US Green card Social Security retirement benefits in Thailand

[BayLay]

OP - Does your wife know that she can still keeps her Thai citizenship and her Thai passport after becoming a US citizen ?

 

[Boon Mee]

7 hours ago, BayLay said:

OP - Does your wife know that she can still keeps her Thai citizenship and her Thai passport after becoming a US citizen ?

 

Very advantageous too that they can travel on both.

Eliminates the need for different visas for those countries that require a Thai Passport holder.

Edited January 11, 2017 by Boon Mee

[The Man Who Sold the World]

CaptHaddock - many thanks, most valuable information you have provided.

 

My wife - has a mind of her own. She has been eligible for US citizenship for 17+ years now and I have raised the issue frequently, no real cons and the many pros. It ain't gonna happen. (unless she is talked into it by some Thai/American expat wives with citizenship). Part of my hidden agenda in our pre-retirement planning sojourn later this year. Actually hoping that the expat club meetings will provide the venue for some face-to-face discussions with other Thai wives in her shoes - perhaps their input will convince her, my won't. So be it.

 

Yes, she is aware of dual citizenship (our adult daughter has both Thai and US Citizenship and passports).

 

13 hours ago, CaptHaddock said:

An additional point in favor of US citizenship for the OP's wife.  When he dies, any TIRA accounts that he has can be inherited by his wife as stretch IRA accounts, i.e. she would have to take RMDs and pay taxes each year only on actual distributions.  But this is true only for a US citizen spouse.  If he dies with an alien spouse then the IRS forces her to close out his IRAs immediately taking all the proceeds as a one-time distribution.  And then the IRS takes out taxes on the amount at whatever bracket that puts her in.  Very disadvantageous.

 

Hence, we are in the process of shifting our standard IRA into Roth's. Biggest nut to crack will be my 401k. But, at this point in time, our retirement tax bracket will be less than our current bracket. My wife's point-of-view, she is adamant that she will die before me, even though I am 5 years her senior. So, the valid argument presented, in her eyes, is not applicable to her situation. Iron willed stubborn. So, I will do what is best for her, myself, and my daughter.      

 

Thanks to all for your input. Helpful advice abounds in this thread.

  

 

  

 

Edited January 11, 2017 by The Man Who Sold the World

[USNret]

Following up the comment about having as many no annual fee/no Intl fee credit cards as possible, Amazon just announced a good one -- Chase visa card, no annual fee, zero intl fee, 5% back for any Amazon purchases, 1-2% back for other purchases, free to Amazon prime members (available even if you're not Amazon prime).  I'll be signing up for this one soon.

http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170111005311/en/

[gk10002000]

On 1/9/2017 at 0:24 PM, USNret said:

The OP & others raise some great questions.  I'm age 59, live in the States with my Thai wife, she will have no SS benefits of her own but will depend on spousal benefits.  I'm pushing her to get a U.S. passport not for SS but for travel -- the world vastly opens up when you have a U.S passport & we intend to travel a lot.  For context, I just this week calculated I can retire next year even though SS won't start for 2 more years.  The trick to doing this is renting out our house in Hawaii, live cheap in Thailand till age 62, and after that we can move back to the States or basically anywhere we want.  It's a good plan that lets me retire 3 years earlier than I had planned.

Since others talked about Roth IRAs, taxable accounts, etc. I recently learned of a strategy that you can convert money from regular IRA (which has not been taxed), into a Roth IRA without paying tax, and then you can draw it out later without tax since Roths you withdraw tax-free.  It takes patience & planning but it can be done.  In short, in retirement you have a limit of around $20,000 in interest tax-free each year and if you don't use the full $20K you can use the excess to pull money tax-free from the IRA and put into the Roth.  We have almost zero interest income since my funds are in stocks and we get paid dividends, which have a more favorable tax treatment.  So, if I can move nearly $20K from IRA to Roth IRA each year tax-free, then later draw it from the Roth tax-free I hope to go the rest of my life without paying U.S. income tax.  You can learn more about this on gocurrycracker.com which is where I learned about it (and no, I'm not affiliated with the site & make no money from the link.)

http://www.gocurrycracker.com/the-go-curry-cracker-2013-taxes/

You don't have the Convert from Regular to Roth IRA correct.  You can convert all or part of a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA but when you do the conversion the monies ARE taxed.  How much you get taxed will depend on your income.  It really is pretty straightforward, monies in the regular IRA were never taxed, so now when you convert, you are basically taking them out of the Regular IRA and moving them into the ROTH IRA.  Now in the ROTH there is no future taxation on earnings, interest, withdrawals etc.  Your statement about 20K of tax free interest in retirement is not correct.  Retired or not has no bearing on anything.  The conversion can be a good strategy because when working you had a high income and a high tax rate. The money you put into the Regular IRA at that time was not taxed.  Now in retirement, if you income is significantly lower than when you were working, the money that was in your Regular IRA that you are now basically withdrawing will be taxed at a lower rate.  The conversion just allows you to put the money into a Roth account.  Normally, one can only put as much into a Roth IRA equal to the contribution Max, assuming you had at least that much gross Earned income. 

[gk10002000]

I also would point out that the Roth IRA has no Required Minimum Distribution Age thingy, whereas the Traditional IRA or 401 K do.  One caveat, survivor inheritance issues with a Roth can have a RMD thing to consider.

[Ahab]

I think as long as your wife lived in the USA for a total of five years she is eligible for your SS benefits. I convinced my wife to become a US citizen by pointing out that getting a visa to visit her son and friends might be very difficult after I pass away. So she did it. We are moving to Thailand next month for retirement (I am 53 years old with a military retirement), we will pick up 401K, SS, and a small federal civilian retirement at age 62. Looking forward to the move.

 

As someone once said "No one on their deathbed ever has said they wish they had spent more time at the office.”-unattributed

[DogNo1]

Yes, Navy Federal Credit Union has a very nice no-foreign- transaction-fee Visa card with a good rewards program giving you the option of cash back among other rewards.  I've been very pleased with their service.  Emails are answered within 24 hours.  They have a $600 max cash advance amount but you can get an additional advance two days after the prior one.  If you get the advance across the counter at Bangkok Bank, you pay no fees at all.  I don't mess with money transfers since I can pay for most things with the credit card and only need a moderate amount of cash.

[CaptHaddock]

On 1/15/2017 at 5:37 AM, gk10002000 said:

I also would point out that the Roth IRA has no Required Minimum Distribution Age thingy, whereas the Traditional IRA or 401 K do.  One caveat, survivor inheritance issues with a Roth can have a RMD thing to consider.

 

For the children, but not the wife.

[ericthai]

On 1/14/2017 at 5:37 PM, gk10002000 said:

I also would point out that the Roth IRA has no Required Minimum Distribution Age thingy, whereas the Traditional IRA or 401 K do.  One caveat, survivor inheritance issues with a Roth can have a RMD thing to consider.

That is not exactly true, you can withdraw contributions you made to your Roth IRA anytime, tax- and penalty-free. However, you may have to pay taxes and penalties on earnings in your Roth IRA. If you take a distribution of your Roth IRA earnings before you reach age 59½ and before the account is five years old. it is possible to avoid penalties (but not taxes) if you withdrawal (up to a $10,000 lifetime maximum) to pay for a first-time home purchase, Education, become disabled, pay medical expenses or health insurance (if unemployed)

 

 

[taxout]

"Right now it is $121.40 per month for anyone new to Medicare."

 

Actually,  it's gone up again, and right now that number is $134.

[ericthai]

21 hours ago, taxout said:

"Right now it is $121.40 per month for anyone new to Medicare."

 

Actually,  it's gone up again, and right now that number is $134.

yes, sorry about that.  

[simoh1490]

This thread is a year old but it's worth adding that the US tax laws have now changed.

 

Non-US resident green Card holders or ex-Green Cardholders may still receive their SSc payments after age 62 and as before, 85% of the payment will be taxed at 30% at source, giving an effective tax rate of 24.5%

 

BUT, people in that category can no longer claim an exemption on their personal income tax meaning that the 30% tax is no longer recoverable, effective with 2016 taxes. Note: some countries are subject to tax treaties which allow the tax to be recovered but the person must be resident in their home country to be eligible.

[Rhys]

Insightful,  I will keep checking when my time comes.