Why Me Posted August 6, 2022 Share Posted August 6, 2022 My investment account with Fidelity, opened more than 10 years ago, has my brother's US address. A US residence is essential in order to own US mutual funds, not ETFs though owing to some weird technicality. All my assets are MFs and selling them all to buy ETFs is not a practical option owing to the tax hit. As long as my brother's address is available there's no problem. But he may be leaving the US too. So, here's my question: Is there a US address service that's good for investment purposes? Keep in mind this has to be much more than a mail forwarding service. It would be nice to hear from an expat who has actually been using such a service to invest. Thanks. Link to comment
gargamon Posted August 6, 2022 Share Posted August 6, 2022 I have Vanguard MF's and use a foreign address. When changed from a US address to a foreign one, Vanguard closed my brokerage account but had no problem at all keeping the MF's open. Mutual funds can be transferred between companies without a tax hit if you keep the money in the same fund. Try Vanguard or Schwab to see if they can help you. 1 Link to comment
Why Me Posted August 6, 2022 Author Share Posted August 6, 2022 1 hour ago, gargamon said: I have Vanguard MF's and use a foreign address. When changed from a US address to a foreign one, Vanguard closed my brokerage account but had no problem at all keeping the MF's open. Mutual funds can be transferred between companies without a tax hit if you keep the money in the same fund. Try Vanguard or Schwab to see if they can help you. From https://www.americansabroad.org/information/financial/ Earlier this year Charles Schwab and Company, Fidelity Investment and T.Rowe Price announced that they would no longer allow Americans living overseas, even their own employees, to buy US based mutual funds. ... The company's are not forcing clients to sell the mutual funds (forcing a capital gain or loss) and are not for the most part forcing accounts to be closed, but they are limiting new purchases. Seems a bit risky to offer a foreign address. I have read of horror stories where a brokerage firm shut down expat accounts with foreign addresses on very short notice. Even a firm that's friendly now might change their minds if they feel the paperwork or potential liability isn't worth it. From what's above Fidelity et al currently have a thus far and no farther view of expat MFs. Who knows what's coming. A stateside address seems safest. 1 Link to comment
1FinickyOne Posted August 6, 2022 Share Posted August 6, 2022 I was using a c/o address and was eventually forced to discontinue the account... 1 Link to comment
bamnutsak Posted August 7, 2022 Share Posted August 7, 2022 4 hours ago, Why Me said: Keep in mind this has to be much more than a mail forwarding service. Why? I used a UPS Store for ~ five years with Fidelity, no issues. I did a fair amount of investing, buying selling funds, even stocks. Just be aware of any State-specific reporting/tax requirements and issues. 1 Link to comment
Jingthing Posted August 7, 2022 Share Posted August 7, 2022 (edited) I'm assuming that the author's accounts are not in retirement accounts like an IRA. For those that have an IRA you can sell the entire account I think without tax consequence and transfer to Interactive Brokers retirement account which you can open with a passport. Edited August 7, 2022 by Jingthing 1 Link to comment
Duke007 Posted August 7, 2022 Share Posted August 7, 2022 I use a US address from a service named Physical Address. 2 Link to comment
Jingthing Posted August 7, 2022 Share Posted August 7, 2022 1 hour ago, Duke007 said: I use a US address from a service named Physical Address. Looks promising and has a good choice of locations. Generally you want a no state tax state. Of course to fully spoof firms like Fidelity you need a US phone number preferably matching your address in area code and logging in from the US not abroad. https://physicaladdress.com/locations/ 2 Link to comment
kristie745 Posted August 19, 2022 Share Posted August 19, 2022 (edited) interesting information Edited August 19, 2022 by kristie745 Link to comment
Duke007 Posted August 29, 2022 Share Posted August 29, 2022 "Of course to fully spoof firms like Fidelity you need a US phone number preferably matching your address in area code and logging in from the US not abroad." If you need a US phone number, you can try a service such as Hushed. It currently lets me receive verification SMS from most sites. Link to comment
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