Welcome to ExpatTrades

You moved abroad. Congratulations. Your investing life just got 10x more complicated.

Suddenly you’re juggling: a brokerage that may or may not still serve you (Vanguard, Fidelity, Schwab — most boot non-US residents). A tax residency that may now be in two countries. Currency exposure across USD, EUR, your home currency, your new currency. A pension or 401k stuck in the old country. PFIC rules if you’re American. CRS reporting everywhere else.

ExpatTrades is built for this mess. We’re the brokerage and investing guide for the people the financial industry isn’t built for.

What we cover

Brokerage reviews for expats. Interactive Brokers is the obvious default, but it’s not always the right one — and IBKR’s interface scares half the people who try it. We compare IBKR Pro vs. IBKR Lite vs. Saxo vs. Swissquote vs. DEGIRO vs. Schwab International vs. Charles Schwab UK vs. Lightyear. By passport, by residency, by what you want to trade.

Tax-residency strategy. Not tax advice — but plain-English explainers on PFIC traps for US citizens abroad, foreign account reporting (FBAR, FATCA, CRS), totalization agreements, capital-gains rules across the EU, and the dreaded “exit tax” if you move back.

Currency and FX. Wise vs. Revolut vs. multi-currency broker accounts vs. spot FX. When it’s worth the spread, when it’s not, when to just leave the cash and let your broker auto-convert.

Cross-border portfolio basics. UCITS ETFs for non-US residents who can no longer buy SPY. Treasury ladders for USD-earning expats. Property income from your old country. ISA/SIPP wind-down strategies.

Cross-Border Investor — the newsletter

Every two weeks we publish a deep-dive on one expat investing topic. The newsletter — Cross-Border Investor — bundles it with that fortnight’s news: new broker entries to the EU/UK/APAC markets, tax law changes that affect non-residents, FX movements that matter.

Disclosure

We use affiliate links for some brokerages and FX services. We don’t recommend products based on commission, and we’ll always tell you which review contains affiliate links at the top. None of this is tax advice — please get a real cross-border accountant.

Welcome to the club nobody warned you about.