Here are two recent cases revealing the challenging personal and financial circumstances expats tends to face. These Israel expat case studies may be pertinent for some of your clients – and if so, then please feel free to give us a call. 

Moving to Israel 

The person is a recent widow who is a US citizen moving to Israel. She is currently retired. Her current bank and financial advisor were willing to retain her accounts but were not willing to make outgoing calls to Israel. Assets are held in a brokerage trust account and an IRA.

What she needed:

We believe that the solution lies in working with service providers who are more multinational in scope. We transferred the assets to our custodian Pershing, which accepts non-US domiciled accounts.

Expats in such situations also tend to have a need for services such as the following:

• Converting dollars to shekels, and sending the money to the person’s Israel bank account
• Management of required minimum distributions of the IRA
• Direct customer service on both sides of the Atlantic (no 800 numbers and long waits).
• General advice with regards to the move from US to Israel.

The divorcing couple

The second of our Israel Expat case studies is a married couple, two US Citizens living in Israel, who are getting divorced. The financial assets are in the United States, including two 401(k) plans of the husband. They also have some assets at one of the large custodians, who was not willing to assist with the asset split without the couple being physically present in the US.

What they need:

We have so far been able to rollover the 401(k) plan to an IRA. The move to the IRA has allowed the couple to avoid the lengthy and expensive QDRO (Qualified Domestic Relations Order) process in US courts.

Once the divorce decree is signed and approved by the Israeli court, we will submit a translated version to our custodian, who will split the assets according to the directives noted in the divorce decree.

The bottom line on Israel Expat Case Studies

Moving residence to another country is an example of a transition, and as with any such a change, the volume of new situations the clients are confronted with is overwhelming.

In both cases, the clients require specialized services from a financial professional who understands the legal implications of cross border transactions. It is also important to choose the correct vendors, because in many cases there are limitations on international activity.

If you would like to have a conversation about how to service these types of clients, please contact us.

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Norman H. Chait, CFA, Managing Principal, Nardis Advisors LLC,

September 8th, 2021

Disclaimer: Nardis Advisors LLC (“Nardis”) is a Registered Investment Advisory Firm regulated by the U.S Securities and Exchange Commission in accordance and compliance with applicable securities laws and regulations. Nardis does not render or offer to render personalized investment advice through this medium. The information provided herein is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial, investment or legal advice. Investment advice can only be rendered after delivery of the Firm’s disclosure statement (Form ADV Part 2) and execution of an investment advisory agreement between the client and Nardis.