Can a 529 plan actually pay for university outside the United States? Some foreign schools qualify for tax-free withdrawals. Most do not, and the difference is not obvious until a family tries to use the funds. Kaitlin Krozel, CPA and founder of Krozel Capital, has spent years helping American families…
Banks in financial hubs are not fiduciaries. They are product distributors. A relationship manager who calls because you have cash sitting in an account is not asking whether the product they are about to recommend is appropriate for a US taxpayer, whether it creates PFIC exposure, or how it interacts…
Singapore's Central Provident Fund earns 4% in the special retirement account. For Singaporeans and permanent residents it is one of the best-structured savings tools in the world. For US taxpayers in a 37% federal bracket, 4% minus tax is 2.5% in a system that also has PFIC classification issues, restricted…
Singapore imposes no local tax on Roth IRA conversions and no capital gains or dividend tax. That means when an American in Singapore converts traditional IRA funds to Roth, only US federal tax applies — not a second layer of local tax on top. In most other countries, the same…
In financial hubs around the world, bank relationship managers are trained to sell products, not to give fiduciary advice. The products commonly offered to expat clients often carry embedded commissions, may be structured on leverage against your own portfolio, and are almost never reviewed against your US tax obligations. A…
The US taxes Roth conversion income regardless of where you live, it's treated as ordinary income and the FEIE does not reduce it. What changes by location is whether a second layer of local tax also applies. In most countries, a resident converting traditional IRA funds to Roth owes both…
Earning in Singapore dollars while filing US taxes is only the beginning. Americans in Singapore sit inside one of the most favorable tax environments for Roth conversions anywhere in the world: no Singapore capital gains tax, no dividend tax, and the conversion itself isn't taxed locally. Most are not using…
Moving countries doesn't have to mean losing the feeling of home. Families who move often say it's the small, repeated traditions, not the address, that end up defining what home actually feels like. Subscribe to the newsletter: https://www.passporttowealth.com/contact #expatfinance #financialplanning #passporttowealth #expatlife #relocation
Parenting coach Sasha Romary has raised her sons in France, Singapore, and Germany, and says home was never really about any one of them. It's the traditions her family carries with them, taco Tuesday, Saturday mornings at the playground, to-go coffee cups, that make anywhere feel like home. Subscribe to…
Parenting coach Sasha Romary (@sasharomaryparenting) has spent years fighting for a school environment where her neurodivergent son can actually thrive, something she says is far harder to find in much of Europe than in the U.S. The reason her kids take a 40-minute train to school every morning isn't the…
Parenting coach Sasha Romary's (@sasharomaryparenting ) first son only slept upright against her, and only after hours of crying, while French mothers around her sipped coffee next to babies who napped peacefully in their strollers. Her mother-in-law's advice was simple. Babies cry, it helps develop their lungs. Romary needed something…
Expat parents often get pulled between two completely different playbooks, the one they grew up reading and the one everyone around them actually follows. Neither one has to win. Finding what actually works for your kid is allowed to be its own answer. Subscribe to the newsletter: https://www.passporttowealth.com/contact #expatfinance #financialplanning…
Sasha Romary's first son would only sleep upright against her, and only after hours of crying, while the French mothers around her sipped coffee next to babies who napped peacefully in their strollers. Her mother-in-law's advice was blunt: babies cry, it helps develop their lungs. Sasha is a parenting coach…
Financial planner and author Mark Moberg calls it The Room That Nods. Friends agree because they want you happy. Family agrees because they're protecting you. Neither one is actually evaluating whether the move makes sense, which is exactly the gap an outside advisor is supposed to fill. Subscribe to the…
Mark Moberg's family moved to Lisbon mid pandemic, months later than planned because of Portuguese bureaucracy. American vaccine cards weren't accepted at restaurants, furniture was nearly impossible to find, and they spent their first month in corporate housing looking for a place to live. It's the version of moving abroad…
Financial planner Mark Moberg says most families have already made up their mind about moving abroad long before they sit down with a planner. The numbers they ask for aren't really about the decision, they're there to justify it to the one skeptical relative every family seems to have. Subscribe…
Well-meaning advice isn't the same as honest advice. Before a big move, it helps to talk to someone who has no stake in your decision either way. Subscribe to the newsletter: https://www.passporttowealth.com/contact #expatfinance #financialplanning #passporttowealth #expatlife #relocation
Financial planner and author Mark Moberg calls it The Room That Nods. Friends agree because they want you happy. Family agrees because they're protecting you. Neither one is actually evaluating whether the move makes sense, which is exactly the gap an outside advisor is supposed to fill. Subscribe to the…
Financial planner and author Mark Moberg calls it The Room That Nods. Friends agree because they want you happy. Family agrees because they're protecting you. Neither one is actually evaluating whether the move makes sense, which is exactly the gap an outside advisor is supposed to fill. Subscribe to the…
A lot of people research visas and tax rules before they've actually asked themselves why they want to move in the first place. Start there. The paperwork gets easier once the reason is real. Subscribe to the newsletter: https://www.passporttowealth.com/contact #expatfinance #financialplanning #passporttowealth #movingabroad #expatlife
Financial planner Mark Moberg says most families have already made up their mind about moving abroad long before they sit down with a planner. The numbers they ask for aren't really about the decision, they're there to justify it to the one skeptical relative every family seems to have. Subscribe…
Mark Moberg's family landed in Lisbon on Christmas Day, months behind schedule, with no furniture waiting for them and a nasal swab required just to eat at a restaurant. That's the moving-abroad story nobody posts on Instagram. Mark is a certified financial planner who closed his practice in Tampa, Florida…
Gifts from a foreign individual totaling more than $100,000 can trigger a Form 3520 filing requirement with the IRS, even when no tax is owed. Miss the form and the penalties can be significant. It's one of the most overlooked cross-border filing traps for ordinary families. Subscribe to the newsletter:…
Even a "temporary" move abroad can quietly establish tax residency, and once that happens, your options narrow fast. A quick check with a cross-border advisor before you go can prevent a much harder conversation later. Subscribe to the newsletter: https://www.passporttowealth.com/contact #expatfinance #financialplanning #passporttowealth #expatplanning #relocation
