RetireJapan

Non-resident Americans are going to have trouble opening a new account at many US brokers, unless they are willing to lie about their situation (commit fraud). Yes, this seems to be the crux. I can't open a Vanguard account but IB fees (which are 20 bucks/month, not 10) are a pretty substantial &qu...

Ah okay. I get paid by a Japanese organization, so there's no way I would be able to pass the initial screening for sign up then. You should be fine, though since you already have an account. I have read that employer information is only useful to them to make sure you're not working somewhere with...

Especially as a US citizen you have access to other US offers such as Vanguard, which the lot of us don't. Non-resident Americans are going to have trouble opening a new account at many US brokers, unless they are willing to lie about their situation (commit fraud). Yes, this seems to be the crux. ...

I certainly did not have 100 trades when I opened my IB account. They will ask you a lot of questions when opening the account, but this is more to tailor the site to your experience level. Although IB is designed for frequent traders, you can also use it as a buy-once-a-year-and-hold account. That...

I think you may be overly fixating on Vanguard, which is just another broker (albeit one that is owned by the investors of the funds). Other brokers have similar products, both in the US and abroad. For sure, I buy that. This thread has been really helpful for me to recognize that. But as a US citi...

SPY is a US-domiciled ETFs that trades on the Tokyo Stock Exchange as Japan Depositary Receipts (JDRs): These JDRs may be attractive for US taxpayers, because they are not PFICs -- they are US-domiciled ETFs. If a US-based investor has a W-9 on file with their brokerage, then no US withholding taxe...

Wait sorry, isn't SPY a JP index, even if it's indexing US funds? Therefore doesn't that make it a PFIC, which I need to avoid? Maybe a broader question is, for 1.) US Citizens in Japan that 2.) are investing small amounts, is the usual route to somehow finagle a Vanguard account (which I have yet t...

OK yep, seems like I need to open an account with Nomura, SMBC Nikko, or Daiwa >>> Nomura, SMBC Nikko and Daiwa allow US persons to open accounts, and also to trade in US-based ETFs. and see if they're still trading SPY >>> UPDATE: As of January 22, 2018, the only US-domiciled ETF still trading on ...

OK yep, seems like I need to open an account with Nomura, SMBC Nikko, or Daiwa >>> Nomura, SMBC Nikko and Daiwa allow US persons to open accounts, and also to trade in US-based ETFs. and see if they're still trading SPY >>> UPDATE: As of January 22, 2018, the only US-domiciled ETF still trading on t...

Hi hi I had an Interactive Brokers account for a hot second, but balked at the fees: >>New and casual investors should be aware of the miscellaneous fees and minimums charged by Interactive Brokers. Put simply, maintain a $100,000 >>balance or spend at least $30 in commissions each month, and you wi...