Blog

By Peggy Creveling, CFA, and Chad Creveling, CFA

Consumer financial fraud has hit all-time highs around the world, and much of it occurs online. Stories about scams abound, including identify theft, phishing and push-payment scams, unauthorized credit card purchases, hacked financial-institution websites, and ATM fraud.

By Chad Creveling, CFA, and Peggy Creveling, CFA

If you're lucky―and we certainly hope that you are―nothing will ever go seriously wrong for you and your family while you’re living overseas. But unfortunately, the reality for most of us is that at some point, something adverse will happen. Your spouse may lose their job, or your family business may fail. Someone could fall seriously ill, become disabled, or even die. While none of us wants or expects anything bad to happen, it's important that we nevertheless plan for the possibility.

By Peggy Creveling, CFA, and Chad Creveling, CFA

Once you've gotten your financial affairs in order after moving overseas—by limiting your number of financial accounts, getting a local credit card and opening an online brokerage account, among others—it's a good idea to set up ways to keep track of your finances online. They'll save you time and simplify the management of your finances, giving you more time to enjoy life as an expat. Here are six we recommend:

By Chad Creveling, CFA​, and Peggy Creveling, CFA

While Americans are taxed on worldwide income and assets and are actively discouraged from holding investments outside the United States, non-U.S. expats can often realize substantial tax benefits from investing in offshore markets.

By Peggy Creveling, CFA, and Chad Creveling, CFA

This article is for general informational purposes only and is not intended as specific legal or tax advice. Please consult your legal or tax advisor for advice relevant to your situation.

At this time of year, many Americans living overseas are collecting the various documents needed to file their 2018 U.S. taxes. This year, in addition to the sometimes obscure U.S. tax forms that U.S. citizens living overseas are required to file, expats need to be aware of a number of changes from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) enacted at the end of 2017.

By Peggy Creveling, CFA, and Chad Creveling, CFA

This article is for general informational purposes only and is not intended as specific legal or tax advice. Please consult your legal or tax advisor for advice relevant to your situation.

If you or someone you know has had a loved one pass away without a valid basic estate planning document such as a properly executed will, beyond the heartache of losing a loved one, you also know how difficult it was to put their affairs in order. Yet if you were to ask a group of expats, you'd likely find that a majority either have not drawn up or executed valid wills, or have not updated them to address their situation as an expat.

By Chad Creveling, CFA​, and Peggy Creveling, CFA

As the new year begins, many expats have a renewed desire to evaluate their financial positions and to make positive changes. Improving our financial circumstances largely requires instilling good habits, being consistent, getting started early, and possessing a basic understanding of finance and investing concepts. To help you enjoy a more prosperous 2019, here are some financial resolutions to consider as you start the year. If you start at the beginning and aim to knock off at least one each month, by the end of the year you should be on much firmer financial footing.

By Peggy Creveling, CFA, and Chad Creveling, CFA​

As you look for a holiday gift for your favorite expat or perhaps just for some interesting reading over the holidays, have a look through our annual list of highly rated books from the past year, especially selected with the expat reader in mind. All can be easily purchased on the internet, and while some are more serious, others are just for fun. For those expats who may live far away, all of these titles have a digital version available, which makes getting them to your friend or loved one that much easier.
 

By Peggy Creveling, CFA, and Chad Creveling, CFA​

U.S. tech stocks are up one day and down sharply the next. European stocks fall on reduced profit expectations. Global stock markets warm to a thaw in the trade war. China’s muted stimulus lowers hopes of a new stock market rescue. Bond funds are hit by the biggest withdrawals in several years. Talking heads on cable financial networks argue about asset price bubbles and the likelihood of a market correction.

By Chad Creveling, CFA, and Peggy Creveling, CFA

This article is for general information purposes only and is not intended as specific tax advice. Please consult your tax advisor for advice relevant to your situation.

For an expatriate, buying a home overseas can be much more than strictly a financial decision. Often, those of us living away from our country of origin are looking to recapture a sense of stability and permanence or to forge a connection with the community. Sometimes, we're also hoping to participate in what appears to be a rapidly appreciating property market.