Peteusa

Hello All.

I'm considering cashing in a pension in the UK and bringing the money to the US, but it doesnt appear to be as straightforward as all that.

Problem one is that I no longer have a bank account in the UK so theres nowhere that a cheque from the insurance company can be banked prior to the money being transferred to the US. It could be that the Windsor Life Assurance would simply send a cheque direct to me in the US but I'm not sure of that.

The other problem I think I'd face would be bringing a large sum of money into the USA, given the times in which we live. By large I mean between 20 and 40K, which is probably not large by some peoples standards but could catch the eye of the US government.

Any advice to help me through this process in the most harmonious way would be greatly appreciated.

Pete

lansbury

Open an account with one of the many ForX brokers who get mentioned on the forum several times a week. Have the insurance company transfer the funds to the ForX broker who then converts it into $ and transfers it to your US bank.

Your US bank will take care of all the required reporting for a sum in excess of $10K.

Peteusa

Sounds perfect, but I cant find any mention of a ForX broker that you say gets mentioned frequently on any of the forums. Can you help me a bit more on tracking one down please?

Pete

avanutria

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=702317
http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=696283
http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=678192

Among others. Forex stands for Foreign Exchange.

lansbury

Xe.com

currencyonline.com

HiFx

World First

HiFX even advertise on this site and have their own forum.

There are several others, they all come with recommendations depending on which member likes which company.

Peteusa

Thanks to you both very much.

When simply acting as middle men as it were, which would be the case with me, I take it these brokers make their money by means of a handling charge dependent on the amount transferred?

This is all new to me, you will have gathered.

lansbury

For the sum you are transferring they will not charge a fee. They make their money on the difference between the spot rate and the rate they give you. You will get a better deal with them than a High Street bank.

The only fee you may pay is an intermediary bank charge in the US, anywhere from $0 - $40 and an incoming wire transfer fee at your US bank, around $10. When I use World First there is no intermediary fee, when I use currencyonline.com there is a US intermediary fee, but they give a marginally better rate than World First. With the amount you have to exchange check the rates they will give you, not the spot rate, but the rate to exchange your money and go with whoever offers the best. On £40K a tenth of a cent difference covers any fees.

Michael

As far as the US government is concerned, you only have to report cash transactions over $10,000. Any electronic transfers (checks, wire transfers, ACH transfers, bill pay, etc.) are all handled by the financial institution and doesn't report the transactions to the government unless the transfers are judged suspicious such as when Elliot (ex Governor of New York) got caught paying hookers large sums of money when the bank noticed repeated large monthly bills paid to an escort service.

I'm not sure if it was large monthly credit card bills or large monthly payments to the escort service that raised the suspicions of the bank.

Peteusa

I was thinking of bringing rather more over than $10,000, while the pound is currently so strong. Are there any complications in bringing over say 30,000? if so, do you recommend bringing over the money $10,000 at a time?

avanutria

We transferred the entire value of a house - the value is not a problem. Just do it through a transfer service - don't walk in with $30,000 cash in your pocket. Not for any legal reasons, just it's more hassle and runs the risk of theft.

Bob

Doesn't matter.

The bank will report anything over $10K anyway, there's no tax involved with that, it's a money laundering thing.

You have fbar requirement to report any assets over $10K held abroad anyway which is a separate issue.

Michael

It is only physical currency (cash) of $10,000 or greater that requires you to file IRS form 8300. Anything else is handled by the bank and is only reported to the IRS if the transaction appears suspicious.

Even if the bank reports the transaction, it means nothing but just alerts the IRS that there may possibly be money laundering, mob activity, other illegal activity happening.

Yorkieabroad

I think the bank are obliged to report anything over $10k (not just if they think its suspicious).

I just transferred a chunk over from UK to US this morning:-

First Direct - 1.631
xe.com - 1.628
fx.com - 1.629

Money is already showing online in my US account, but not yet showing as debited from my UK account! For a while I am rich

Orangepants

By transferring mutiple amounts just under the $10,000 threshold - this is way more suspicious and can be picked up by AML bank monitoring software and then the account is more likely to then be put under surveillance. It is known as smurfing... and is a common tactic used by drug dealers to get the money into the financial system. Transfer the whole amount and document where it has come from and what it is for.

Peteusa

This morning, I got an e-mail from our financial advisor in the UK who has been trying to find out what the policies are of the two Pension Companies we're involved with, regarding transfering our money to the USA. I really dont know what he's trying to tell me, and I wont be able to get clarification from him for a lengthy period. Crazy as it might seem, can anybody who is more knowledgeable than me (it wouldnt take much) tell me what he's trying to tell me?

I quote:

Windsor Life = Can do it but need international direct credit mandate for overseas accounts, which is something they will provide.

Aviva = Can pay into US/international Banks but need money laundering checks first.

Can anybody clarify what he's trying to tell me?