Moving abroad won’t cost you your retirement savings — but it might cost you your broker
Update your mailing address to a new country, and somewhere between the moving boxes and the new SIM card, a letter can show up from Vanguard or Fidelity. It isn’t asking for more paperwork. It’s telling you your account is being restricted, or closed outright.
That letter has nothing to do with your balance, how long you’ve held the account, or anything you did wrong. Since 2024, several of the biggest US brokerages have been quietly showing American expats the door, and most people don’t see it coming until it’s already sitting in their inbox.
It’s not your money that’s the problem
Once a brokerage account is tied to a mailing address outside the US, the firm suddenly answers to two sets of rules instead of one — the SEC’s, plus whatever the client’s new country requires for marketing to, communicating with, and servicing an investor. Vanguard, Fidelity, Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch, Edward Jones, and several other major firms have all restricted or closed expat accounts since 2024 for versions of that same math.
FATCA reporting has made the compliance burden heavier for years, and stricter anti-money-laundering reviews that regulators finalized in late 2024 gave several firms a fresh reason to reassess who’s worth keeping. Which is almost funny when you think about it: the money didn’t move. You did.
What actually flags a review
A changed mailing address is the obvious trigger, but it’s rarely the only one. Compliance teams also watch for accounts that log in consistently from foreign IP addresses, or that call customer service from a number with a foreign country code.
None of that means you did anything wrong — you’re just behaving exactly like someone who moved. The system isn’t built to tell “relocated” apart from “risk,” so for a while, it doesn’t try. Reassuring? Not particularly.
The big three don’t treat you the same
Vanguard has built a reputation as the strictest of the major firms. Expats report being told they can no longer add to, or even hold, certain US-domiciled mutual funds once their address changes, with some pushed to liquidate and transfer out entirely.
Fidelity tends to land in the middle — existing positions usually stay put, but new mutual fund purchases can get blocked once a foreign address is on file. Schwab has gone the other way, building an actual “Schwab One International” account designed specifically for non-US residents, which is why advisors who work with expats often point clients there first.
Psst — thinking about actually doing this? I put everything I know about leaving the U.S. for good into one no-fluff guide: visas, jobs, country picks, the works — grab it here.
The accounts built to not care
Interactive Brokers comes up constantly in expat finance circles, and for good reason: it accepts clients from more than 200 countries with no minimum balance, built for an international client base from day one instead of retrofitted for it. Schwab International runs a close second for the same reason.
None of this is about finding a workaround for something shady. It’s choosing a firm that already decided, on purpose, to serve people who live outside the US, instead of one still deciding whether you’re worth the paperwork.
Don’t wait for the letter
The biggest mistake is treating this as a problem to solve after it happens. If a move is already on the calendar, call your brokerage and ask exactly what changes once your address updates — most firms won’t volunteer the answer, but they’ll give it up if you ask directly.
It’s the same paperwork problem every long-term traveler runs into eventually: your bank, your broker, and the IRS all want one clean answer for where you actually live. “Technically nowhere” doesn’t satisfy any of them.
Already gotten the letter, or bracing for one? Checking your brokerage’s foreign-address policy takes about ten minutes — a lot less time than untangling a forced account closure from another continent.
