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Brokerage account for new US investor

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  1. #11

    Join Date
    May 2014
    Posts
    6
    Quote Originally Posted by RMDNC:
    If you are an American, unless you did something stupid like renouce your cittizenship, your only chance to open an account is probably with a US firm, either one op here or best in the US....
    Thanks - Say I try to open an account in the US next time I visit. I have no US address - is this a problem? And if I open the account and subsequently make trades when physically located in HK, do I subject myself to any reporting nightmares with either government? (I think HK has no capital gains tax but I'm cautious to assume there's no paperwork.)

  2. #12

    Join Date
    Mar 2010
    Posts
    6,745

    In HK there is need to file any capital gain or dividend income from securities trading


  3. #13

    Join Date
    Oct 2012
    Posts
    6,531

    This is getting a bit redundant... I'm looking for something similar. I want things very, very simple. Like, send it over and forget about it.

    Here's what I've come up with:
    - Vanguard account could be OK, but you need to somehow get your money from Hong Kong to the US. I just found this confusing, but there are explanations on their website. How much I'd lose in regular transfers and currency exchange rates was all unclear to me and this is too messy for me to be bothered with.
    - Citibank -- can open HK account, and if you have a US phone/address, you can set up a US bank account and then transfer money between the two. There, in the US, you can buy investment products but for around $7 per purchase, I think...
    - TD AmeriTrade... now owned by Charles Schwab, but different platform. This offers I think the most options as a brokerage...but for me, I find this overwhelming and difficult to navigate, because I want something more simplistic.

    But what I think I will go with is the Charles Schwab International. I find their website very user-friendly, they seem to have good/reachable customer service (unlike Citibank US); they will provide the tax form I need; and they have a HK bank account I can transfer to each month -- this was quite tricky to find with other companies. It is not a HK legal entity so my savings can be kept safely out.

    Here's a basic investment question for Americans: should I avoid dividend paying products? Currently, my foreign earned income is below the tax threshold. I'm a little unsure what will happen with my US taxes if I start getting dividends through my US investments (I guess I just report them and pay taxes on them?).


  4. #14

    Join Date
    Feb 2012
    Posts
    411

    I highly recommend Schwab. They also make it almost as cheap as possible to move money to them (cheaper than transferwise or anything like them).

    I regularly transfer HKD from my HSBC HK bank account to Schwab's designated Citibank HK NA account. I just put my name - my Schwab brokerage account number in the message to sender part when doing a transfer in the HSBC HK app. After transferring from HSBC, in a US business day I can see my money in my Schwab brokerage account in USD. After two full US business days I can then transfer the money to my Schwab bank account or to wherever.

    Best of luck finding what works for you. With a US address, a US phone number, and a US SSN you can open a brokerage account at many US brokers. Without that I'd say Schwab international if you have 25k+ USD to invest, and otherwise maybe TD Ameritrade, but I've never used them.

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