Another thread here discusses gold & silver. I just want a parking spot for retirement that earns more interest than the bank. Money is in the US.

 

Seems like Vanguard has a lot of options. Any direction over which part of Vanguard is most lucrative & safe?

 

What about tax concerns, there & here? I'm a Yank with a SSN, joint account with Thai, no US ties. It's her money!

You're looking for investment advice? no. 1 tip don't believe what people tell you

23 hours ago, scubascuba3 said:

You're looking for investment advice? no. 1 tip don't believe what people tell you

Got it. But tax liability, too.

On 5/16/2025 at 11:58 AM, unblocktheplanet said:

Another thread here discusses gold & silver. I just want a parking spot for retirement that earns more interest than the bank. Money is in the US.

 

Seems like Vanguard has a lot of options. Any direction over which part of Vanguard is most lucrative & safe?

 

What about tax concerns, there & here? I'm a Yank with a SSN, joint account with Thai, no US ties. It's her money!

Vanguard won't open an account for you if you live in Thailand

Just now, jaywalker2 said:

Vanguard won't open an account for you if you live in Thailand

Thx for this info! I do have a US address as well.

Yeah, but you can't open an account online from Thailand. I couldn't even do it using a vpn. You have to mail in the application and then they'll send the confirmation to your US address. Then even if you manage to open an account, they won't let you trade online if they suspect you're in Thailand

27 minutes ago, jaywalker2 said:

Yeah, but you can't open an account online from Thailand. I couldn't even do it using a vpn. You have to mail in the application and then they'll send the confirmation to your US address. Then even if you manage to open an account, they won't let you trade online if they suspect you're in Thailand

Thx. For me, it's just a parking account for retirement. Won't do anything from here. My son in PA has my PoA to handle Vanguard online. Looks pretty good.

I have both Vanguard and Fidelity. Both through original company 401k matching programs and also private IRA investments. I find the Vanguard website much easier to navigate and handle my buys and sales. Fidelity always leaves me confused how to do things.

 

From Thailand, both allow me to take care of business over VPN. As for opening an account over VPN, I don't know. Best to do that next time you are in the U.S. and have a local phone number available. I used to use my sister's mobile for security code messages, but now have a Google Voice phone number which can receive texts. For Google Voice phone numbers, it must be paired with a U.S. mobile number. I used my sisters, but in the settings menu I disconnected her phone for receiving any calls or messages.

On 5/17/2025 at 12:27 PM, unblocktheplanet said:

Got it. But tax liability, too.

 

Rule #1 still applies - don't believe what people tell you. 

My retirement account with Vanguard doubled in 6 yrs. It's pretty heavy in the SP 500.

I've been with Vanguard for over 35 years, holding a mix of mutual funds and ETFs. I don't have a brokerage account. I have twice annual conference calls with my fund manager, one while at my home in the US and one while in Thailand. I couldn't be happier with the performance of my portfolio nor with the service the company provides.