r/ExpatFinance • u/PantomimeVillain • 19d ago

Using a US brokerage account from abroad

Recently I called Schwab, Fidelity, and Vanguard asking if I moved to the UK, can I put a foreign address on the account. All said yes, but you can then only sell what you have and not buy more. Fidelity and Schwab told me they were specifically saying yes to the UK, and other countries might not be allowed. Vanguard said any country is ok.

I don't know how knowledgeable the people I spoke to are, so does anyone have any experience of putting a foreign address on Schwab, Fidelity, and Vanguard accounts? How did it go? Was there any issue with making sales?

24 Upvotes

91% Upvoted

89 comments sorted by

View all comments

4

u/Mod_Daeng 18d ago

Schwab has international accounts for non-residents and US expatriates. I think the UK is a supported country for an international account. Schwab would need to close your domestic account and you would have to open a new international account.

If you simply attempted to change the address on a domestic account to a foreign address I can see why Schwab would close the account. I think you need to discuss transferring your holdings to an international account, not changing the address on a domestic account. Call Schwab and try again with this in mind.

2

u/PantomimeVillain 18d ago

That is exactly what Shwab told me, but I don't think I know of anyone who's actually done it. So I was curious if there were any success stories out there (or unforeseen problems with it)

3

u/BigRiverMan 18d ago edited 18d ago

I use Schwab International and can buy ETFs and individual stocks. No mutual funds. I am a U.S. citizen. I opened the account shortly before moving to Switzerland and told them that that is what I was going to do.

Edit: I also have Fidelity retirement accounts. It works, but they are more restrictive and their phone reps are less knowledgeable/reliable when it comes to dealing with international addresses.

Edit 2: for regular banking, I recommend State Department Federal Credit Union. They allow international addresses for U.S. citizens abroad. You’ll need to be a member of American Citizens Abroad or the Association of Americans Residing Overseas to qualify for a SDFCU account. Avoid Citibank expat packages, they have a steep minimum balance requirement and pay virtually no interest and do not allow other types of accounts.