Author Topic: Investing in stocks as a US citizen residing abroad.  (Read 2204 times)

karalina

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Investing in stocks as a US citizen residing abroad.
« on: April 11, 2019, 06:52:42 AM »
Hello,
I am a US citizen (I have dual citizenship) currently, and for the near future, residing in Poland. I am having difficulty figuring out a way to invest in stocks from Poland. I could not do it through my US bank account broker account (they blocked me because I tried to invest from Europe), I have gotten rejected from all the popular online brokers that are US-based because I am residing abroad. Furthermore, I am rejected from EU-based online brokers for investing in US stocks because of my US citizen status. I should also add that I am a beginner, and am not interested in brokers that have a large investment minimum. Any similar situations and solutions, anyone?

reeshau

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Re: Investing in stocks as a US citizen residing abroad.
« Reply #1 on: April 11, 2019, 07:43:43 AM »
@karalina, which brokerages have you tried, specifically?  I think the most common answers are Charles Schwab and Interactive Brokers, as they are generally more flexible with regards to global residency.  I have not traded in international exchanges with Schwab, but they do say it is possible. (but as broker-assisted, so not at the super-cheap rates for online trading)

Bryan_in_Ger

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Re: Investing in stocks as a US citizen residing abroad.
« Reply #2 on: April 11, 2019, 09:33:38 AM »
Hello karalina,

Here's a recent (somewhat longwinded) post about the topic of how to invest as an American abroad: https://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/investor-alley/etfs-for-american-(usa)-expats-living-in-the-eu/

Should be useful for you as well.

Cheers,
Bryan

PDXTabs

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Re: Investing in stocks as a US citizen residing abroad.
« Reply #3 on: April 11, 2019, 10:18:29 AM »
This scares me, because one day I'm going to be in your shoes. If Charles Schwab and Interactive Brokers can't solve my problems I plan to just lie and tell the US brokers that I'm in the US (but not the IRS and the local tax authorities).

flipboard

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Re: Investing in stocks as a US citizen residing abroad.
« Reply #4 on: April 12, 2019, 02:34:05 AM »
@karalina, which brokerages have you tried, specifically?  I think the most common answers are Charles Schwab and Interactive Brokers, as they are generally more flexible with regards to global residency.  I have not traded in international exchanges with Schwab, but they do say it is possible. (but as broker-assisted, so not at the super-cheap rates for online trading)
Interactive Brokers won't let EU residents by most US ETF's (due to PRIIPS). Stocks are OK though.

Schwab however doesn't appear to have implemented that yet, so you can probably buy ETF's there. But they usually have a large minimum to open an account.

Easiest solution might be to get rid of the citizenship.
« Last Edit: April 12, 2019, 02:36:08 AM by flipboard »

Bryan_in_Ger

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Re: Investing in stocks as a US citizen residing abroad.
« Reply #5 on: April 12, 2019, 09:58:05 AM »
@flipboard - Good catch with IB and EU residency; I think you mentioned that in the other post as well.  Renouncing citizenship is a drastic measure, but as far as investing goes it would definitely make things easier.

@PDXTabs - Investing as an American abroad is difficult indeed, but not declaring income to the IRS won't make things any better.  Plus, that part of filing taxes (dividends, gains) is relatively easy when dealing with taxes living abroad.  ;)

PDXTabs

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Re: Investing in stocks as a US citizen residing abroad.
« Reply #6 on: April 12, 2019, 10:39:52 AM »
@PDXTabs - Investing as an American abroad is difficult indeed, but not declaring income to the IRS won't make things any better.  Plus, that part of filing taxes (dividends, gains) is relatively easy when dealing with taxes living abroad.  ;)

My point was that I would declare the income. I would lie to my brokerage about my real residency, but not to the IRS.
« Last Edit: April 12, 2019, 10:41:53 AM by PDXTabs »

Bryan_in_Ger

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Re: Investing in stocks as a US citizen residing abroad.
« Reply #7 on: April 14, 2019, 11:44:12 AM »
My point was that I would declare the income. I would lie to my brokerage about my real residency, but not to the IRS.

Gotcha; I read your comment too fast.

SmileAllDay

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Re: Investing in stocks as a US citizen residing abroad.
« Reply #8 on: April 14, 2019, 12:16:35 PM »
Hey @karalina

I had a similar situation and my solution was Betterment. (Have a read up on it first, MMM has written at length about it).

You need a SS number. One thing I needed to do was call up to "verify I was in the US" (even though I was in Croatia at the time ;) ). It just took a minute.

Hope this helps!

SmileAllDay

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Re: Investing in stocks as a US citizen residing abroad.
« Reply #9 on: April 14, 2019, 12:26:04 PM »
And @PDXTabs (hello!) You should be fine once it's set up. I use Schwab from Europe (albeit for the free ATM rebates and not investing). It works fine when I transfer money into my 'Investing Account' which you need to do before withdrawing it at a cash point.

Where there's a will, there's a way friends! :)

BikeLover

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Re: Investing in stocks as a US citizen residing abroad.
« Reply #10 on: April 14, 2019, 12:37:27 PM »
I was in a similar situation (US citizen residing in Austria) and posted about it a couple of months ago on this forum.
https://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/investor-alley/etfs-for-american-(usa)-expats-living-in-the-eu/

Sometime between posting my question about that in February 2019 and the end of March 2019, Interactive Brokers now allows me (US citizen resident in Austria) to purchase US-domiciled ETFs.

Interactive Brokers requires a minimum of $10,000 to open an account. For accounts with a balance under $100,000, Interactive Brokers has a minimum monthly fee of $10. Transaction fees of $1 per trade are counted towards that minimum, so unless you have more than 10 trades per month, the $10 monthly fee is it.

Schwab International might also be an option. They require a minimum deposit of $25,000 to open an account, they charge no fee to trade their own ETFs, and a fee of $4.95 for each trade of other ETFs or stocks.