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Post by sedelen on Aug 10, 2016 20:07:36 GMT -5
Life just keeps getting harder and harder for ex-pats, it's almost like were considered criminal or something. The laws are rapidly changing now, and becoming increasingly less accommodative. Seems what's driving this is all the new tax laws coming into being for living in a foreign country. Even though Colombia isn't on the list of the 5 countries, the writing is on the wall. I do know that Charles Schwab prohibits the trades of mutual funds if you're living in Colombia, but you can buy and sell ETF's. If you have a IRA, Roth IRA, you can sell your mutual funds holdings and buy Exchange Traded Funds (ETF's) should you want, problem solved at least temporarily, they might just force you to close your account in the future. If you have a Brokerage account with mutual funds, and you have to sell, you may be subject to the gains made on those holdings. Depending on what you may have, it could be substantial. And for those holding that highly touted Charles Schwab Debit Card, a little known fact is that it's only supposed to be used as a travel card, not for living in some foreign country. www.expatfocus.com/c/aid=3139/financial/tom-zachystal/charles-schwab-announces-account-closures-for-us-citizens-in-five-countries-more-expected/
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Post by scumbuster on Aug 10, 2016 21:19:13 GMT -5
Schwab does have an international ant you can open. I never looked into it to see if it has the same benefits.
I have been thinking about using a mail service in Fl or TX and having all my credit cards and credit cards use this address. I dont know how they know if your perminently in another country or just frequently traveling there. But it seems all countries are making it hard to move money and if you do, everyone wants a cut out of it. This is the only really valid selling point of bitcoin. Etrade and Capital One Bank both at one time had similar debut accounts with refunded fees. Not sure any more.
When I was in Colombia last time for 1.5 years I just told them I was in Colombia for work and could be there several years. I had to call every 6 months to tell them I was still in Colombia.
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Post by sedelen on Aug 10, 2016 22:15:25 GMT -5
Schwab does have an international ant you can open. I never looked into it to see if it has the same benefits. I have been thinking about using a mail service in Fl or TX and having all my credit cards and credit cards use this address. I dont know how they know if your perminently in another country or just frequently traveling there. But it seems all countries are making it hard to move money and if you do, everyone wants a cut out of it. This is the only really valid selling point of bitcoin. Etrade and Capital One Bank both at one time had similar debut accounts with refunded fees. Not sure any more. When I was in Colombia last time for 1.5 years I just told them I was in Colombia for work and could be there several years. I had to call every 6 months to tell them I was still in Colombia. True, you can have an International account with Schwab, but one thing I know you can't have is mutual funds, but you can own ETF's. I would think maintaining a Stateside address will work for an indefinite period. They'll put the squeeze on you with that debit card after you've been here awhile, I know.
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Post by sedelen on Aug 11, 2016 12:57:27 GMT -5
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Post by papitohead on Aug 11, 2016 17:36:39 GMT -5
This is exactly what I mean about bitcoin. I really don't know why one being an expat look into it. You don't have to travel with any money. Just cash in where ever you go. There are lots of bitcoin places where you can sell some to cash in. Actually, the one who got me into this is a very smart Colombian native from Cartagena. I met him online when he asked me about satellite tv information. When I saw he was from Cartagena, I told him I travel often there. To make a long story short, we met at his house in Cartagena and became good friends. He introduced me to bitcoin and I saw the easy way to transfer funds from here to there or whatever. And no one knows what I have done. No paper trail.
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Post by livinginmedellin on Aug 11, 2016 17:59:14 GMT -5
Schwab does have an international ant you can open. I never looked into it to see if it has the same benefits. I have been thinking about using a mail service in Fl or TX and having all my credit cards and credit cards use this address. I dont know how they know if your perminently in another country or just frequently traveling there. But it seems all countries are making it hard to move money and if you do, everyone wants a cut out of it. This is the only really valid selling point of bitcoin. Etrade and Capital One Bank both at one time had similar debut accounts with refunded fees. Not sure any more. When I was in Colombia last time for 1.5 years I just told them I was in Colombia for work and could be there several years. I had to call every 6 months to tell them I was still in Colombia. I use a mail service in TX for all my US accounts and have done this for many years. No problem receiving credit/debit cards at the mail service address that I forward on to me Colombia. This is the first year I have run into a problem. AMEX threatened to disable my credit card account unless I gave them a physical address so I gave them my fathers address in the US and that satisfied them. Also a similar problem with TD Ameritrade. Only thing is renewing my Texas drivers license that expires in a couple years. They want proof of residency in Texas to renew that I don't have. So I guess I'll get a Colombian drivers license that can be used in the US.
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Post by sedelen on Aug 12, 2016 14:37:02 GMT -5
Schwab does have an international ant you can open. I never looked into it to see if it has the same benefits. I have been thinking about using a mail service in Fl or TX and having all my credit cards and credit cards use this address. I dont know how they know if your perminently in another country or just frequently traveling there. But it seems all countries are making it hard to move money and if you do, everyone wants a cut out of it. This is the only really valid selling point of bitcoin. Etrade and Capital One Bank both at one time had similar debut accounts with refunded fees. Not sure any more. When I was in Colombia last time for 1.5 years I just told them I was in Colombia for work and could be there several years. I had to call every 6 months to tell them I was still in Colombia. I use a mail service in TX for all my US accounts and have done this for many years. No problem receiving credit/debit cards at the mail service address that I forward on to me Colombia. This is the first year I have run into a problem. AMEX threatened to disable my credit card account unless I gave them a physical address so I gave them my fathers address in the US and that satisfied them. Also a similar problem with TD Ameritrade. Only thing is renewing my Texas drivers license that expires in a couple years. They want proof of residency in Texas to renew that I don't have. So I guess I'll get a Colombian drivers license that can be used in the US. I can't remember which company, Fidelity or Vanguard, but when you try to access their site with a foreign ISP, they stop you right there. Schwab has an international account, but you can't trade mutual funds, but you can trade ETF's. But they may start closing accounts here as they are broadening out the countries their excluding ex-pats on doing business with. Diversification with several banking accounts that you can move money to and from each gives some flexibility should one get shut off for any reason, the same goes with the debit cards. I too have a stateside drivers license that I want to keep and expires next year. If I really want to keep it I will have to go back to the States and take the test. It could be handy for something I would think someday, especially at airports coming and going. Haven't given much thought to using my Colombian drivers license in the States, he, he. But, it's getting increasingly harder to stay one step ahead of all the new restrictions coming our way. And when I started this whole thing, I thought the hardest thing I would have to do was just to get a passport, little did I know what all else was still ahead.
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Post by búfalo on Aug 13, 2016 21:06:24 GMT -5
Wow, for six years I onky had a debit card in my wallet that I'd take local cirrency out with. Uruguay, Brasil, Colombia, Spain, etc. AND I never paid an ATM fee.
I guess it's different now.
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Post by sedelen on Aug 13, 2016 21:22:38 GMT -5
Wow, for six years I onky had a debit card in my wallet that I'd take local cirrency out with. Uruguay, Brasil, Colombia, Spain, etc. AND I never paid an ATM fee. I guess it's different now. I know Well's Fargo hits you with a $5.00 fee each time you use it, because it's not a Well's Fargo ATM. I hear the Navy Credit union is free. As for the other's and I think I know which card you're talking about, it depends on how you keep your travel plan updated.
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Post by búfalo on Aug 14, 2016 5:53:47 GMT -5
I had a Sterling ATM card al that time. No fees. Now I use TD, was Commerce, and haven't paid a fee yet BUT I haven't travelled much lately either.
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