# Seeking advice about an investment issue



## Überling (Mar 18, 2021)

Hello, all. In less than a month, my wife (a German citizen with green card) and I (a US citizen) will be moving permanently from the US to Germany. We have our investments with Charles Schwab through a US financial advisor whom we would like to keep. However, he just informed me that unless I maintain legal residency in the US, Charles Schwab will close our accounts (due to FATCA). So I am searching for someone who can advise me if there is some way to maintain a US residency (perhaps through a P.O. Box or a family member’s US property?). Does this sound like something anyone here could help me with? Surely others have been in a similar predicament!

And if there is no solution and I have to move my investments to a firm that will work with US expats living in Europe, can anyone recommend a good firm to consider?

Many thanks,
Derek


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## tomwins (Dec 27, 2014)

I use C. Schwab (directly, not through another financial advisor) and I've asked the question about moving abroad. They have told me that I can no longer buy mutual funds but can keep buying and selling stocks. Since that is mainly what I invest in I'm OK with that. Someone else has told me the same thing and they live overseas.
It really doesn't make sense to me that FATCA would cause them to report anything as my understanding is that the law requires non-US financial institutions to report on accounts held by US citizens. 

I urge you to get a better answer. You stated you did not speak directly to Schwab so I think your financial advisor is not telling you accurate information or doesn't want to deal with Schwab for some reason (perhaps he likes to buy and sell mutual funds on your behalf). Whatever the case, the information you've been given is not what I've been told by Schwab.

With that said, you can change your "home address" to another US based address, either a PO Box or a relative and then opt for online delivery of anything from them. I occasionally get a piece of mail from them but only if I transact a wire transfer or get a new card.
I suspect you'll find the same challenge with any investment firm as they are dealing with US government reporting requirements.


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## JustLurking (Mar 25, 2015)

Überling said:


> And if there is no solution and I have to move my investments to a firm that will work with US expats living in Europe, can anyone recommend a good firm to consider?


If no joy with domestic US brokers, the usual suggestion here is Interactive Brokers. They are a US based but international brokerage, and well used to handling customers with cross-border lifestyles.

However, your likely problem with any broker will be an EU regulation known (snappily!) as PRIIPs. This prevents brokers from offering funds or ETFs to EU residents if these funds or ETFs do not provide cost and other disclosures in a 'Key Information Documents' (KIDs). To date, no US domiciled fund or ETF has provided these, so as an EU resident you won't have ready access to _US domiciled funds_.

Conversely, because of a nasty US tax law known as PFIC, you also will be punished by US tax rules if you use _non-US domiciled_ funds or ETFs.

This may leave you without good choices, I'm afraid. The bottom line is that your US citizenship will make it very hard for you to save and invest efficiently outside the US. Your wife will be under the same restrictions, but she can readily free herself by surrendering the green card (form I-407). You can only free yourself by renouncing US citizenship.



tomwins said:


> It really doesn't make sense to me that FATCA would cause them to report anything as my understanding is that the law requires non-US financial institutions to report on accounts held by US citizens.


It's certainly true that FACTA _as passed into law_ is unilateral and extraterritorial, and one that aimed to place its entire cost burden on non-US banks.

However, to make it work, Treasury had to indulge in creative machinations, one of which was "intergovernmental agreements". And Model 1A FATCA intergovernmental agreements are _reciprocal_:

Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act - Intergovernmental agreements


> The United States Department of the Treasury has published model IGAs which follow two approaches. Under Model 1, financial institutions in the partner country report information about U.S. accounts to the tax authority of the partner country. That tax authority then provides the information to the United States. Model 1 comes in a reciprocal version (Model 1A), under which the United States will also share information about the partner country's taxpayers with the partner country, and a nonreciprocal version (Model 1B).


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## Überling (Mar 18, 2021)

tomwins said:


> With that said, you can change your "home address" to another US based address, either a PO Box or a relative and then opt for online delivery of anything from them. I occasionally get a piece of mail from them but only if I transact a wire transfer or get a new card.


That’s an interesting option. I’ll definitely look into it. Thanks.


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## Überling (Mar 18, 2021)

JustLurking said:


> If no joy with domestic US brokers, the usual suggestion here is Interactive Brokers. They are a US based but international brokerage, and well used to handling customers with cross-border lifestyles.


Thanks for suggestion…although it looks like Interactive Brokers requires one to make one’s own trades. That’s definitely not one of my areas of expertise, hence the need for a trusted financial advisor.


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## 255 (Sep 8, 2018)

Derek -- There are many Financial Advisors that clear their trades through Interactive Brokers (because they are relatively inexpensive.) IB also has their own robo-advisor: Interactive Advisors . Cheers, 255


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## Überling (Mar 18, 2021)

255 said:


> Derek -- There are many Financial Advisors that clear their trades through Interactive Brokers (because they are relatively inexpensive.) IB also has their own robo-advisor: Interactive Advisors . Cheers, 255


thank you, I appreciate the suggestion.


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## Olafwich (3 mo ago)

I got into a similar situation and still don't know what to do. By the New Year, my wife is moving to France, because we were offered a good working offer with relocation. We have long wanted to visit this country and study its culture.


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## Harry Moles (11 mo ago)

Olafwich said:


> I got into a similar situation and still don't know what to do. By the New Year, my wife is moving to France, because we were offered a good working offer with relocation. We have long wanted to visit this country and study its culture.


One popular option is to maintain a US mailing address and do not inform your brokers that you have moved to France. 

You'll still have all sorts of fun tax stuff to deal with, but at least you won't lose access to broker services.


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## Olafwich (3 mo ago)

Olafwich said:


> I got into a similar situation and still don't know what to do. By the New Year, my wife is moving to France, because we were offered a good working offer with relocation. We have long wanted to visit this country and study its culture.


. We have long wanted to visit this country and study its culture. All my investment accounts are in the USA, and my broker refuses to work with me because of the move. I have been investing for many years <snip>. I don't want to lose the work of many years. My friend advises me to transfer all the money to cryptocurrency, but I'm not sure this is the right decision.


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## 255 (Sep 8, 2018)

@Olafwich -- It is not uncommon for U.S. brokers/financial advisors to jettison expats. This is strictly a business decision resulting from both U.S. and EU compliance requirements. <snip> If you want to continue your current solution, I'd recommend @Harry Moles 's suggestion above -- just contract with a U.S. mail forwarding service, that uses a street address and change your address. If you have online access with your broker/banks, you can visit their websites via a VPN.

Alternately, you could transfer your account to a U.S. based advisory firm that supports expats. The following is the first company that "popped-up" to my "Google" search: Wealth Management US Expats | Landing Page .

Of course if you are more adept you might take @JustLurking 's recommendation above and open an account with IB.

Personally, I think dumping your nut into cryptocurrency would be folly. I know may folks that have made bank, both trading and mining crypto Unfortunately crypto for the most part is unregulated and there have been many reports of accounts being "hacked" and drained. I will admit that crypto shows good technical charts and doesn't suffer from some of the "artificial" forces that affects other markets -- but unless you're an expert, I'd shy away from your friend's recommendation. As many folks who have "won" the crypto game, there are an equal number of losers. Good luck! Cheers, 255


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## Harry Moles (11 mo ago)

255 said:


> dumping your nut


That metaphor has a variety of meanings...


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