Investing in US Mutual Funds
 

Hi All,

To those holding visas, is it worth it to invest in US Mutual funds while currently being in the US knowing you'll be leaving in a few years?

I have some money to spare and seeing the dismal interest rate on my Savings Account got me thinking into investing in US Mutual Funds, Vanguard seems to be the more popular name mentioned by locals. The thing is, I'm on an E3D visa and I know that eventually, we'll have to leave. I'm still investigating on whether there's a penalty for withdrawing investments but I thought it would be good to hear from people about their experiences?

Thanks!

Re: Investing in US Mutual Funds
 

I have moved your thread over to the US Trailer Park forum. Please note the BE Immigration forums are for US Visa and Citizenship questions only. ;)

Re: Investing in US Mutual Funds
 

Sorry about that. Thanks for moving it!

Re: Investing in US Mutual Funds
 

I can't speak for your circumstance around leaving the country.

However, regarding Vanguard: i'm a fairly rookie investor and Vanguard have made it quite easy to invest in a lot of different options. I've got some cash in there, used the graphs and a bit of common sense to invest and now leaving it.

One thing though, if you do use them, make sure to opt for receiving your correspondence electronically (e-mail). If you opt for postal version then they charge $20 a year.

Re: Investing in US Mutual Funds
 

OK, my understanding is that you need to invest in US mutual funds (or ETFs? I forget) that are classified as "HMRC-reporting". A quick google gets me this:
https://www.gov.uk/government/public...eporting-funds

This is a worldwide list, and it's not clear to me if all the Vanguard funds listed there are based in the US, or some of them are actually their Irish funds, for example. You'd need to investigate further.

Can a mod move this back to the main USA forum from the Trailer Park? I think most of the members who are knowledgeable about this don't read this forum much, nun in particular.

Re: Investing in US Mutual Funds
 

One thing to note is that Vanguard is owned by the funds themselves and, as a result, is owned by the investors in the funds. I believe they are the only fund that does this, they were certainly the first. Hence they are not trying to make profits for share holders , only investors.

Jack Bogle is not liked by Wall Street, there was an interesting interview with him on BBC's wake up to money program a few months ago.

Re: Investing in US Mutual Funds
 

Hi Owen,

I'll have to look into that as we're Ozzies and not sure how it works with our Taxation Office. Thanks for the info.

Re: Investing in US Mutual Funds
 

Good to know. Are there other investment firms you can recommend based on personal experience? I'm looking for something simple where I can just put my money in.

Re: Investing in US Mutual Funds
 

Thanks! We're on an E3 visa, renewable every 2 years. We know we'll have to leave eventually but I'd like to put my money somewhere where it it'll earn.

Re: Investing in US Mutual Funds
 

Vanguard executives surely structure things for their own best advantage, just the way Wall Street works. Just like "non profit" hospitals paying obscene salaries to their executives, or "non profit" universities paying equally high salaries to their executives.

Re: Investing in US Mutual Funds
 

OK, I suggest you try to find an Australian forum to check. A forum for US citizens living in Australia would know more details too, since it will apply to everyone there, not just the people who might return to Oz.

Re: Investing in US Mutual Funds
 

There are quite a few decent value brokerages. For a combination of reasons, I have accounts with Vanguard, Fidelity, Schwab and Merrill Lynch. I'd recommend any of the first three (though technically I haven't used Merrill Edge, which is ML's associated value brokerage).

Re: Investing in US Mutual Funds
 

One other thing, I have the ability to invest via my HSA. Of course a relevant health plan is required.

However, that's probably not a good idea for you with you leaving soon.

Re: Investing in US Mutual Funds
 

Thanks, everyone!