Search found 9 matches

by lemming
Thu Mar 07, 2013 4:46 am
Forum: Non-US Investing
Topic: Avoid the dividend tax on foreign investors [Hong Kong]
Replies: 43
Views: 8385

Re: Avoid the dividend tax on foreign investors [Hong Kong]

HongKonger wrote:If you're not a US person, you can't use Schwab or buy US bonds directly.
According to this post and others in the same thread you can use Schwab as a non-resident. TD Ameritrade also seem to allow it.
by lemming
Thu Mar 07, 2013 4:37 am
Forum: Non-US Investing
Topic: Non-US-resident beginner with large initial investment
Replies: 15
Views: 2685

Re: Non-US-resident beginner with large initial investment

Thanks again for all the great advice everyone, I'm still researching. Ted is right, I have no plans at this stage to live in the US - in fact I have never been resident in the US. For various reasons my money is there in USD and the US offers by far the most attractive investment options, but it does seem to be very complicated. Unfortunately my simplest tax option (simply bring the cash back to NZ) is probably the least attractive from an investment point of view. Vanguard Australia or the aforementioned Ireland-domiciled funds may be the best solution.
by lemming
Tue Mar 05, 2013 11:00 pm
Forum: Non-US Investing
Topic: Non-US-resident beginner with large initial investment
Replies: 15
Views: 2685

Re: Non-US-resident beginner with large initial investment

asset_chaos wrote:You may want to go to https://americas.vanguard.com/institutional/home.htm and look at the offshore funds Vanguard has set up in Ireland for use of non-US investors.
Thanks for the tip, I'll definitely call Vanguard tomorrow and see what they say.
by lemming
Tue Mar 05, 2013 10:58 pm
Forum: Non-US Investing
Topic: Non-US-resident beginner with large initial investment
Replies: 15
Views: 2685

Re: Non-US-resident beginner with large initial investment

Is there a reason why you're not repatriating the proceeds of selling the company to New Zealand? That would simplify your tax life immensely. It would definitely simplify my tax life immensely, but there really aren't good options here that I've found. Apart from the fact that the NZD is extremely high right now, there are exactly 5 ETFs on the NZ stock exchange, and they only hold NZ and Australian stocks. The cheapest broker I've found charges 0.3% for the NZX and 0.6% for overseas. From what I've been able to find the mutual fund situation is similarly unappetising. Also, from a personal point of view my wife and I aren't sure we'll be living in NZ indefinitely and USD is as good as anything to hold right now. If we do decide that we'r...
by lemming
Tue Mar 05, 2013 9:15 pm
Forum: Non-US Investing
Topic: Non-US-resident beginner with large initial investment
Replies: 15
Views: 2685

Re: Non-US-resident beginner with large initial investment

Thanks for the advice, I've changed the thread subject.

I went part-way through the TD Ameritrade account opening process and their form is definitely set up for non-residents, although they may decline the account later I guess. Fortunately I do have a stable US mailing address, ITIN and US bank account, all of which helps a lot. I'll report back here once I've decided on a broker and tried it out.
by lemming
Tue Mar 05, 2013 9:09 pm
Forum: Non-US Investing
Topic: Australian Portfolio Review
Replies: 18
Views: 4429

Re: Australian Portfolio Review

One thing you'll need to be careful of are the FIF (foreign investment fund) tax rules. I'm a kiwi and we have it here, I believe Australia repealed them in 2011 but are replacing them with something very similar (foreign acruals regime). You need to check the prospectus of the funds you're planning to invest in (see for example this file, page 17). It's all hypothetical at the moment since they're only in draft form, but you want to avoid them if possible (in NZ you get taxed on the *unrealised* gain in portfolio value every year up to a maximum of 5%).
by lemming
Tue Mar 05, 2013 8:36 pm
Forum: Non-US Investing
Topic: Non-US-resident beginner with large initial investment
Replies: 15
Views: 2685

Re: Beginner with large initial investment

Congratulations on the successful sale of your company. I can't see any reason not to use ETFs - I use them even though I have to pay a modest broker fee for each purchase/sale. The low-cost Fidelity index funds are also fine substitutes for Vanguard funds - I hold both myself. I think your plan of holding a simple portfolio (3-4 funds) is the perfect low maintenance approach. In terms of AA, the standard advice is just choose the allocation you're comfortable with and will stick to in periods of both "over" and "under" performance. Personally, I lean toward 80/20 and 70/30 - but that's my risk preference, not yours. I'm not sure I know enough to speak to the tax issues. Great, thanks menlo. One tax issue is dividends -...
by lemming
Tue Mar 05, 2013 8:31 pm
Forum: Non-US Investing
Topic: Non-US-resident beginner with large initial investment
Replies: 15
Views: 2685

Re: Beginner with large initial investment

rocket wrote:What's the deal about Vanguard and non-US citizen ??
It's not being a non-citizen, it's being non-resident when you open the account. They do talk about accepting W8-BEN forms, which is the form you have to fill in as a non-resident to ensure they don't withhold tax, so I guess if you open your account as a resident and then leave the US that's ok.
by lemming
Tue Mar 05, 2013 1:30 am
Forum: Non-US Investing
Topic: Non-US-resident beginner with large initial investment
Replies: 15
Views: 2685

Non-US-resident beginner with large initial investment

Hi all, I'm hoping that the kind folk here can help me out in my situation. I was co-founder of a company that we sold last year so I now have low-single-digit millions in the bank, and I need to invest it. Some time ago I read the Boglehead's guide to investing and William Bernstein's Investor's Manifesto, but I have to re-read them since I've forgotten some of the details. But I'm totally convinced that indexing is the way to go, I just need to decide how to structure it. I'm 40, my wife is 36. We're planning for a normal, comfortable lifestyle, not so much lavish parties and yachts. We have no debt. One complicating factor is that I'm not a US resident (I'm from New Zealand), so Vanguard is not available to me. I could use Vanguard in Au...