Hi airtractor,
Thanks for your reply.
A lot depends on one's nationality and where one wants to retire...I am clear with my clients that I only give an overview when it comes to estate and tax planning and recommend several people in those areas for more in-depth advice.
I'm glad you mentioned North America - I'm meeting a US attorney next week who is a tax expert and even she has told me US tax law with regards to overseas workers is a minefield at best. Fortunately for most nationalities it's usually a bit clearer...many of us don't pay income tax etc regardless of what we earn overseas.
I agree with you that people should educate themselves, but not everyone has the time or inclination or ability to conduct a financial review on themselves, know what kind of insurance they will need and what sort of investments will help them reach at least some sort of level of financial security in years to come or how to manage those investments. In fact if we just looked at insurance alone it would take months just to learn what's available in a particular market and what each product actually does...let alone which one will suit a particular person's needs, how it affects them tax wise or if it needs to go into a trust etc etc.
N.