Hi all,
I’ve read through this subreddit to figure out investment options for a new-to-investing US expat looking to invest in the US market; basically, if you don’t have a legacy US brokerage account, it looks like the best option is to create a new brokerage account at IBSJ and buy US domiciled ETFs such as VTI.
A few questions:
1. I work in Japan but I am paid in US dollars which is deposited into my US bank account. To use my money to buy ETFs through IBSJ, I understand from [https://www.interactivebrokers.co.jp/en/support/fund-my-account.php](https://www.interactivebrokers.co.jp/en/support/fund-my-account.php), I will need to fund my IBSJ account via an international wire from my US bank account. Has anyone in a similar position experienced or foresee any issues with this? My bank already knows I live in Japan and even with regular usage (I use a US card issued by the same bank to pay for most things here) the bank hasn’t done anything to my bank account yet (such as freezing/liquidating it), but I am worried I would raise some red flags if I keep initiating monthly wire transfers to Japan. Is this a valid concern or am I too paranoid? As a side note I am willing to write off the international wire fees as a cost of trading.
2. I understand that ETFs pay out periodic dividends/distributions, which will need to be reported on both Japan and US tax filings. I also understand that I will need to report the brokerage account to FBAR. If I am going to just buy and forget about the ETFs until I retire (i.e., no capital gains for a few decades), are there any other things I need to be mindful of in terms of yearly tax filings/other filings?
3. Have you or other US expats been succesful at setting up a US brokerage account using a US address (such as their parents’) and US phone number in the past 6 or so months? If so, how did you get around the issue of providing proofs of addresses? I understand that opening a US brokerage account using your non-resident address runs some risk, but wanted to ask out of curiosity.
4. Are there any potential issues that you could forsee for someone with US-Japan dual citizenship?
Thanks in advance!
by AIUEO1AIUEO