily writing this Nouvellettre® today with the same enthusiasm…and success. So, I owe him a lot. The clients of ours with whom he is working have the same high praises. We all speak of him and his capabilities with fervor, and that shows in how his firm has grown by leaps and bounds since that meeting eight years ago—so fast we can hardly keep up and wonder how he does it…but he does, always with a smile on his face and in a completely relaxed nature (how he does that amazes us all, too).

Meanwhile, Brian continues to devote his time to the free Financial Forums we started years ago. This year, we decided to hold one each quarter on Zoom, each with a different topic and each with a different guest speaker. Our last “North American Expats in France Financial Forum” devoted to taxation was held January 27th with guest speaker, Benjamin Pik of Pik Consulting. Under the umbrella title of “What makes France an attractive place for US-expats?,” during this last Forum we discussed real estate and tax issues for North American expats wanting to move to France, or who were already living here. Benjamin Pik, a French-American CPA who holds a degree from the Université Paris Dauphine (France) and from Concordia University (Canada) is also a French Expert Comptable and therefore capable of dealing with both sides of the coin.

You might find it very valuable, so if you’d like to watch the webinar, you can easily do it by just clicking on this link.

Kelly Cutchin

But before you do that, mark your calendar NOW for the next Quarterly Forum on Wednesday, April 28th. Again, this is a one-hour webinar under the title of “What makes France an attractive place for US expats?,” but this time we’ll be discussing the direction of currency markets, opening a bank account in France, the timeline for transferring money to make a purchase in France and how to best minimize the cost and risk of currency exchange. We will be joined by our guest speaker, Kelly Cutchin, Country Manager in its Florida office of Moneycorp Currency Specialists.

Moneycorp is a foreign exchange and international currency specialist based in London. We have chosen to work with them as they provide excellent exchange rates and will support you during your property purchase in France to help secure the best rate possible within your given time-frame. Every client is assigned a personal contact as you need to get all the information on the exchange rate relevant to you, giving you more control over your finances. During this Forum, you’re going to learn how it all works.

To make it easy for everyone to participate, it will be held 12 noon to 1 p.m. Eastern time (EDT), 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. France time (CDT). If you’re on the west coast of the U.S., you can tune in at 9 a.m. to 10 a.m….so there’s no excuse for not being there! Plus, it’s FREE and INFORMATIVE…so how can you lose?

The webinars are free, but we ask that you register in advance! Click here to register now.

It’s four times a year, so mark the dates in your calendar now:

1ST QUARTER: Wednesday, January 27th, 2021 (Watch the replay here)

2ND QUARTER: Wednesday, April 28th, 2021

Register in advance for this webinar by clicking here

(After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting)

3RD QUARTER: Wednesday, July 29th, 2021

Learn more by clicking here

4TH QUARTER: Wednesday, October 27th, 2021

Learn more by clicking here

I look forward to seeing you there!

A la prochaine…