Best financial strategies for British expat in America...
 

Hi,

My wife is from Wales, and I'm at a loss on how to best advise her on how to save for the future time when we may want to retire.

1. Specifically about whether or not she should contribute to National Insurance in the UK -- Assuming she hasn't missed any contributions (not true), how much a year would this be?? I heard somebody only paid Class II contributions at about 100 pounds a year to qualify...is that the mininum?? Will there even be a National Insurance for her to get benefits from in the futrure? (She's 33)

2. I'm also seeking some flexibility in converting pounds to dollars, for those times when we've tried to move money expeditiously. The best strategy I've seen is for her to open an offshore account in which she can have both a dollar and pound account. That way -- when moving sizable sums of money, she might qualify for a "discount rate." Any other similiar good ideas???

3. Any other good ideas on contributing to a retirement fund in either the US or UK? For instance, would a UK retirement investment such as an ISA be better than a US traditional or Roth IRA??? (Specfically toward interest rates and the flexibility of the programs??) I realize there are some US and UK reciprocity agreements out there...but I'm still looking for the best strategies.

A lot to chew on...but I'd warmly welcome any good ideas since my wife has the simple perspective of not saving anything at all.

Brian

Re: Best financial strategies for British expat in America...
 

You can get a pension forecast and they will give you
detail of extra payments than can be made to get the full pension ..

http://www.thepensionservice.gov.uk/

Re: Best financial strategies for British expat in America...
 

xe.com is good for shifting money around, plenty on the site will recommend them...as for pensions, have a search, been a few threads on the theme with mixed gubbin's, but it's a start...

though why anyone would want to retire here...hmmm...

Re: Best financial strategies for British expat in America...
 

I can address some of question 1. I am 46, and have lived in the US since 2003. The UK pensions agency wrote to me recently, telling me about making national insurance contributions to qualify for a pension in the future. The annual sum right now is (off the top of my head) £337. They were not demanding money from me now, they said I didn't have to pay until 2011. They were also telling me about a possible change in the law this year, which may either increase or decrease the annual amount. Let me know if you would like to know more, and I will find the letter.

Here is a link I thought looked interesting, about foreign currency bank accounts:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/global/ma...exchange10.xml

Re: Best financial strategies for British expat in America...
 

As an expat UK living in the US you can pay Class II NI contributions that run about GBP100 per year. The GBP337 figure sounds as if they are Class III contributions, you can pay those if you want all the extra benefits, but Class II gives you basic state pension, widows death benefit etc which is what I really wanted

As far as finances is concerned it really depends on your residency and tax status. If you have to pay US tax I'm not sure that things like ISAs are a good idea as the IRS will not recognize their tax free status as I don't think they qualify as retirement accounts, they are just tax free savings/invetment accounts. Also having UK unit trusts and other "pooled investments" is bad as they are taxed highly ie 35%. Also be aware that you have to tell the US government about any accounts over $10k outside the USA.

I'm not sure about contributing to UK pensions as I've never done it, but your easiest option is probably to do a 401k,IRA, or ROTH IRA for retirement and stick after tax money into US based mutual funds.