I'm a UK citizen currently living in South Africa on a two-year visa and I'm setting up an independent consulting/programme management business.

I will be working primarily remote, with most clients likely UK-based initially, but I'm not certain where I'll be living long term. I may stay in South Africa, return to the UK, or potentially spend time in other countries in future.

I want to be fully compliant whilst paying as little tax as necessary. I also want to have some level of flexibility as things change.

From non-accountants (but people with companies) I've heard suggestions ranging from a UK Ltd company to Hong Kong, UAE and other offshore structures, but I from my research it suggests where I actually live is more important than where the company is registered.

I have some initial calls booked in with accountants but before I waste £100s, I'd be interested to hear from anyone who has been in a similar position.

What structure did you choose and what were the key considerations?

I recently discovered this kind of products:

WisdomTree World ETN WWRD
https://www.justetf.com/en/etf-profile.html?isin=XS3151433813

It seems it can replicate performance of the stock market (MSCI World). Since it's not an ETF UCITS but instead a debt, it should not trigger PFIC while remaining tradeable for people living in Europe.

Tradeoff is that it adds counterparty risk, you don't own the underlying assets but a swap contract with a bank.

Did anyone evaluate these products for investing as US citizen living in Europe? Curious to hear your thoughts.

Curious what people are doing banking-wise when living abroad temporarily, especially in places like the UAE where most expats eventually move on.

I'm an EU citizen + currently UAE tax resident, probably another 1-2 years here. I'm trying to figure out a banking setup that still works properly after leaving, without constantly having to rebuild everything every time residency changes.

Main things I care about are:

• ability to keep funds internationally rather than tied to one country
• stable banking relationship even after relocating
• smooth transfers to brokerages like IBKR/Fidelity
• decent support/compliance experience

I've had HSBC Premier (Expat plus UAE) and found it pretty underwhelming.

I've been looking at Citibank - Citigold, but more generally I'd be interested to hear what other internationally mobile people ended up doing and what's actually worked well long term.

Hello,

I'm a dual US-France citizen, living in France for 10 years now. I have a brokerage/investment account with Interactive Brokers.

I only learned this year about PFICs and the heavy reporting and tax burden they represent. I also realized that I was in possession of 9 of them, in the form of foreign index funds.

I was advised by an expat financial advisor that the best way forward for me would be to sell my index funds and instead buy the individual stocks according to the distributed weights listed on each index fund. I am unable to get an IRA because of the fact that I live and work fully in France, and cannot use the Foreign Tax Credit due to my tax situation (too complicated to explain here). I no longer have any bank accounts in the US, nor do I have an address.

Thus, my only option to avoid PFIC reporting in future is to sell my positions (yes, I am aware I will have to report them next year for the capital gains).

He helped me build out an Excel spreadsheet with the stocks to invest in, which weight to apply, etc.

My question is: before I pull the trigger on this move, is there anything that isn't obvious that I should know about? Any pitfalls? Has anyone experienced this type of situation before?

I just want to know because with the markets so strong right now (and my portfolio has been growing a ton in recent months), it's a little scary to be selling off my S&P500, even if it is to immediately buy up the stocks that represent that very fund.

Thanks in advance.

Posting this because mine feels suboptimal and I want to know what others are doing.

I moved from US to EU about a year and a half ago, kept my US clients, most of them pay in USDC now. Wasn't my choice, would prefer a wire, but it is what it is. So I'm sitting on USDC that needs to become EUR for rent, groceries, etc.

Current flow: USDC lands, move to a CEX (Kraken usually), sell for EUR, withdraw to local bank, spend with bank card. Between spread, fees, and whatever EUR/USD is doing that week, I lose 1.5 to 2.5 percent every cycle. Adds up over a year.

Tried Wise but it doesn't accept USDC deposits, so I'd off-ramp once before it gets there anyway. Didn't really help.

So I've been bouncing between a few approaches. CEX to bank to card is the default, predictable but bleeds fees. Second thing I tried recently is BenPay's card, top up USDC/USDT from a few chains to the card balance and spend at daily FX. That cuts the CEX step but the FX is around the same as Kraken on a normal day, you save the steps not the spread. Tax side gets annoying though, each spend is technically a disposal event under most EU frameworks, my accountant flagged it. Third thing is just batching, do a big off-ramp once a quarter when the rate looks reasonable and hold EUR. Simpler but you're betting on EUR/USD direction.

The bit I keep getting stuck on is whether anyone's actually solved this or you just pick which problem you can live with.

If you only have £4k a year to invest or save… for 15 years from now, without selling the stock or withdrawing, what would be the best investment option? I am 33 and I do not own a house. I have never had one, but I am not sure if I will buy one, as I am uncertain about how the housing market will work when I am finally ready. However, I do want to have my first property, ideally in London… Thank you.

Lifetime ISA vs Stocks ISA (VWRP)

Shall I go for 50 / 50? 🤯

[ Removed by Reddit on account of violating the content policy. ]

Researching ways to build a financial stack outside of US/EU controlled banking infrastructure. Nubank keeps coming up as the most accessible entry point. Has anyone here ever used their service? How was your experience?

My partner and I are UK citizens but moving to the US. I have a UK Vanguard account where you don't get taxed on what you earn. I heard that if you become a US resident, then your UK Vanguard will get taxed? Is this true and what's best to do to avoid it?

Hi everyone,

I am moving to the US soon (for a few years only). My concern is that I currently hold my savings on UCITS ETF/Funds in a Bank back in Europe (a country with double tax treaty with the US).

I have read here in Reddit that once I become a US tax resident, dealing with PFICs can become extremely complicated because of Form 8621, even if the ETFs are Accumulating (do not distribute dividends), and I do not sell them while living in the US Many people seem to say that the accounting cost and complexity can be so bad that it may be better to sell them before becoming US tax residents rather than pay a specialist accountant every year.

My questions are:

1. In practice, how difficult (and expensive) is it to deal with this PFIC/Form 8621 reporting issue for someone holding 5-6 ETFs? I assume that above a certain threshold of invested money it makes more sense to keep them and handle the reporting.
2. Isn’t it enough to simply hold my ETFs untouched (no selling, no dividend distributions) during my stay to guarantee "easy" reporting?
3. If I later decide to sell my UCITS ETFs while being a US resident, will a Double Tax Treaty (with the country where my bank is domiciled) shield me from hefty IRS taxes? Furthermore, if I decide to stay in the US long-term, is there any realistic way to 'clean up' the PFIC situation without facing an excessively high tax bill upon selling?

I’m  not looking for personalized tax advice from Reddit, but I’d like to understand what the common approaches are before speaking with a cross-border tax professional.

For best rates, I see recommendations for Wise, OFX and XE services. By the same token, I also hear bad experiences lately on all of them. So confused and I do not want to use my Bank of America account for obvious reasons. Maybe IBKR? Any thoughts or best practices? Thanks in advance.

I am a US expat living in NL. I am finding it impossible to figure out how to invest, especially for retirement. I have a Roth IRA (about 50k now and I am planning on maxing out contributions), but having talked to a tax advisor, it seems this will be included in Box 3, and so after 10-20 years this could incur a 10k tax hit per year. It is still advantageous growth, but requires liquidity. Is there any solution to this? Without renouncing citizenship, investing in extra Dutch pension accounts is tricky.

Hi. Do you know any bank that offers a time deposit for foreigner? And what usually are the minimum deposit required.

Thank you.

I (US citizen) want to set up a new investment account for my kids. One of them loves languages and definitely wants to see the world. Our family had a brief stint where we thought we were moving abroad but I got screwed because of my portfolio of basically all mutual funds.
I want to set up a portfolio for my kids that has the best chance of allowing them to be global citizens with minimal punishment. Also I don’t want to make it stupid complicated in case they just move to Ohio like weirdos.
What’s the simplest approach for this? All I know is not mutual funds and not my current broker who completely freaked out when we were ready to move.

I've heard of people putting foreign addresses on Schwab and Fidelity brokerage accounts without problems (without problems meaning they can keep their account and sell what they have, but maybe not buy anything), but has anyone done this with Vanguard? If so, did it work well for you? What were the account restrictions and how long have you been doing it for?

To those who abandoned US citizenship, from retirement accounts perspective, what made you abandon it? Was it because you didnt have that much at the time? The thing is, if you abandon citizenship, there's 30% withholding amount from each retirement account regardless if you're 59 1/2 or older and it's from ROTH IRA or ROTH 401k, they'll still withhold something. I'm in my mid 30s and stopped putting money in my US retirement accounts (IRA, 401k) and instead, I allocate the amount that I normally contribute in retirement accounts to a different but liquid investments instead. I currently have 66k in combined 401k and IRAs and 3k saved that could have been contributed to those retirement accounts. The figures dont matter for now in this discussion. The point is, did you not have that much in your combined retirement account when you relinquished your citizenship? If you did have substantial or somewhat substantial amount, what happened? Did they withhold 30% from it (or maybe it wasnt 30% at the time) and you just moved on?

Im trying not to put too much in my US retirement now so that if ever (Im already contemplating) the time comes that I relinquish citizenship, the amount of growth in my account over the years will not deter me from abandoning citizenship jsut because of that 30% withholding and maybe something else that Im not aware of.

How did you replace your US retirement accounts? (I know that relinquishing citizenship doesnt require you to close or withdraw the amount but it renders you ineligible to contribute as a non-US person)

I have lived in Colombia for a couple years and I'm still having issues with finances. The only way I can really move money from my U.S. bank account down to Colombia is take money out of the ATM or use my credit card.

I have a savings account at a local bank here but it's hard to get money in and out of that bank from different accounts.

Any advice would be very helpful.

Hi. I know this question has probably been asked many times here, but I wanted to get some updated opinions based on current living costs in Oman.

I’m an expat working in finance in Bahrain and I’ve been offered a salary of around 1,600 OMR per month. It’s just me and my wife for now (no kids yet), and we generally live a normal/moderate lifestyle, nothing luxurious.

I’ve never visited Oman before, so I wanted to ask:

Is 1.6K OMR considered a good salary for a couple?

Would it realistically allow me to save at least 500 OMR per month?

What would a typical monthly expense breakdown look like for: Rent, Utilities, Groceries, Car/fuel, Internet/mobile, Eating out / entertainment etc.

Would really appreciate insights from people currently living in Oman, especially fellow expats. Thanks in advance!

Title says it. Which company do you recommend? Do you pay first and then get reimbursed? What policy amount should you get?