A separate investment could help bridge the gap years if you wanted to retire earlier

from etcetera magazine August 2023

Trick of the Trade!

It is always good to have an extra retirement income source that is not part of monthly income plans. These savings could cover any financial emergencies and unforeseen expenses or be used for holidays. Either way, it is always good to have a pot of gold hidden away at the end of a rainbow for a rainy day. Chat with your advisor about optimising your retirement portfolio and adding on supplements.

Remember, you earn the most interest on your capital in the last few years before deVere France S.a.r.l. are regulated by ANACOFI-CIF and ORIAS which will only recommend French regulated products. deVere France can advise you on ways to help safeguard and increase your wealth, as well as helping with HMRC-recognised pension transfers to a Qualified Recognised Overseas Pensions scheme (QROPS) to give you potentially more flexibility in your pension plans.

Please note, the above is for educational purposes only and does not constitute advice. You should always contact your advisor for a personal consultation. No liability can be accepted for any actions taken or refrained from being taken, as a result of reading the above.

Helen Booth works as a financial adviser for deVere France S.a.r.l and has lived as well as owned property in the Deux-Sèvres region. Having worked in the financial services in the UK for over 15 years, Helen prides herself in being fully diploma-qualified for the services that she provides. Helen has lived and worked in France for over 8 years and enjoys being part of deVere France S.a.r.l., a division of one of the world’s leading independent financial consultancies, deVere Group.

With over $10 billion of funds under its advice and administration and with more than 80,000 clients around the world, deVere Group truly offers a myriad of unique products and notes that are not available anywhere else in the market. This, as Helen puts it, gives clients the pick of the crop when it comes to investing.

If you would like to know more about how deVere France can help you, contact

Helen Booth DipPFS , EFA : +33 (0) 77 171 2879 : helen.booth@devere-france.fr

Dénomination sociale: deVere France S.a.r.l, RCS B 528949837, 29 Rue Taitbout, 75009, Paris, France. Gérant: Mr. Jason Trowles. Registre avec ANACOFI-CIF (Association Nationale des Conseils Financiers). Nombre enregistré: E008176, association agréée par l’Autorité des Marchés Financiers. Courtier d’assurances ou de réassurance, Catégorie B, inscrit à l’Organisme pour le Registre des Intermédiaires en Assurance (ORIAS) numéro enregistré 12064640. Garantie Financière et Assurance de Responsabilité Civile Professionnelle conformes aux articles L 541-3 du Code Monétaire et Financier et L 512-6 et 512-7 du Code des Assurances. Registered name: deVere France S.a.r.l, registered company number RCS B 528949837, 29 Rue Taitbout, 75009, Paris, France. Gérant: Mr. Jason Trowles. Registered with ANACOFI-CIF (National Association of Financial Advisers). Registered number: E008176, association approved by the Financial Markets Authority. Insurance and re-insurance brokers, Category B, registered with the Organisation for the Registration of Assurance Intermediaries (ORIAS). Registered number 12064640. Financial and Professional Liability Insurance Guarantee conforms to article L 541-3 of the Monetary and Fiscal Code and L 512-6 and 512-7 of the Assurance Code. 6XKWSX •V1.1/230418

Most of us have heard of the sunshine vitamin! Vitamin D3 is a hormone as well as a vitamin and it is synthesised in the skin whenever we are exposed to sunlight.

Vitamin D is associated with the feel-good factor and a lack of it contributes to SADSeasonal Affective Disorder. Vitamin D is especially important for healthy bones and kidneys. A healthy thyroid maintains calcium levels in the body and Vitamin D is used in this process too. We have cells that use vitamin D all over the body, from the skeleton to the lungs, the reproductive system to the heart and the pancreas to the skin. Our immune system uses Vitamin D directly which is why people who get frequent infections should have their D3 levels checked and optimise them, especially in preparation for winter, and always under the guidance of a health professional. The recommended daily amounts of Vitamin D are (IU = international units):

Children up to 12 months: 400 IU

1-70 years: 600 IU

Over 70s: 800 IU

This level of intake will possibly prevent deficiency but that really depends on your genes. Some people can only use around 10% of the Vitamin D in circulation in their body so this would represent a very low intake for them and a minimal intake for the rest. In functional medicine we work with optimal health parameters, that means the levels that give you great health, not the levels that keep you just out of the deficiency range. We test for Vitamin D levels in ng/ml and traditional ranges vary between countries. In general 30ng/ml may be considered normal, however ‘standard’ blood levels aren’t optimal blood levels and for most people, this is still a deficiency. Functional medicine teaches us that 60-90ng/ml is good and more optimal and less than 60ng/ml should warrant supplementation of around 5000 IU a day (please supplement only under the care of a health professional) with a maintenance level of 2000 IU once the body is in a sufficient range of over 60ng/ml.

Vitamin D deficiency in the Northern Hemisphere is increasingly common and especially with the rise in the use of sunscreen, there have even been recent recorded rises in rickets, the condition that arises due to severe deficiency in Vitamin D3. Vitamin D has been shown to be protective against skin cancer so some sun exposure without using sunscreen is essential for your health and if there is a risk of burning, personally, I believe it’s better to cover up rather than use sunscreens, some of which have been shown to contain the cancer-causing agent benzene. (If you do use sun screen, I recommend using Green People.) I follow the rule of not putting anything on my skin that you cannot eat since all chemicals are absorbed into the body and will add a burden onto the organs of detoxification.

Kinds of Vitamin D

There are different kinds of Vitamin D. In humans the important ones are D2 and D3. D2 (Ergocalciferol) comes from plants and D3 (Cholecalciferol) comes from animal sources. D3 is also created in our body on exposure to sunlight. 10% of our Vitamin D comes from food, the rest is synthesised by sun exposure (or supplementation). D3 is the important and most bioavailable form of Vitamin D - this means it can be most easily used by our body. D2 is often what manufacturers fortify juices and milks with as it’s a lot cheaper to produce but this is not very easy for the body to use and a lot of it simply passes through the body unused. It can be considered a gimmick when foods say they are fortified because often the versions of the vitamins that are being used are not created in a form that can be used by the body

Which foods should you eat?

▪ Cod Liver Oil

▪ Salmon

▪ Swordfish

▪ Tuna Fish

▪ Sardines

▪ Beef Liver

▪ Egg Yolks

Including three to four portions of Vitamin D3-rich foods will boost your immune system, keep your bones stronger and sharpen your mental faculties plus there are many more benefits.

Above all, make sure that while you get sun exposure, you have light summer wear with long sleeves and long legs/long skirt so that when you have had your fill of the sun, you cover up and protect your body from overexposure and burning.