I’m like the author in #17, I’ve never cared about my grey hair, nor, for that matter, age-related hair loss. I have the same type of old age baldness that my grandfathers and uncles had, so it’s in the family.
Regarding #16, the IAEA had recommended that the processed contaminated water be dumped into the ocean. Depending upon the levels following inadequate filtration, they might recommend a second pass through the filtration system. To minimize concerns of local fishermen, TEPCO should be allowed to do controlled releases of a set amount each day, spread out over a few years, and the testing of fish in the local area should continue, to verify that there’s no increase in fish contamination.
The article described in #8 is encouraging, but those promoting the Green New Deal in the US are ruining it. By pushing to include things that are not connected to the environment, they’re mixing apples, oranges, and every other type of fruit. They’re trying to bite off more than anyone can chew. And to make it worse, AOC confuses things completely by saying that we have only 12 years to act before the end of mankind, which is a complete non sequitur. Were I the scientists quoted in the article, I’d be fuming at her and those spouting the same sophistry.
The best course of action is to allow continued development of all of these technologies, which will improve them and inevitably make them cheaper. Adam Smith’s “invisible hand” will guide people more effectively than compulsory government mandates. It would also be important to allow local areas to use the mix of technologies that makes sense for their area.
That said, an increasing number of jurisdictions in the US are restricting the installation of wind farms, since they kill lots of flying animals, are an eyesore, and the noise is bothersome. There are similar issues with solar panel farms, and it also turns out that major wind farm and solar panel projects don’t become as productive as initially projected. For this reason, the estimates in the article need to be taken with a grain of salt.
In getting (or trying to) an investment account in the US for my son, living in Kyoto, I have found out a few things that might be helpful.
1. to open an account at Fidelity or other types of firms such as these you will need to do it in person if you do not have a US address. I’m unclear about what may happen if you reside overseas but have a US address that could be used to open an account.
Bob–search this site and maybe the Japan-related subs on reddit for “Interactive Brokers”. They do take new clients from Japan who are US expats (no US address needed), and offer full access to US markets, including tax-reporting docs for when you file.
I don’t understand how a lack of access to mutual funds (MFs) could be perceived as a “problem”. The world of ETFs blossomed well before the “ban” on owning MFs began to be enforced. Losing access to MFs is a totally empty ban. If anything, investors are just being nudged into the modern world, and away from what is (IMO) a passé mode of investing. Instead of saying that a “…lack of access to mutual funds should no longer be seen as a major impediment to successful expat investing,” I’d twist it to “…removing the need/temptation to buy mutual funds, has removed a major impediment to successful expat investing.” ((Incidentally, I think the law concerning this ban dates to the late 1940s–1948, IIRC.))
Also, this is really puzzling: “Non-residents also have the option of building portfolios by purchasing individual stocks and bonds… it is the approach least burdened by cross-border regulation.” I don’t know of -any- ETF that is “burdened by cross-border regulation” in a way that stocks are not. I wish they had provided some examples to illustrate this claim.
Also, I think if you read the terms of service when you sign up for an account, this is flat-out wrong: “Any American living abroad, even for an extended period, is well within their rights to use a U.S. address for the sake of opening accounts and receiving mail.” You will be violating your service agreement if you do this. People do it, sure, but I wouldn’t offer any sympathy to someone who did that and later had their account closed on them.
The article also fails to mention the hazards of PFICs, one of the potholes that US expats need to avoid.
Thanks for the comments, This was intended to be just a quick reply with some information I ran into when researching investment opportunities.
My son wants to be with a US-based investment firm. So I did not research non-US based investment companies. He does not plan on coming back to the US anytime soon – just hard for him to get enough time off to make the trip worthwhile.
He does not yet have $10,000 to invest and has to start small.
The comment about the MF was not listed as a problem as I never said it was. I added this for information to US investors who might be reading this site. If they have MF’s and the firm would force an account closure it might happen at a poor time to sell and reinvest. It is just intended as info.
He really wants a “set it and forget it” investment account. ETF’s don’t seem to offer these type of accounts. At least with my limited research, I could not find any. They seem to require more (not necessarily a lot) management than a time-based MF account. And they will probably need a larger initial investment to get the portfolio diversity desired. (at least this is what my FA indicated).
I included the link to THUN merely as a reference point on the MF issue. If there are other issues in that posting as you indicate they may not be relevant to this discussion. I was not using the site as for anything other than to provide a reference to the MF issue. I agree that I did think it unusual that an EX-Pat could open an account without indicating they resided overseas but I’m not an expert at this and maybe this is ok. This why I said I was “unclear” about doing this.
Hope this explains my comment a bit better. Just trying to share some knowledge.
As to the PFIC issues, I think “Retire Japan” has covered these pretty well so I did not see the need to cover it again but here is the THUN article on that issue.
At this point, I am using my FA to open an account with the appropriate ETF’s in my name with the idea I will add his name or somehow get the account into his name when he comes back to the US. Which could be not for several years.
My overall point of the post was to point out a couple of investment items that I had not seen RJ cover in the past.
Bob–I apologize for coming down so hard on that article, but it just rubbed me the wrong way (obviously!).
Bob, you’re son is part of a larger community. Having invested in the US for my whole career, retiring overseas brought this unexpected problem to light. Having a stateside address may prevent the accounts from being closed, but it’s still a point of concern and doesn’t leave one fully confident in one’s position. I can understand the issue with accepting new investors from overseas, but suddenly closing accounts in a blanket-manner is very heavy-handed.
While captainspoke spoke negatively of mutual funds and highlighted that ETFs, stocks and bonds are also available, I’m not sure if they can be used for retirement investing as easily as mutual funds. And for someone in your son’s position, he would almost certainly gain by having investments automatically withdrawn from his account each month. Budgeting and staying on a spending plan gets a lot easier when you don’t see the invested money in your account.
I’m like the author in #17, I’ve never cared about my grey hair, nor, for that matter, age-related hair loss. I have the same type of old age baldness that my grandfathers and uncles had, so it’s in the family.
Regarding #16, the IAEA had recommended that the processed contaminated water be dumped into the ocean. Depending upon the levels following inadequate filtration, they might recommend a second pass through the filtration system. To minimize concerns of local fishermen, TEPCO should be allowed to do controlled releases of a set amount each day, spread out over a few years, and the testing of fish in the local area should continue, to verify that there’s no increase in fish contamination.
The article described in #8 is encouraging, but those promoting the Green New Deal in the US are ruining it. By pushing to include things that are not connected to the environment, they’re mixing apples, oranges, and every other type of fruit. They’re trying to bite off more than anyone can chew. And to make it worse, AOC confuses things completely by saying that we have only 12 years to act before the end of mankind, which is a complete non sequitur. Were I the scientists quoted in the article, I’d be fuming at her and those spouting the same sophistry.
The best course of action is to allow continued development of all of these technologies, which will improve them and inevitably make them cheaper. Adam Smith’s “invisible hand” will guide people more effectively than compulsory government mandates. It would also be important to allow local areas to use the mix of technologies that makes sense for their area.
That said, an increasing number of jurisdictions in the US are restricting the installation of wind farms, since they kill lots of flying animals, are an eyesore, and the noise is bothersome. There are similar issues with solar panel farms, and it also turns out that major wind farm and solar panel projects don’t become as productive as initially projected. For this reason, the estimates in the article need to be taken with a grain of salt.
In getting (or trying to) an investment account in the US for my son, living in Kyoto, I have found out a few things that might be helpful.
1. to open an account at Fidelity or other types of firms such as these you will need to do it in person if you do not have a US address. I’m unclear about what may happen if you reside overseas but have a US address that could be used to open an account.
2. However, I was told that my son could open an account (in person) but he could not own mutual funds if he is not domiciled in the US. It turns out that US-based mutual funds cannot be owned if you are not domiciled in the US.
He could purchase ETF’s or individual stocks.
See this site: https://thunfinancial.com/home/american-expat-financial-advice-research-articles/us-brokerage-accounts-american-expats-closed-2015/
Bob–search this site and maybe the Japan-related subs on reddit for “Interactive Brokers”. They do take new clients from Japan who are US expats (no US address needed), and offer full access to US markets, including tax-reporting docs for when you file.
I don’t understand how a lack of access to mutual funds (MFs) could be perceived as a “problem”. The world of ETFs blossomed well before the “ban” on owning MFs began to be enforced. Losing access to MFs is a totally empty ban. If anything, investors are just being nudged into the modern world, and away from what is (IMO) a passé mode of investing. Instead of saying that a “…lack of access to mutual funds should no longer be seen as a major impediment to successful expat investing,” I’d twist it to “…removing the need/temptation to buy mutual funds, has removed a major impediment to successful expat investing.” ((Incidentally, I think the law concerning this ban dates to the late 1940s–1948, IIRC.))
Also, this is really puzzling: “Non-residents also have the option of building portfolios by purchasing individual stocks and bonds… it is the approach least burdened by cross-border regulation.” I don’t know of -any- ETF that is “burdened by cross-border regulation” in a way that stocks are not. I wish they had provided some examples to illustrate this claim.
Also, I think if you read the terms of service when you sign up for an account, this is flat-out wrong: “Any American living abroad, even for an extended period, is well within their rights to use a U.S. address for the sake of opening accounts and receiving mail.” You will be violating your service agreement if you do this. People do it, sure, but I wouldn’t offer any sympathy to someone who did that and later had their account closed on them.
The article also fails to mention the hazards of PFICs, one of the potholes that US expats need to avoid.
Thanks for the comments, This was intended to be just a quick reply with some information I ran into when researching investment opportunities.
My son wants to be with a US-based investment firm. So I did not research non-US based investment companies. He does not plan on coming back to the US anytime soon – just hard for him to get enough time off to make the trip worthwhile.
He does not yet have $10,000 to invest and has to start small.
The comment about the MF was not listed as a problem as I never said it was. I added this for information to US investors who might be reading this site. If they have MF’s and the firm would force an account closure it might happen at a poor time to sell and reinvest. It is just intended as info.
He really wants a “set it and forget it” investment account. ETF’s don’t seem to offer these type of accounts. At least with my limited research, I could not find any. They seem to require more (not necessarily a lot) management than a time-based MF account. And they will probably need a larger initial investment to get the portfolio diversity desired. (at least this is what my FA indicated).
I included the link to THUN merely as a reference point on the MF issue. If there are other issues in that posting as you indicate they may not be relevant to this discussion. I was not using the site as for anything other than to provide a reference to the MF issue. I agree that I did think it unusual that an EX-Pat could open an account without indicating they resided overseas but I’m not an expert at this and maybe this is ok. This why I said I was “unclear” about doing this.
Hope this explains my comment a bit better. Just trying to share some knowledge.
As to the PFIC issues, I think “Retire Japan” has covered these pretty well so I did not see the need to cover it again but here is the THUN article on that issue.
https://thunfinancial.com/home/american-expat-financial-advice-research-articles/why-americans-should-never-ever-own-shares-in-a-non-us-incorporated-mutual-fund/
At this point, I am using my FA to open an account with the appropriate ETF’s in my name with the idea I will add his name or somehow get the account into his name when he comes back to the US. Which could be not for several years.
My overall point of the post was to point out a couple of investment items that I had not seen RJ cover in the past.
Bob–I apologize for coming down so hard on that article, but it just rubbed me the wrong way (obviously!).
Bob, you’re son is part of a larger community. Having invested in the US for my whole career, retiring overseas brought this unexpected problem to light. Having a stateside address may prevent the accounts from being closed, but it’s still a point of concern and doesn’t leave one fully confident in one’s position. I can understand the issue with accepting new investors from overseas, but suddenly closing accounts in a blanket-manner is very heavy-handed.
While captainspoke spoke negatively of mutual funds and highlighted that ETFs, stocks and bonds are also available, I’m not sure if they can be used for retirement investing as easily as mutual funds. And for someone in your son’s position, he would almost certainly gain by having investments automatically withdrawn from his account each month. Budgeting and staying on a spending plan gets a lot easier when you don’t see the invested money in your account.