Moving to US, best solution for bank account and moving money?

dekvitaly wrote: ↑1. Where in California?
2. RBC sucks.
3. Review stuff in my signature.
4. PM for some details.

arkane wrote: ↑ (full disclosure: I moved the US after finishing my MSc, so I had a lot less stuff to worry about)

As you mentioned, cash out the TFSA and shut it down for good unless you want to deal with reporting foreign trusts to the IRS. Tbh I wouldn't even bother with cross-border banking unless you need to transfer large sums of money between US/CAN frequently for whatever reason. Two things to keep in mind that might help you decide whether to leave money in Canada or move it all to the US:

1. You have FBAR reporting requirements if at any point during the year (even for just one day), you have more than $10K USD combined in your foreign bank and financial accounts. Additionally, if you have assets (this includes non-liquid assets such as real estate) that value over $50K USD, you additionally have FATCA reporting requirements with the IRS
2. Any interest you earn in your HISA is subject to the higher of your US or Canadian tax rate (US interest income gets taxed at your highest marginal tax bracket; not sure about Canada)

Depending on how much total assets you have and the exact details of your financial situation, your tax situation may be such that you'd need the help of an accountant anyway to do your taxes each year. Especially so if you still want to maintain your residency status in Canada and don't/can't file an exit return with CRA. Since I was a broke grad student with next to 0 assets, and because I didn't want to deal with the headaches of cross-border tax and paying $500+ for an accountant to do my taxes each year, I just completely shuttered everything when I left Canada, and started over again in the US.

If you have an Amex, doing Global Transfer is the easiest way to get a head start with credit cards in the US. You can also try your luck at Bank of America and see if they'd be willing to use your Canadian history. Otherwise if you have any Canadian CCs that don't charge FX fees, you can use those in the mean time to tide you over.

1. BMO Harris grants no fee US based checking accounts to Canadians. You can set it up from Canada. TD Cash is by far the best US issued VISA you can get as a cross-border applicant from Canada. It's available to US residents of the east coast, plus we Canadians who send a PDF form. It's a really good product that many Americans choose to have if they can
2. RBC Bank has hefty min balances to waive banking fees. Most Canadians who start with them later cancel RBC since it's not too competitive. The only perk is that you can get it all setup in branch at RBC in Canada, and no need for a US address. But, the products themselves are nothing great, especially for long term use. Only welcome bonus is fee waiver for up to a year on daily banking when they roll out that promo, still nothing special

gel wrote: ↑ @starrysim Hi! I am in a similar situation, looking to move to California (SF) from Toronto. Which bank did you end up going with? Also what did you do with your Sunlife DCPP? My DCPP is with Manulife, and I am looking for options to convert. Any tips would be much appreciated!

starrysim wrote: ↑ I'm moving to California soon, and I'm trying to figure out the best way to handle my banking. Right now I bank with Simplii, and I have TFSA with Tangerine and additional savings and RRSP with Wealthsimple. I know I should cash out the TFSA, so I'll probably move it all to my Simplii account at first, because I will probably need the money for relocation and buying a car and just to have cash in the US until I can build up savings from my US income. I'm trying to figure out the best way to move my money from Simplii to a US bank.

I'm considering opening a US RBC account. According to their website, it appears that I can open the account from Canada so it's ready when I get there, and transfers between the Can & US RBC accounts are free. However, I can't seem to be able to open an account online because I need to have a Canadian RBC account first. My question is, is this the best way to go, to open new Canadian and US accounts at RBC, and pay the monthly fees on the Canadian account (the US acct would be free for a year I think)? I'm not used to paying monthly fees for banking, so I'm not too happy about this option, but I suppose it can work short term if there is no better option. I'm just thinking this may be easier/cheaper for moving money around quickly compared to transferring from my Simplii acct to a random US bank. Also I can open a US credit card with RBC with my Canadian credit history, so I wouldn't have to worry about starting with a secured card in the US.

What about services like XE Money Transfer or OFX (the latter was recommended by my relocation advisor). Would it be better to use this service to transfer directly from Simplii to any random US bank? Which is the best option for the best exchange rate and lowest overall cost? I would be moving around $50-70K CAD.

Any recommendations for how much of my money to move over, vs. leave in Canada, considering tax or any other implications? Obviously I'm leaving my RRSP, but what about other savings? Right now my non-TFSA, non-RRSP savings are just in a high-interest savings account at Wealthsimple, and my TFSA will be cashed out anyway.

Any other tips?