Find clear answers to common questions on taxes, investments, and financial planning for expats navigating life abroad.
Yes. We are among the very few advisory firms fully licensed and authorized to provide financial advice in both Israel and the United States. This dual licensing allows us to manage investments and offer guidance across borders while maintaining full regulatory compliance in each jurisdiction.
This is best addressed through a strategy that is mindful of currency exposures, and possibly owning assets in multiple currencies. We can put together for you an investment plan to address this.
This is a matter of setting up your bank accounts correctly. We also offer the ability to pay bills, as well as pay your US taxes from your brokerage account. We can work with you to get this arranged.
Generally for US citizens living broad, we think that liquid portfolios of stocks, bonds, mutual funds, ETFs etc should continue to be managed in US domiciled accounts, unless you need to live off that money or if you need funds to purchase a home.
Investments in overseas domiciled mutual funds are taxed at a high rate by Uncle Sam. Also, your US-based retirement accounts (IRA, SEP IRA, 401k etc) cannot be transferred elsewhere without penalty (unless you have reached age 59.5).
Generally, if you are eligible for foreign pension plans, then your US social security benefits may be reduced up to 50%. However, this is not always so. For example, if one receives money from Israel National Insurance, then this does not impact the level of your US Social Security benefit. For further information read my article on Linkedin.
This is possible but in almost all cases, tax treaties between the US and the country of your residence ensure you are not paying double taxation. If your tax rate is higher in the country of residence than the US, then you will still file a US tax return but most likely not pay additional taxes.
Where you pay and how much depends on many factors, such as if you are working, immigration status, and specific tax jurisdiction. For more specific answers we will gladly refer you to an expat-focused CPA. And don’t forget to file your US tax return every year!
You will need to establish a new account at a US-based custodian who does provide custody for people living outside the US. Read our US expat case study for a description of how that was handled for one particular client.
Also please note that while some US custodians may allow your account to remain open, they may not permit purchases of new securities, or of certain types of securities. Hence we believe you will want to transfer to an account that offers more investment flexibility.