We moved from the US 4 years ago, selling our house there, with a plan to stay in CH for the longer term and buy a house here. We have stock with some companies in the US and cash too, should I move the cash over to Switzerland and trade stock here instead?
Does anyone have any advice or resource links (beyond giving up US citizenship, that'll happen at some point!) for people like myself in this situation?
Sorry for the simple question but any advice would be much appreciated!
We have our assets split between the US and CH, because:
Diversification.
Tax planning is complicated as US citizens. We pay more tax to the US than to CH, so we need to focus on US tax efficiency, which often means US investment strategies. And of course it's easier and cheaper to pay that cash to Uncle Sam from a US bank account. Until you actually give up the blue passport, this could remain a factor for you.
CH is not forever, as we are not CH citizens. So we need to keep options open. You never know what the future holds. You may have gaining CH citizenship as a goal, but you might well be turned down. Nothing is certain. Until you have the red passport firmly in your hands, were it me, I'd hesitate to cut all financial ties. You may find you need those down the road.
Responsibilities stateside. We were footloose and fancy free when we moved to Switzerland 25 years ago. Some years later, however, things changed, and we found ourselves taking over financial responsibility for some loved ones. Keeping funds stateside made that easier.
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We keep the bulk of our US assets with the US partner of our Swiss bank. While transactions between the two are certainly not seamless, it's relatively painless.
That's us, YMMV.
ETA:
Before you make final decisions, it would be prudent to consult a tax planner or investment advisor qualified to address issues pertinent to US citizens abroad.
As a US citizen, it might be difficult to have an investment account in Switzerland.
If you have no US ties (citizenship, green card, family), then you may attempt it. This is not the case for us, so my spouse kept his accounts there and I (the non-US person) have mine here.