Expat Experiences: USA - Rebecca Shine

Who are you?

Rebecca Shine - I live in Manhattan with my husband and 2 year old daughter.We are expecting our second child in October.

Where, when and why did you move abroad?

We took the plunge and moved to Manhattan, from London, when my husband was offered a transfer with his work. He had been employed by the London office for a few years and then received a call about the opportunity to transfer to NY.

We jumped at the chance since we had spent numerous long weekends in the city and had always said it would be an amazing place to live. Luckily it has turned out that way! We have been here 3 years now and have literally settled where we first landed; in Soho. We recently bought an apartment in the building where we were renting and our daughter was born here in the city, so it's feeling pretty much like home at the moment.

What challenges did you face during the move?

This is an interesting question! At the time it was like a big adventure. We had no children so we were literally flying by the seat of our pants and feeling our way in the dark. My husband's company arranged for the shipping of all our goods and provided us with temporary accommodation. The rest was left up to us. We had to find a broker who would find us a long term apartment, work out the health care insurance system once I was pregnant (I hardly knew what an OGB was since we don't get to see them in the UK on the NHS unless via a GP referral.) We had to try and understand and make sense of everything from cell phone deals to broker fees to NY State ID and driving licenses. In hindsight it was a steep learning curve and a valuable one.

How did you find somewhere to live?

We were lucky in that we knew the city well and had already decided to live downtown, preferably in Soho or The Village. We were given temporary accommodation in Nolita for a month which gave us a chance to sample the neighborhood.

We luckily found a good broker (on Craig's List!) who listened to our requirements and found us an apartment in an old (in NY terms!) converted grammar school in Soho to rent long term. It worked out well as we are still in the building now and love it. The whole process was a trial in terms of providing all the paperwork needed within the time frame to secure the apartment so they would take it off the market. Especially in terms of the 3 months down payment and the 15% broker fee. Quite a shock! Not having a credit score in the US makes thing very hard although they did manage to do some kind of international credit check on us and secure the information they needed.

Are there many expats in the area?

Our neighborhood is full of expats and so many of them are from the UK! I belong to a mother's group downtown and I would hazard a guess at 20% - 30% of the 1500 members being expats. New York is such a transient city which makes it easy to meet people as so many people, if they are not expats, are new to the city at some point or another and make an effort to be sociable and to network in order to meet like minded friends...

Read more at http://www.expatfocus.com/expatriate-usa-experiences-rebecca-shine

Financial Planning Issues for Expats Moving to the USA

There are numerous issues that need to be addressed when moving to a new country and it seems the more “developed” your new country of residence, the more important it is to understand and follow regulations.

Individual Asset Management provides financial planning services to non-US citizens living and preparing to live in the United States, and I have identified seven topics that anyone moving to the US should consider:

1. Visa / citizenship issues
2. Reporting and taxation of non-US financial accounts
3. Obtaining loans / credit history
4. Pension transfer
5. Investment management
6. Estate tax
7. Education and retirement savings plans

We cannot delve into any great detail on these topics here – my purpose in this article is to highlight why each issue is important so that the reader can decide whether his or her specific situation warrants seeking further counsel.

1. Visa/citizenship issues: Entire books have been written on this topic and there are many legal firms in the US that specialize in the business of obtaining work visas, permanent residency (Green Card), and citizenship.

There are a number of avenues through which it is possible to obtain permission to live and work in the United States. Broadly speaking, it is possible to obtain a work visa, and ultimately permanent residency, through employer sponsorship, by completing a course of studies at a US institution of higher learning, or by investing in a business or an economic-development zone. There are also paths to residency for certain groups of individuals such as asylum-seekers, family-sponsored individuals, people with exceptional talents, and Diversity Lottery winners.

The bottom line is that if you have substantial funds to invest in the US or a valid business idea, are willing to study at an American university, have an exceptional and recognized talent, have family connections, or fall into certain specialized categories; then a good immigration attorney can likely find you a path to working and living in the United States.

2. Reporting and taxation of non-US financial accounts: Many non-US citizens, especially if they have been working outside their country of citizenship for some time, have acquired investment accounts in offshore jurisdictions. It is important to understand that, while you are allowed to have non-US financial accounts while living in the United States, you need to report these accounts to the US Treasury department every year if the total of the accounts amounts to more than $10,000. The form used for this is Treasury Department form TDF 90-22.1 – if you do a web search for this it will come up with links to the form and instructions. The penalties for not completing this form can be steep so I highly recommend looking into this and reporting all your financial accounts, including certain non-US pension accounts.

A further issue of great importance is the taxation of non-US accounts while you are a US tax payer. The US tax code is ridiculously complex and there are numerous gray areas so you should seek the assistance of a US tax professional familiar with expatriate tax matters – most US tax advisors are not knowledgeable in this specialized area.

If you do have offshore investment accounts, I would highly recommend that you do some tax planning several months before you move to the US. For example, it may be to your great advantage to establish a higher tax basis for your offshore investments before moving to the US since you may be liable for tax on any distributions you take from these accounts while a US resident based on the total gain of the underlying investments – not the gain from the time you entered the US – the total gain from inception. Furthermore, it is possible that you may be liable for US tax on the growth in your non-US accounts, even if you don’t take distributions. A little tax planning can go a long way in such a situation...

Read more at http://www.expatfocus.com/financial-planning-for-expats-moving-to-the-usa