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.