Financial Advisor needed for US expat

[HankNeva]

Hi...I have tried to arrange fee based financial planning advice in the US, but being a Japan resident means they can't work with me. I've done preliminary 30 minute talks via Zoom with 3 CFPs - Cetified Financial Planners and they all say it's against the rules to advise if I'm not a resident of the US.

Background - I'm about to enter retirement and have my investments with Fidelity using a family member's address in California. I have used the newretirment.com calculator and found it useful. I'm hoping to do a two hour session with an advisor, just to check if my plan going forward for taking distributions makes sense. This could become an ongoing relationship. I am not looking for someone to manage my investments, just to check my thinking and give me advice. One advisor suggested laddering in a couple of annunities to suplement the small pension. I'm considering that. On this site I found a fellow talking about a rising "glide path" approach as an alternative to annunities - pretty interesting.

I would prefer to work with a US advisor. Does anyone have any suggestions for me?
If it is impossible to get good financial planning advice due to my residence here, I would be open to talking with an advisor based here.

Thanks!

[mighty58]

Nothing to add, but thanks for letting us know that they are saying they can't work with you. That's interesting, as we've had some posters on this forum who have said/implied that they are actually working with US-based advisors, so I wonder what the actual rules are around this.

[TJKansai]

I heard this from Vanguard as well. They said I should "call them when I moved back to the States".

I suppose one could "move," get some advice, then decide to move back. I doubt they have rules as to how long you have to be in-country to qualify as a resident.

The real issue is you probably need advice that fits a Japan retirement/pension/tax/inheritance scenario that fits with American laws too. I haven't found anyone who can give advice on everything. Seems it is either Japan or USA, but never one person who can do both.

[EmaxisSlim Cultist]

I have American colleagues who actually block off vacation time when they fly back home to deal with these things. They will usually allow you to Zoom chat/call if you are indeed stateside (and already have an account/relationship).

I think a VPN and a greenscreen might do the trick though!

[captainspoke]

...
The real issue is you probably need advice that fits a Japan retirement/pension/tax/inheritance scenario that fits with American laws too. I haven't found anyone who can give advice on everything. Seems it is either Japan or USA, but never one person who can do both.

This.

US advisors will not know how taxes here work--the possible effects here of your investing/withdrawal choices there (e.g., IRA distributions). Or how your holdings there could be properly integrated with your pension and healthcare here.

You could ask/explain further here, or maybe anonymize yourself/username, and search and talk some on reddit?

https://www.reddit.com/r/JapanFinance/

https://www.reddit.com/r/ExpatFinance/c ... l_advisor/

[Ax6isB]

My experience is the same in that US based advisors won’t talk to me once they know where I’m living. What about reaching out to Fidelity Japan? Totally different company from the US branch but perhaps they’d help since you are a US customer?

This community might be one of your better options though so fire away with the questions! No fees involved too