Americans living in Canada

You’re a US person – a US citizen, Green Card holder or resident – who’s moved to Canada from the United States. Only afterwards does your US-based investment advisor inform you that they can no longer serve you, as they are not licensed to do so. Perhaps you were assured by your advisor that your relationship could carry on seamlessly, but now it’s become evident this is no longer possible. In extreme cases, you may have been given between 30 and 60 days to close or move your accounts, or your US advisor would liquidate the accounts and send you a cheque.

What now?

Regrettably, these are all very common scenarios. The good news is that as part of Raymond James, at Sandhu Wealth Advisory Group we are fully cross-border licensed, giving us comprehensive cross-border capabilities that can truly allow us to manage all of your investments in a completely seamless fashion.

Consider the case of our clients, who we’ll call Bob and Joanne, who moved from the United States to Canada. They had three types of retirement accounts – IRAs, Roth IRAs and 401Ks – with a US-based advisor. They also had a taxable investment account and a second investment account with a Canadian-based advisor who was not cross-border licensed, and thus could not help with the retirement accounts.

Once engaged by Bob and Joanne, we took control of their US retirement accounts, which included rolling their 401K into a rollover IRA. We then moved their taxable accounts onto our Canadian platform in US funds.

Now Bob and Joanne have all of their wealth – even though it is on both sides of the border – in a fully-integrated wealth management plan, managed by one team who can see the entire picture. Think of it this way: you wouldn’t have two family doctors, would you?

And, because Bob and Joanne have all of their assets in one place, they enjoy better pricing.

And now a word of caution: it may seem appealing to maintain the appearance of living in the United States, by using the address of a friend or relative. We have clients for whom this has led to serious consequences from US regulators and the IRS.

Want to learn more? We would be very pleased to discuss your case on a completely confidential, no-obligation basis.

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