freerskier

Nun - basically, thanks. That's the kind of direct, personal experience stuff I was looking for.

Thank you so much for taking the time. Apreeeeeeeciated.

nun

No problem.

Here is the link to Vanguard and a place where you can ask US investing questions in detail. FYI I am against the IAM advisors and similar companies for British expats in the US because they are expensive, the US/UK tax treaty handles pensions well, as a US resident you should avoid investing money outside the USA, and the US has plenty of good. low cost ways to invest your money.

However, IAM Advisors is one of the better firms as they are upfront about the serious tax consequences of a US resident moving a UK pension to a QROPS....but I simply think you can save a lot of money if you DIY and your level of assets and situation doesn't require anything too special.

www.vanguard.com

www.bogleheads.org .......click on the "Start Here" link on the top of the LH side

Also for those UK pensions make sure you file a US-Individual-2002 before you start taking income from them. This will make sure there is no UK tax withheld and you then enter the pension income on your 1040 on line 16....and obviously on your state tax form too.

Pulaski

If you are approached unsolicited by an "expat financial advisor", especially if through LinkedIn, don't touch them with a barge pole. There is one group that is pushy and also litigious, so much so that their name gets blocked if you try to post it on BE, but it rhymes with a famous diamond company . But if you are contacted by a financial advisor and you just want them to go away, tell them not to contact you again or you "will make a complaint to their Compliance Officer" (use these words).

If you need to make such a complaint, just write letter addressed to the Compliance Officer, to any company office and it will be forwarded to the Compliance Officer who is legally obligated to keep it on file to show when their regulator comes to do an inspection. Needless to say, financial advisors don't much like having their name featured on letters in the Compliance Officer's file of complaints!

Owen778

I agree with all of what Nun said.

Some comments:
- Getting into property with only 100k when it represents a large proportion of your net worth is a very bad idea in all cases. Wanting to do so when you are aged 54, with no prior experience, and living thousands of miles away and unlikely to return, would be bonkers.
- It's my understanding that ISAs and UK pensions are only available to UK tax residents.
- While I agree that Vanguard would be a good place to invest the money, I'd also recommend Fidelity or Charles Schwab, as long as you steer clear of their active funds with high expense ratios (say, above 0.2%). If you want a particular fund recommendation, maybe the Vanguard Wellington fund (which is two third stocks and one third bonds), actively managed but still only 0.18% expense ratio. I think Vanguard calls their main funds "Select Funds", not "Core Funds".

MidAtlantic

I believe you can keep ISAs but not add any additional funds.

I'm not sure if the OP is wanting to consolidate more than one UK pension (since he mentions QORPS). Very few UK institutions will open accounts for US residents, but AJ Bell will. I transferred three small UK pensions to a SIPP with them, and have been very pleased with the result of being able to manage them on-line in one place.

nun

Rationalizing pensions within the UK is ok as the treaty means that the transfers will not be seen as taxable events by the IRS. A QROPS outside the UK for a US tax payer will be seen as a taxable event by the IRS whatever the firms selling the QROPS says.