US address for investment purpose

[Why Me]

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.

[gargamon]

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.

[Why Me]

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.

 

[1FinickyOne]

I was using a c/o address and was eventually forced to discontinue the account... 

[bamnutsak]

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.

 

 

[Jingthing]

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

[Duke007]

I use a US address from a service named Physical Address.

[Jingthing]

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/

[kristie745]

interesting information

Edited August 19, 2022 by kristie745

[Duke007]

 

"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.