Moving finances from UK to USA

[jostermacedo 54]

19 hours ago, snthn said:

I have an approved K1 visa and have made plans to move to the US - more or less everything is worked out, aside from one thing: finances, my Achilles' heel.

 

My questions, if anyone is able to help me answer them:

 

1. What is the best method to transfer my finances while making this process as simple as possible? I have seen people mention leaving their UK accounts open, but I can't see what benefit that gives you - if anything, it seems like there is just additional work being created (reporting interest as income on taxes; reporting foreign finances on an FBAR form)

 

2. When should I arrange to transfer the money? Before I move to the US? After I move to the US and set up an account of my own?

 

3. What the hell do I do with my UK pension? From what I have been able to find out, the US does not have anything similar to UK pension schemes. If I choose to leave this in the UK, do I need to fill out additional forms such as the FBAR, or report this on any future tax reports?

 

4. Is there anything I need to keep in mind in terms of taxes when I enter the US? In the UK, my taxes were calculated automatically with no necessary input or self-reporting of my income on my end. I don't know where to even begin when it comes to the US tax system and feel woefully unprepared for this.

 

From what I can tell, Wise seems to be the best option for transferring my money across from my UK accounts. So, if my fiancée sets up a shared account for us to use, should I transfer my savings into this using Wise? I have over 100K GBP to transfer. 

 

What bank do have an account with in the UK? If you have one with HSBC, it might be easy to open one with the US branch. I had one with HSBC Brazil and they made very easy to open an US bank account, including a US credit card, even before I had my immigrant visa.

[snthn 2]

6 minutes ago, jostermacedo said:

 

What bank do have an account with in the UK? If you have one with HSBC, it might be easy to open one with the US branch. I had one with HSBC Brazil and they made very easy to open an US bank account, including a US credit card, even before I had my immigrant visa.

I use Santander, but I've seen a couple of comments mentioning HSBC now, so I may inquire with them.

[snthn 2]

3 hours ago, Conchas Chinas said:

As Cathi pertained to: Always advisable to obtain advice from appropriate financial professionals- this being an internet forum, you will get both correct and incorrect advice that will only make your situation more complex than it should be.

 

Myself - this is based on my experience as opposed to being an advisor:

 

Until recently, when I became a citizen, I kept both a UK bank account and a UK based credit card account open during all my overseas assignments (almost 25 years). The reason being that no-one knows what the future holds and it's easier to keep an account open than to open one from scratch especially if you have been away from the UK for a considerable time. This came in useful when I was briefly transferred back to the UK together with my American spouse. There was no issue setting up salaries, bill payments etc etc.

 

With regards to FBAR 

 

Quote <- Link

A U.S. person, including a citizen, resident, corporation, partnership, limited liability company, trust and estate, must file an FBAR to report:

1. a financial interest in or signature or other authority over at least one financial account located outside the United States if
2. the aggregate value of those foreign financial accounts exceeded $10,000 at any time during the calendar year reported.

Only once in over 20 years of submitting US tax returns did I have $10,000 in my UK account and had to file FBAR. 

 

Transfer of money: can be difficult to transfer UK sterling to an account in the US. If you are talking thousands and thousands, then best to discuss that with your financial body in the UK on how monies of large quantities can be wired. If you're planning to stay in the US, which I assume you are, then I presume your future spouse will already have a bank set up. If it is a major bank that operates in other countries (Bank of America, Santander, Chase etc) then they may offer options to hold UK sterling in your account or you can discuss with them how to transfer monies from your UK account. Simpler to discuss with your UK financial bank, so you have an idea of questions / plan when you arrive in the US what to ask a US bank. I did have a Santander account for my overseas assignments which maintained accounts for US dollars and UK pounds - I wish I had kept that one open as it would have been useful for once I retire.

 

Pensions can be complicated, I know because I have a very small UK pension that I will soon be drawing upon. I reached out to my pension provider the other day and they replied just today that they can send monies to a US bank account. So talk to your pension provider. 

 

The following relates to US persons in the UK but the treaty applies both ways - advise to speak to a UK tax authority on your particular situation

 

Quote <- Link

How can US expats benefit from the US-UK tax treaty provisions? 

The US-UK tax treaty, in general, helps US expats in the UK avoid double taxation on their income, including pensions, by defining which country has the right to tax specific income types.

For pensions, it often means the country of residence has taxing rights, with provisions to claim tax relief or credits in the other country to prevent double taxation.

This treaty is crucial for maximizing the benefits of cross-border income and pensions for US expats living in the UK. For detailed guidance, reviewing the treaty provisions and consulting with a tax professional is highly recommended.

 

Taxes: This is personal for everyone, meaning that everyone's situation is unique. Speak to expat tax advisor. Google is your friend

I appreciate all of this, thank you. I suppose if I do keep some money in a UK bank account, but keep it under 10,000, then FBAR will not be necessary, but I will have that money as a backup should I need to spend any amount of time in the UK. 

 

At present, I'm considering speaking to HSBC or possibly my current bank; I am getting Google results for "Expat Bank Accounts" with Santander, but then going to those links seems to direct me to a generic "International" page, so I may need to do some further digging.

 

I will have to delve deeper still into pensions at some point, as it's the main thing I'm concerned about accessing in the future. My main takeaway is that speaking to a financial advisor when I arrive in Ohio may be my best bet in terms of determining the best thing to do with my money once I arrive + finding an expat tax advisor (I have been trying to Google it, but have been at a loss when trying to figure out the correct terminology, so thank you again!)

[Boiler 45,516]

Uk and US qualified tax advisors are few and far between, especially I would imagine in Idaho.

 

I always found it super simple to transfer money from my Nat West account, either using someone like XE, amusingly I received an email from them today or directly into my Wells Fargo account.

 

It used to be that if you had an American Express card you could easily open a US one, do not know if that is still the case.

[OldUser 6,665]

6 minutes ago, Boiler said:

It used to be that if you had an American Express card you could easily open a US one, do not know if that is still the case.

That's what I did with Amex back in 2016.

 

Looks like it's still available:

 

https://www.americanexpress.com/us/customer-service/global-card-relationship/

 

 

 

[Lil bear 4,214]

35 minutes ago, OldUser said:

That's what I did with Amex back in 2016.

 

Looks like it's still available:

 

https://www.americanexpress.com/us/customer-service/global-card-relationship/

 

 

 

I used OFX for $$ transfers. Far better rate than banks and can be fee free    Need a US Bank to receive the $$ but it can be someone elses .. spouse/fiancé etc. 

[Boiler 45,516]

OFX does not charge a fee on amounts over $10,000 

 

They do make a margin and say that it is less than the Banks would.

[Lil bear 4,214]

1 hour ago, Boiler said:

OFX does not charge a fee on amounts over $10,000 

 

They do make a margin and say that it is less than the Banks would.

Yes. And give a better rate. They make their money off the internet they  earn on holding the funds  for 24 hours 

[Boiler 45,516]

I would need to set up an account to work through examples but it seems from the examples they gave that they charge half or so the margin the Banks would. The site has the Interbank rate which is good, very transparent, so would be easy to see how the rate they give you on a transaction compares to that. I seriously doubt they give you the Interbank rate, usually it gets closer the more you transfer.