SimpleFinancesThe short answer
Bank accounts: usually yes. Most major US banks let existing customers keep checking and savings accounts after moving abroad. The catch is that almost no big bank publishes a clear, official expat policy — the rules live in account agreements and branch discretion — so "usually" is doing real work in that sentence. Call yours before you fly, update your address honestly, and get their answer in writing if you can. Smaller banks and credit unions are the most likely to simply close accounts that acquire a foreign address.
Brokerage accounts: it's complicated, and this is where people get burned. US brokerages are constrained by securities rules in your new country, and each has chosen a different posture — covered in the next section, because the differences are big enough to decide where your money should live before the move.
One rule above all: don't solve this by lying about where you live. Using a relative's address as your residence can violate your account agreement — brokerage terms in particular key off actual residency, and a discovered mismatch can freeze the account at the worst possible moment. A mailing address for correspondence is fine where your institution allows it; a fake residence is not a plan.
What Fidelity, Vanguard, and Schwab actually do with expats
The three big US brokerages have three genuinely different policies, verified against their own pages and standard expat guidance:
| Brokerage | If you already have an account | As a new expat customer |
|---|---|---|
| Fidelity | Account can usually stay open for stock and ETF trades, but mutual fund purchases have been blocked for customers residing abroad since 2014 | Does not open new accounts for non-US residents |
| Vanguard | Requires a US mailing address for retail accounts; restricts non-resident customers | Not available to non-US residents |
| Charles Schwab | Explicitly supports US expats | Opens accounts for Americans abroad via Schwab International, including a dedicated UK offering |
The practical consequence: many Americans consolidate their taxable brokerage (and sometimes IRAs) at Schwab before the move, while every institution still sees a US resident and transfers are routine. Doing the same shuffle from abroad, as a non-resident the receiving institution didn't choose to serve, ranges from awkward to impossible.
And a warning for the other direction: before you invest in your new country, know the US tax treatment. For US citizens, foreign funds are PFICs (a punitive US tax category), which is why the UK's Stocks & Shares ISA is a famous trap for Americans — more in the full UK money guide.
Why you should keep one US account and one US card
Even committed leavers should keep a minimal US footprint. Four reasons, in order of how much they cost you if ignored:
- Your US credit history dies quietly without it. US credit files only stay alive while something reports to them, and your score doesn't transfer abroad — but it's waiting for you if you return. One no-annual-fee credit card with a small recurring charge and autopay keeps a decade of history breathing for free.
- Dollar bills keep arriving. US subscriptions, US taxes (you still file — see the FBAR note below), the occasional flight home: all cheapest to pay from a US checking account rather than through card networks' currency conversion.
- US institutions pay into US accounts. IRS refunds, old employer checks, class-action crumbs, eventually Social Security — everything is simpler with a US account to receive it.
- Moving back from zero is expensive. If you return, restarting American financial life without accounts or active credit is far harder than maintaining one checking account and one card ever was.
The pre-departure setup that makes it work
- Solve 2FA before you lose your US number. Banks love texting US numbers. Port yours to a VoIP service before your last US phone bill, or every login from abroad becomes a hostage negotiation.
- Go paperless everywhere and confirm online access to every account while you can still walk into a branch to fix it.
- Put a small recurring charge + autopay on the card you're keeping, so it stays active without thought.
- Tell your bank the truth about the move and ask specifically: can this account keep a foreign residential address? What happens to linked products if not?
The reporting rule your new foreign accounts trigger
This guide is about keeping US accounts, but the accounts you open abroad come with a US obligation worth knowing on day one: once your non-US accounts total more than $10,000 combined at any point in the calendar year, you must file an FBAR (FinCEN Form 114). A month's rent plus a tenancy deposit in a UK account can cross that line in week one. It's an informational filing, not a tax — but the penalties for not filing are genuinely severe, and "I didn't know" is the most common expat tax-horror story. (FATCA's Form 8938 kicks in at much higher thresholds for Americans abroad: $200,000 single / $400,000 joint in foreign assets at year-end, per the IRS.)
Two countries, one picture of your money
Connect your US accounts and see every balance, recurring charge, and dollar leak in one view — before, during, and after the move. Start with a one-time $49.99 Full Financial Review, no subscription required.
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