4-minute Money Ideas

How Non-Americans Can Benefit from American Brokerage Accounts By Douglas Goldstein, CFP®, helping people in Israel with their U.S. IRA and investment accounts This past week, my office phone rang several times with non-Americans inquiring about opening American brokerage accounts. Given the hassles of dealing in some of the more popular offshore jurisdictions, and given the many benefits of keeping investments in the United States, these people were happy to see how they could easily invest through a U.S. brokerage firm. Why non-Americans have American investment accounts There are two parts to having a brokerage account: the specific investments and the “custodian” of the funds.  The specific investments include what stocks and shares you own, or which mutual funds or bank deposits you choose. The “custodian” of the assets is normally a major bank or brokerage firm that is responsible for safeguarding the securities, executing the trades, printing the statements, arranging for checkbooks and credit/debit