Your US Financial Life, Abroad
Moving overseas doesn't pause your US financial life — Social Security keeps coming, IRAs keep growing, taxes keep coming due. Health coverage is the one line that changes completely: Medicare stops covering you outside the US, and international health insurance fills the gap at $150–300/month for most 65-year-olds. These guides cover what changes, what breaks, and what to set up before you leave.
Banking
Banking & Money Transfers
Your pension, Social Security, and IRA distributions still land in a US account — but now you need them abroad. How to set up a pipeline that doesn't lose $1,400 a year in fees, plus the FBAR basics every retiree abroad needs to know.
Transfers
International Money Transfers
Wise for monthly income. OFX or XE for large one-time moves — home sale proceeds, pension lump sums, moving savings abroad. A side-by-side comparison plus forward contracts explained.
Taxes
US Taxes When You Retire Abroad
The IRS doesn't care where you live — you still file every year. What forms you need, how to avoid double taxation, and the traps (FBAR, PFIC, sticky states) that catch retirees off guard.
Investing
Keeping Your Investments When You Move Abroad
Since 2024, Fidelity, Vanguard, Schwab, and others have been closing expat accounts. IBKR is one of the few brokerages that still serves US retirees living abroad — here's what you need to know before you move.
Keeping US Accounts
Keep Your US Brokerage Accounts Abroad
The federal rule lets you keep your Schwab or Fidelity account when you move abroad. The broker doesn't always cooperate. Two playbooks — one for perpetual travelers, one for permanent movers — with the contact-individual address strategy that actually holds up to compliance review.
US Address
A US Address After You Move Abroad
Your US bank, the SSA, Medicare, and the IRS all want a US address on file — and a relative's house works until it doesn't. The two virtual mailbox services worth using, plus the Form 1583 piece nobody warns you about.
Phone Setup
Keeping Your US Number When You Move Abroad
Your bank's 2FA text doesn't follow you to Portugal — and the day it stops arriving is the day you can't move money. The cheap MVNO solution most expats land on, plus what to do for local data when you arrive.
VPN
Do US Expats Need a VPN?
Your bank's fraud team flags the first login from Lisbon — and a VPN with the right kind of US IP keeps it from locking you out. The three problems a VPN actually solves, the two it doesn't, and the provider we recommend.