> Usually, it is best for United States citizens to not hold TFSAs since the costs of tax reporting and compliance usually exceed any benefits.
There is no US equivalent for TFSA.
[1] https://www.taxesforexpats.com/articles/retirement/simple-us...
Where does someone begin this process? A few starting points would be appreciated.
But based on FATCA, only the other countries have a responsibility of reporting wealth information about US citizens, while if you are a Russian or a Brit or whatever you can safely stash all your wealth in the US if the tax regime is more lenient than your own country.
However, you could rollover funds from a Roth 401(k) to a Roth IRA, just be aware of the clock for the 5-year rule.
If doing any of this stuff please for the love of binary get proper financial advice!
For example the Roth IRA, will in most cases due to reciprocal tax treaties, allow for a tax free pension even when your tax residency is in another county.
On top of the trust structures I've alluded to, there are few reciprocal data sharing arrangements with countries forced to comply with FATCA. In other words, the data sharing usually only goes one way.
Yes, this is a remarkable pain to learn and administer, but it's all possible to do without paying thousands in ongoing accountant and lawyer fees.
This means that it's possible to shelter your assets in a remarkably secretive way the US. So in one sense, you could consider US taxes as insurance against spurious lawsuits in say the EU, or bad faith spouses wherever you get married.