Spring Budget 2023

I’ll defer to others for a summary of the overall budget that Jeremy Hunt announced today (e.g. MoneySavingExpert or the Guardian), but a few bullet points relevant to investing for Americans in the UK: I had hoped for some mention of the reforms to the KID/KIID requirements that prevent UK residents from buying US ETFs,

FYI: 2022 FBAR Exchange Rates are Out

https://fiscaldata.treasury.gov/datasets/treasury-reporting-rates-exchange/treasury-reporting-rates-of-exchange Just a quick PSA, for those of us who were “eagerly” awaiting them so we can wrap up that particular bit of annual US silliness. First time I’ll have to do FBARs for the kids, will write something up if that turns out to be any more challenging than mine (hoping not, it’s only

Wise Stocks & Interest Assets – Beware of PFICs!

Many Americans in the UK use Wise (formerly known as TransferWise) to transfer money between GBP and USD and take advantage of their “Borderless” accounts to facilitate a multi-currency lifestyle. I used Wise myself when I first moved to the UK, and generally think it’s a great product – it was a vital lifeline for

News Alert: Chancellor to allow UK residents to purchase US ETFs!

For those UK residents who haven’t seen the news today, the Chancellor has announced a package of reforms. Reading into them, one is of particular interest to many UK Bogleheads (especially US citizens in the UK) – an intention to repeal the requirements for a KID/KIID, and quite explicitly to enable access to US ETFs.

The Autumn Statement & Americans in the UK

I never even had a chance to write about the Truss/Kwarteng mini-budget, it was gone so fast! (and honestly, didn’t have much in the way of any special impact on Americans in the UK, beyond what everybody else would experience). The Sunak/Hunt Autumn Statement has some more intriguing effects, though, particularly on the “is an

Life Changes & Winding Down the ISA Experiment

Sometimes plans change, especially when we aren’t expecting it! Over the past few months, a few things have come together to cause us to make a decision to move next year. In short, we’ve always wanted to live further west (within England), further away from London. We only moved to our current area because I

S&S ISA Experiment – Mid-2022 Update

OK, a bit later that mid year, sorry! Let’s start with some pictures: Really, the explanation for my underperformance hasn’t changed from my January deep dive – my wife’s ISA, in smaller UK companies, has significantly underperformed the FTSE 100. Mine, in bigger companies more representative of the index, has actually slightly outperformed, but combined,

Quick Reviews – TurboTax, TaxAct, & OLT

I had intended to do a more comprehensive review of these three options, but as I tried to use them, I realized the choice, at least for this year and for me, was pretty clear. OLT Honestly, I just couldn’t get past the interface. Yes, lots of people recommend OLT. Huge advantage is that Federal

Nearing the bottom? Or just getting started?

Work has been crazy the past few months (seeing people in person again has it’s pros and cons!), which has limited my writing, but also the attention I pay to the markets. That’s typically a good thing anyway – hence Bogle’s timeless advice to “don’t just do something, stand there!” Just been doing my monthly

March Update – Lots going on, but not much to say

It’s been almost two months since I last posted, so rather than leave it any longer, I wanted to say something. But I’ll keep it quick – my attention has been focused elsewhere, although I hope that to change again in the coming months. First off, work has been busy. 80% in a good way,