By Peter Dougherty
WHEN 100 expatriates in Spain are asked whether they would like to know more about local taxes, 80 raise their hand.
When these same 80 expatriates are asked whether they are willing to spend time learning about these taxes, 70 quickly lower their hand.
When the few that remain are asked if they are willing to enroll in a one-year master’s program on local taxation taught in Spanish, I am the only volunteer.
My motivation is clear: there is no better feeling as a financial planner than when a client says: “Thanks to you, I can sleep peacefully at night.”
And there is no more direct route to removing their worries than to learn as much as I can about the various aspects of finance in Spain.
Taxes aren’t even our primary focus at Bissan Wealth Management – cross-border financial planning is.
But taxes are a notable concern for many expats in Spain. That’s why I spent numerous late nights studying Spanish taxes: to ensure that my clients won’t spend late nights worrying about their own taxes.
I began my specialised graduate training in advanced taxation in 2023, earning a Master’s Degree in tax and fiscal advisory (Máster en Fiscalidad y Tributación) from Universidad Nebrija in 2024.
Economist John Maynard Keynes once said: “The avoidance of taxes is the only intellectual pursuit that carries any reward.”
I believe that’s only partly true, that holistic financial planning is a more worthy pursuit.
You see, good financial planning involves tax strategy, but it also includes investment planning, risk management (insurance), cash flow & budgeting, and retirement planning. Which means there’s a lot of expertise that must be acquired to be an effective financial planner.
This is why at Bissan Wealth Management’s 10-person firm, one of our team-members holds the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) credential, another is a CFP® holder and a Chartered Retirement Planning Counselor®, and a third earned a PhD in Economics.
And that’s why six of our ten team-members hold one of Spain’s two highest financial advising credentials: the European Financial Advisor (EFA) or the European Financial Planner (EFP); two earned a law degree; two are certified mortgage credit advisors; four have an MBA; two have a master’s degree in taxation and five hold another master’s degree.
That’s a lot of financial knowledge packed into a small financial firm.
Why have we obtained so many different credentials and degrees? It’s because the components of financial planning are not separate boxes. A decision in one area typically affects others.
This is particularly true for expatriate families in Spain. For example: exchange rates can affect investment decisions, which then affect taxes, which in turn influence how assets should be divided between two countries.
Most expats in Spain receive financial advice from multiple sources but seldom have a single integrated plan. Without coordination, decisions that seem smart individually may work against each other.
In the end, good financial planning is about connecting all the dots.
When the different pieces of a family’s financial life are viewed together rather than in isolation, decisions become more cohesive, risks become easier to understand and manage, and long-term goals become more attainable.
That’s why I’ll continue to raise my hand for new learning opportunities. And that’s why I’ll end the article here – for now.
I’ve just enrolled in a Spanish mortgage credit advisor training program, which means it’s time to once again close my laptop and open my notebook.
Peter Dougherty is a Financial Planner at BISSAN Wealth Management in Spain. He holds an MBA in finance from Columbia University in New York and an MS in Spanish Taxation (Máster en Fiscalidad y Tributación) from Nebrija University in Spain. He is a European Financial Planner (EFP) in Spain and is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional and a Chartered Retirement Planning Counselor® in the United States.
For more information: https://www.financial-planning-in-spain.com
Peter Dougherty
- MBA in finance
- MS in Spanish taxation
- BS in Economics
- European Financial Planner in Spain
- Chartered Retirement Planning Counselor® in U.S.
- Author of two financial planning books
Certified Financial Planner™ in U.S.
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