clapjam

I will move with my wife back to the UK in 2018, when I retire. We have been in the US for 15 years.

When we move back, we will have US pensions. We want to retain a US bank account so that our pensions can be paid into it. We can then transfer to the UK and to pounds when we need and when the exchange rate is OK.

We know that US banks like you to be resident to retain an account. However, we kept our UK back accounts when we moved here (I know, not really relevant). Some advice has been to put the account into the address of a friend. However, we don't want to burden them with that and probably for long time.

Can anyone advise?

Many thanks,

Clapjam

Mummy in the foothills

We kept our US credit union account open and it now has a UK address on it. I also opened an account with Xe.com and transferred money over to our UK bank with it a few times before moving. So now I can continue to transfer money using Xe as needed from the US credit union to my UK bank.
We aren't collecting US pensions yet, but from what I gather it can be paid directly into our UK bank.

Quokka

We recently changed our US check and credit card account to an overseas address (Australia). It needed a few phone calls as not able to be done through online banking but got it done in the end. This was Citi bank.

Vadio

We also kept our US accounts for the same reason - I'm very close to the age for RMD on my IRAs. We changed the address for everything to our UK address with no issues.

clapjam

Many many thanks for the replies. They're all very reassuring.

I have one more question. As I mentioned, we will be getting US pensions.

Should we have them paid directly into a UK sterling account? Or should we have them paid into our US account and then transfer when we want to? Does direct payment into a sterling account incur fees?

Thanks again, really really appreciate the replies,

Clapjam

Vadio

If you are referring to US Social Security, then best to have paid directly into your UK account. There are no fees involved, be best Fx rate possible, and the money arrives promptly on the 3rd of each month.

The added incentive is you know exactly how much to report on your UK self-assessment for SS, as it will only be taxable in the UK per the US-UK tax treaty. (Actually, only 90% of your US SS benefit will be taxable).

If you have access to HSBC, you could open an account in the US, and another here in the UK. You can easily transfer funds between each account as and when it suits you.

durham_lad

It's great that you are planning this with plenty of time to get things sorted. We move back this year and plan to leave our US pensions going into our US bank and keep a US address, but have our US SS paid directly into our UK bank. I used XE.com for several years to transfer money, it is very easy to set up and use, but this year I also set up a TransferWise account which gives better rates and the money gets there faster.

If we were not keeping a US connection then I would ensure that I had a US bank that allows a UK address and HSBC would be a good choice. I did have an HSBC account for a while but in the end cancelled it only because I could get better interest rates on checking and savings accounts elsewhere. (Our account in the UK is HSBC which is where my UK pension is currently being paid.)

As mentioned above I would check to see if the pensions could be paid directly into a UK bank account and what fees would each transfer charge. (SS certainly can be paid directly into a UK bank at a great exchange rate)

clapjam

Thanks again for the answers. This is incredibly helpful and I appreciate it very much.

All the very best for now,

Clapjam