britnyank

Hi.
Do any of you have money invested in UK at all?
As some of you know, I am moving to AZ this summer and am looking to invest money gained from the sale of my house here in UK. At an appointment with the building society this week, however, I was informed that if I am leaving UK, they are unable to offer me any investment advice as I could feasibly get better deals over there!! In effect, they refuse to take my money!
I did want to perhaps split my money and invest a little both sides of the pond in case we decide we do want to return to UK after all.
Any experiences of this?
Any advice?
Thanks.

dunroving

I think you will find lots of people on here who have investments on both sides. I'm surprised your Building Soc refused to take your money, as you say. Are you sure you weren't just talking to the wrong person. I've always found when you are tralking to desk staff you can get two very different responses from people sitting an office away from each other.

Anyway, my experiences of investing (and losing) on both sides:

If you really aren't sure where you will retire, or where you will be long term. it probably is a good idea to hedge your bets by investing on both sides.
Don't sell your UK house! Too many sad stories on here of people who sold their UK house and regretted it. Houses are much easier to buy in the US with little money down, and are generally cheaper (though I think parts of AZ have increased lately).

Exchange rates can have amuch bigger effect on your investments and wealth than stock market changes. A change of 10% in the exchange rate can occur in a very short time. If you ever decide to return to the UK, be aware that the exchange rate may not be good when you want to move and so you stand to either take a huge hit or have to wait (maybe years) in the hope that the exchange rate will return to normal. For much of my time here the rate was around $1.50 to the GBP; now it's $1.85. You can get out your own calculator and see what a difference that makes per $10,000 you would move back to the UK.

Pension schemes are not usually transferable between the UK and US due to different tax laws. There are ways around this (I believe, though I haven't seen anyone on here provide real evidence of this), though they probably involve cashing out and therefore taking huge tax hit on your money.

Most IFA's in the US don't know diddly squat about how to deal with a dual UK/US person. If you will be in a large city, however, you may find someone. I have had to do a lot of my own research and most of the time I discovered that what my IFA told me was flat wrong (that was a waste of $1,500).

There are many more income tax breaks in the US than the UK. If you rent out your UK house, you can even claim mortgage interest, house repairs, etc., against your tax bill here.

Well, that's all I can think of but I'l be back if I think of anything else.

tony126

You will get a lot of good advice wbut not from me as I do not have a financial backgound. Besides Dunroving another person is FB (FatBrit) who I am sure will have some sound advice also, and then there are the others

scrubbedexpat099

I can understand the Buiding Society not being able to oblige, regulated through the FSA.

There must be a source for investment advise that covers US and UK, but by definition it would be expensive.

You could seek advise without mentioning the move. Or execution only.

Elvira

UK rental income has to be declared to HM Inland Revenue. Mortgage interest, house repairs and general maintenance, other expenses (agents' letting fees, lawyers and accountants fees (if applicable), a wear and tear allowance of 10% of the rent (if furnished) and much else besides can be deducted.