expat finance

I moved to the UK about five years ago to join my partner. I have legal residency here but I have retained my US citizenship. My dad still resides in the states. Is it possible for us to open a joint checking account in the US that I can access from abroad? I’d like to be able to share a pot of...

Hi guys, Me and my wife are starting a big remodeling project on our future home. This will hopefully start in the next 2-4 weeks and finish in 2-4 months. I'm not totally clear when we have to pay the builders but obviously some time in this time frame. I have a decent amount of money in...

I work internationally and have HSBC bank accounts in 3 countries (Australia, Canada and UK). I don't have a big salary, but I hold enough with them to keep Premiere tier status. This lets me link my accounts in all 3 countries and move money between the 3 without wire or transfer fees. This is...

I am a U.S. citizen and my wife is a dual-citizen of the U.S. and E.U. (Latvia), we moved to Europe this year and had our first full-day in a foreign country on May 15, 2015 and have not and will not return to the U.S. at any point prior to June 15, 2016. Assuming we file our taxes from abroad...

Hi -- I'm a U.S. citizen living in France and earning in EUR. I have the following investment account types in the U.S. (under my parents U.S. address) Traditional and Roth IRAs -- Vanguard Brokerage account -- Betterment 401(k) -- Guideline I am hoping to continue investing in these...

I wanted to share and simultaneously ask for feedback on the following rather simple Google Finance "Expat Wealth Tracker". My goal was to build a simple spreadsheet which I can update monthly (or quarterly) to see how various investments change and keep an overview over all my accounts. Key...

I live in the US with my spouse (both US persons) while my family (non-US persons) lives overseas. My family wants to gift me money to buy a house. My research leads me to these points below: 1) My family can send me up to $100K per year. 2) If my family sends me more than $100K a year then I...

Hi all and thanks in advance for any help that can be provided. I’m hoping someone can point me in the right direction regarding a PFIC I am invested in (out of ignorance that it was a PFIC, and the tax implications, until now). I am a US Citizen, German Resident. It is a German mutual...

My banks are asking me to complete the FATCA form to send back to the IRS but I don't have a TIN or SSN as I left the US before I got any of these. Does any one know which form I need to fill out instead to maybe show I don't need pay tax in the US or similar? Background info: I was born in...

Does anybody know if I can operate a US LLC from Germany. We’re dual citizens if that helps. It’s not our main income but we a bunch of small income coming form it, several 100s of dollars a months, so don’t want to lose it. I know taxes I need to figure out with an accountant in Germany but...

Hi everyone, I am a US citizen who moved abroad ( to a very cheap country) after college in 2012. For 6-7 years I survived just from some money from my parents and giving English lessons (where students paid me in cash, so I didn't have a formal salary). For this reason I never filed taxes with...

Just discovered this group. I recently made ved from Europe to the Us, where I plan to stay for a few years before eventually move back to Europe. In Europe I used to invest in ETFs, but I sold all before moving. Now it’s time to start again but I am not sure about the strategy, considering...

I'm an American living in Scotland with my Scottish spouse. Our financial situation is pretty straightforward with us both only earning from our UK based employment. We also have bog standard pension schemes with our respective employers. I have some old 401(k)s and a Roth IRA collecting dust...

Question for US expats in Europe: where are you currently investing your rainy day Euros? In the US, I save it in my brokerage‘s money market account currently earning 4.5%. Is there something similar in Europe? How about US treasury bills? Is there a way to purchase US treasuries with Euros (to...

I'm self-employed, US citizen, resident in Germany for c. 15 years. In addition to my German bank account, I still have my old Chase account, and it is linked to a family member's Chase account as well. He is being told that if the accounts are not unlinked promptly, his account will be...

To give you some background - IAMA young male who has recently moved to the UAE, from a European country. After deciding I need to set up some kind of savings plan I met with an Investment/Savings manager from P.I.C., who I believe are a part of the deVere group. Might be worth noting I have...

Hi, I'm an Irish citizen, currently on a H1B visa, and going through the Green Card process. I have no immediate plans to leave the US, but it's highly likely I'll return to Europe at some point in the next 5-10 years. I've been putting off investing savings given the apparent complexities of...

For the next 5 years or so, I will be using the Foreign Tax Credit instead of the FEIE because I moved from a tax-free salary in the Middle East to a heavily taxed salary in Central America. This means I can start investing in a Roth IRA (for as long as I’m using the FTC). However, when I move...

Hello, I will be moving to Germany from the US next week and just sold my car for cash. I now have a stack of 20s that total around $4,000. Should I put it in the bank and transfer the cash using transferwise to my German bank? Or simply bring the cash with me on the plane and exchange once I’m...

I am moving to the UK next Fall for work and plan to stay there for at least 3-5 years. My initial plan was to send half of my paycheck each month back to my brokerage account (Edward Jones held under a family address) and using that to pay off student loans/put money aside to purchase real...