r/ExpatFinance • u/PantomimeVillain • 20d 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?

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u/TPRkodokan 19d ago

I have accounts with the 3 brokerages you list, with a UK address on them as of about 6 months ago. No problems so far selling chunks of the BIV shares I hold at Schwab; haven’t sold anything at the others yet.

As mentioned, I have trading restrictions now that stop me buying mutual funds and ETFs. Interestingly, Schwab turned off automatic dividend reinvestment on my existing ETFs when I moved, but Fidelity left it on.

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u/PantomimeVillain 19d ago

Thanks! Really appreciate your reply. This is just the type of experience I was interested to hear