The Cross-Border Clarity Gap: What Skybound's Retirement Reality Check Reveals

A Survey of Internationally Based Professionals

Skybound Wealth Management's first annual research report, The Retirement Reality Check, surveyed internationally based professionals on how they plan for retirement across borders. The results point to a gap that has nothing to do with how much people earn, save or invest, and everything to do with whether they understand what they hold.

Eighty-four percent of respondents hold pensions or investments in more than one country. Only 35% say they clearly understand what that means for their retirement. Skybound calls the distance between those two figures the Cross-Border Clarity Gap.

Confidence Is Broad. Understanding Is Shallow.

Four findings from the survey, read alongside the day-to-day experience of Skybound's advisers, describe the shape of that gap.

Finding 1: 17% feel fully confident in their plan

51% are only somewhat confident, and 27% are unsure outright.

Finding 2: 48% worry most about not saving enough

Tax exposure follows closely at 45%. Together, these are the two questions a single-country plan is least equipped to answer.

Finding 3: 47% have only a rough retirement number, or none

A clearer plan (35%) and knowing that number (31%) are what respondents want most.

Finding 4: 38% have no formal plan, or haven't reviewed it in three or more years

More than half have postponed a decision because of cross-border complexity.

Two Views From Inside the Maze

Skybound's specialist advisers see the Clarity Gap play out in client conversations every week.

“The single most common thing I see is fragmentation: pensions in two or three countries, an old scheme half-forgotten, and no single view of what's actually held. It's usually a failure of visibility, not intelligence.”

Carla Smart, Group Head of Pensions, Skybound Wealth

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“Tax outcomes depend on more than one set of rules, and those rules move independently in each jurisdiction. Many of the most valuable planning opportunities depend on acting in advance, before a move, a withdrawal, or a change in the law.”

Shil Shah, Group Head of Tax Planning, Skybound Wealth

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Five Traits of a Plan Built to Move With You

• Tax-aware: structured around residence, income source and relevant double tax treaties
• Currency-resilient: deliberate about what you earn, hold and will ultimately spend in retirement
• Defined by a number: anchored to the income you'll actually need, so every decision has a reference point
• Sensibly consolidated: portable if you move, consolidated only where tax, guarantees and charges make sense
• Reviewed on purpose: revisited at least annually, and after any major change in life or in the rules

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Closing the Gap

A Cross-Border Retirement Clarity Review is a short, no-obligation conversation, not a recommendation. Skybound does not give personalised advice before a proper fact-find. The review covers:

• What pensions and investments you currently hold
• The main cross-border questions that need attention
• Your next two or three planning priorities