Would like to invest about 5'000 CHF of the money that is just sitting in a saving account and put it to work
Preferably, I would be looking for an online platform to manage my investments.
Any feedback is appreciated!
Any US Expat living in Switzerland have any luck investing with causing your CPA to rip his hair off during your tax filing?
To be perfectly honest with you 5k is not going to get you very far when it comes to investing. Using it as a buy in to your company pension would probably be the best bet.
Maybe for a good cause: https://www.oikocredit.coop/
1% on SFR investment
2% on EUR investment
Still better then just sitting in the bank
Thank you, Jim. But why do you say 5k isn't enough? If for example, I bought Apple stock mid-2016 I would have seen a 50% increase in my investment. Or is there another reason why you say my first 5k won't go far?
5k is enough. just open an account and invest it in a stock and hope for the best.
As far as know my CPA still has his hair. My investment's just make his day!
What do you mean with CPA? and why does rip your hair off during filling the taxes?
A CPA is a Certified Public Accountant in American English.
For the OP, first of all, you need to find a financial advisor who is comfortable dealing with the delightful combo of US and CH taxes. If he or she is "ripping his hair out", this is not someone with whom you should be comfortable managing your money.
Ditto with investing 5 large. In Switzerland, we can spend 5 000 francs on a pair of chairs and a dimmer switch. That is not investment money. That is walking around money. Jeez.
Bitcoin?
Thank you all for your feedback, does anyone know any financial advisor that could help me understand my investment options? I see that a lot fo the online investing platforms don't accept US citizens or require large initial sums.
You could save up to 5k more and then open an account on IB...
+1
IB is the best online broker for US citizens in my opinion. I think you need min 10k USD?
So allocate 1k or 1.5k for advice and tax returns and say another 100 - 200 a year in fees and related costs... stick it the pension fund at least the whole 5k will get invested and you’ll get some tax savings as well.
Alternatively simply by an index and leave it there untouched for 15 or 20 years.
"invested" in some negative yielding bonds ha ha and they'll charge you plenty in fees on top as well
As a US citizen? Unlikely. Unless you earn so little that you stay under IRS exemption limits, but then what the heck are you doing in Switzerland, it's too expensive to earn too litle here
Best bet as an American is to open an account in the states. Here is the application for Ameritrade: https://invest.tdameritrade.com/grid...untApplication
and here is a comparison to some of the other possibilities:
https://www.tdameritrade.com/why-td-...e/compare.page
In Switzerland, investment as an American is pretty much impossible. Perhaps with some 3A funds at Generali or CS. But they are only good at reducing your Swiss tax and increasing your US tax.
Second this. We do most of our investing in the US. Easier, more attractive opportunities.
And I'll second the importance of understanding the tax consequences of investing in the Swiss Pillar system. The money is not tax free in the US, it is taxed as income in the year contributed. And then taxed again by CH at withdrawal. So figure that into any calculation of potential gain.
Not to mention that any Swiss tax saved is reduced by an increased US taxable income.
Check out www.simplewealth.ch The fees are low and it is really easy to use, especially if you are new to investing. Their minimum is 6K, from memory. I use it and like it.
I think is MUCH better to invest in stocks where you have transparency of whats going on, and you also have much more control than do it through that kind of sites... no offence... just my opinion
Thanks Martin959. I hear you! No offence taken. I was just trying to help the submitter. I chose them as I was time poor and didn't know which ETFs were tax efficient for Swiss residents after moving here. In saying that, if you have some stock tips for a portfolio, I'll happily take them. As a newbie to investing I'll take the help