Not a U.S. citizen or resident, but I wanto o open a brokerage account. Is this a good idea?

[jem2113]

Here is my situation.

I am a citizen of and currently live in Brazil, but I lived in the U.S. for a year between 2014 and 2015 and I still have 3000 dollars in my american bank account. Is it a good idea to open a brokerage account ant invest this money in bounds and ETFs?

I don't have concrete plans to go back there soon, but I would like to travel to the U.S. in a year or two.

I could transfer this money back to Brazil, but I don't really need it here right now. Also the U.S. dollar value related to the Brazilian currency oscillates a lot and almost nobody knows the best moment to buy or sell dollars here.

 

[boughtataprice]

@jem2113 I think you would need an address in the US to do so. Just open brokerage account in Brazil and buy vanguard ETFs.

 

[jem2113]

@boughtataprice Well, if the address is really necessary, I have some acquaintances in the US who may let me use theirs. Would you say this is an option?

 

[boughtataprice]

@jem2113 if you trust them

 

[reflex99]

@jem2113 I wouldn't. I am not a lawyer, but you'd essentially be claiming to be a resident of the U.S. when you are not. That could be considered fraud, perhaps.

Others with more expertise can weigh in, but since you're essentially asking if you can lie to the U.S. government and a financial institution, I would trend carefully.

 

[hricard1964]

@jem2113 You don't need an American address.

Use international brokerage: Interactive Brokers, or Saxo Bank.

Good news: you're not entitled to the same tax laws. Bad news: comission fees are pretty high at the moment.

 

[writerssecret]

@hricard1964 I second that. I am a non american and trade US securities fine at interactive brokers. They have bank accounts outside the US (Germany in my case) and place your money there. From there on you can trade whatever you want to trade (anything a US trader can trade).

Only problem with your situation is that IB require $10000 account minimum. Not sure about saxo bank. I believe TD Ameritrade does the same thing with IB but require less minimum balance. Check them out.

 

[jinxy]

@jem2113 Do you still have a valid social security number and visa? That's pretty much is all required to open an account these days. I don't even think they require a US address.

Last time I tried to open an account with merril, they made me send a photocopy of my visa.

 

[jem2113]

@jinxy I still have an SSN, and a B1/B2 visa. I looked at the TD ameritrade form and it seems they do not require a US address. I was looking at Robin Hood, but I couldn't find an online application form.