5 ms·

I don't understand, isn't it easier to get around this by keeping your foreign bank account balance low (less than 10k) and transferring money on a regular basi

by maxlamb 11y ago

I don't understand, isn't it easier to get around this by keeping your foreign bank account balance low (less than 10k) and transferring money on a regular basis to your US bank accounts to make sure it stays under 10k?

dalke 11y ago
If you live overseas then you probably want to do thing like save up for retirement, or a house. While you can have a US bank account, it means taking a loss to change the money first to then from dollars. You also have to be very careful with your direct deposit. If it goes into your local account (because it's expensive and more complicated to wire the money to a US account) and make $5K/month then you have to be absolutely sure that your local bank account doesn't have $5K in it. And be sure to watch the exchange rates! If you sell a house, you can't put the profits into a local account but must figure out some way to have everything sent to the US. Which may not be easy. In some countries, like Sweden where I live, the government can fill out your taxes for you, because they know how much you make - except for foreign accounts. If you have, say, $100K in a US account, drawing interest, then you have to declare it appropriately. So no, it's not easier for the millions of Americans who live overseas to keep the bulk of their money in a US bank account.
- geomark 11y ago
  I will also add that many (most?) US banks will not provide banking services for you if they know you live overseas. You have to maintain a US address. Even then, if they discover that despite having a US mailing address you actually reside overseas they will close your account. It's happening more frequently these days.
  - dalke 11y ago
    Wow, you're right! I looked into that just now. I figured USAA, which provides banking service to military and ex-military, and therefore likely has many members who live overseas, would be more likely to provide banking services to overseas Americans. https://communities.usaa.com/t5/Other/INVESTMENT-ACCOUNTS-WITH-OVERSEAS-ADDRESS/td-p/30680 https://communities.usaa.com/t5/Other/INVESTMENT-ACCOUNTS-WI... suggests that even banking with them may be problematical, at least if you have no US address.

by maxlamb 11y ago

dalke 11y ago

If you live overseas then you probably want to do thing like save up for retirement, or a house. While you can have a US bank account, it means taking a loss to change the money first to then from dollars. You also have to be very careful with your direct deposit. If it goes into your local account (because it's expensive and more complicated to wire the money to a US account) and make $5K/month then you have to be absolutely sure that your local bank account doesn't have $5K in it. And be sure to watch the exchange rates! If you sell a house, you can't put the profits into a local account but must figure out some way to have everything sent to the US. Which may not be easy. In some countries, like Sweden where I live, the government can fill out your taxes for you, because they know how much you make - except for foreign accounts. If you have, say, $100K in a US account, drawing interest, then you have to declare it appropriately. So no, it's not easier for the millions of Americans who live overseas to keep the bulk of their money in a US bank account.

geomark 11y ago
I will also add that many (most?) US banks will not provide banking services for you if they know you live overseas. You have to maintain a US address. Even then, if they discover that despite having a US mailing address you actually reside overseas they will close your account. It's happening more frequently these days.
- dalke 11y ago
  Wow, you're right! I looked into that just now. I figured USAA, which provides banking service to military and ex-military, and therefore likely has many members who live overseas, would be more likely to provide banking services to overseas Americans. https://communities.usaa.com/t5/Other/INVESTMENT-ACCOUNTS-WITH-OVERSEAS-ADDRESS/td-p/30680 https://communities.usaa.com/t5/Other/INVESTMENT-ACCOUNTS-WI... suggests that even banking with them may be problematical, at least if you have no US address.