Investment brokers

[donnamaui]

Hi everyone! First post on here!
Basically, I’m a British expat living in Italy and I’ve been investing with eToro and Trading 212 (built up 5K-ish portfolio with them) for some time, but I’m hearing a lot of stories that I don’t like. I intend to invest long term (20/30 years minimum) and am now worrying about the money that I’ve already invested.

I’m planning to look into IBKR and DeGiro, as many people seem to invest with them long term, but my questions are:

1) What’s the best way to go about investing when I’m not 100% sure if I’ll still be in the country in 10 years?

2) What’s my best way of going about getting that money back from eToro? I’m quite in the red, like everyone at the moment, so is it better - just to wait a year or 2 for the current worldwide economic crisis to sort itself out (we hope!) or better to slowly sell my positions over the next year or so and reinvest that money in IBKR or DeGiro’s platform?

Thanks in advance!

 

[evietheturtle]

@donnamaui If you plan on moving internationally, IBKR should be the best options since it's available worldwide without problems.

And don't wait to get the money out of the sketchy brokers. If a transfer is not possible, just sell and quickly re-buy in your new broker. Since it's in the red now it's also a good opportunity to realize some losses for tax reasons.

 

[aegisheart]

@evietheturtle You cannot claim realized capital loses if you repurchase the same security within 30 days of selling. In the UK it is known as “bed and breakfasting.”

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wash_sale

OP being a UK national should consult tax rules before rebuying the same security too soon

 

[shroom]

@donnamaui At 5Kish, just let that sit. Open another broker account and that's it.

 

[cassia26]

@donnamaui What's wrong with Trading 212 though? You are insured up to 85k, it's regulated by UK government and all your holdings are de facto stored on IBRK anyway... Their platform and interface is arguably the best one in EU. So, what exactly is the problem?

 

[yac11]

@cassia26 Have to agree on this one.

 

[aegisheart]

@donnamaui Idk how it works in Europe but here in usa you can transfer your position to another broker without selling/rebuying it. Inquire with your new broker about it

Selling and rebuying will most likely trigger a wash sale (or whatever equivalent you have other there)

Edit: seems like eToro doesn’t allow transfers: https://www.etoro.com/customer-service/help/1484888112/can-i-transfer-my-trades-to-another-broker/
Same with T212

https://www.reddit.com/r/trading212/comments/rul9me

In this scenario, you can sell the shares at a loss and transfer the cash out. If you don’t have any washsale restrictions you can rebuy the same shares/positions with your new broker (maybe even cheaper since markets are crashing))

If you have washsale restrictions, then I would just leave the existing loss positions where they are until they recover and start fresh with new cash/savings at a new broker.

 

[huggy]

@aegisheart Do you pay tax over capital gains? And if so, is that the basis for the wash rule to exist? If that's the case, then I think at least The Netherlands doesn't have an equivalent because it doesn't have capital gains tax, but the UK and Italy might. Europe isn't as singular in its laws as the US is unfortunately.

As for not being sure where you are in 10 years, as long as you follow the tax rules of the country you are a taxpayer in, I don't think it matters too much. I'm with DeGiro, and they use German backing accounts, which means German financial laws such as the 100k rule apply, but I still pay tax in my home country.

 

[aegisheart]

@huggy Wash sale only applies to capital losses, not gains.

Wash sale tax rule prevents you from deducting capital losses for the tax purposes if you rebuy the same/similar security within 30 days from selling it at a loss.

https://www.investopedia.com/terms/w/washsalerule.asp

It’s meant to prevent people from creating capital losses for the tax deduction, thus creating a tax break for themselves, only to get back in the same security within 30 days.

OP mentions he sits on losses

 

[alyvia]

@donnamaui I am currently using eToro too, is there a reason why you feel IBKR or degiro is the better option?

 

[nicolegriff]

@donnamaui You can give me your money and I will return it x10 in just one day (the time I need to delete any track hehehe).

 

[goobies97]

@donnamaui The economic crisis has barely started