Guides
Guides for Americans abroad
The questions Americans overseas actually type into a search box about their US accounts — answered in plain English by a securities attorney who has spent twenty-five years in FINRA arbitration. Each one is specific, hedged where the facts vary, and written to be read on a phone.
Account closures
7 min read
My US Brokerage Is Closing My Account Because I Live Abroad
Got the closure letter? What the deadline means, how to stop a forced sale, how to transfer in kind, and when the closure becomes a claim.
Retirement accounts
7 min read
Can I Keep My IRA or 401(k) If I Move Abroad? Yes — Mostly
You can generally keep an IRA or 401(k) after moving abroad. What changes is who will hold it — and what brokers get wrong about rollovers and cashing out.
Accounts abroad
7 min read
How to Keep a US Brokerage Account While Living Overseas
Address, residency, the “we no longer serve your country” letter, and how to move an account without a forced sale — for Americans abroad.
The process
8 min read
FINRA Arbitration From Overseas: Start to Award
The whole FINRA arbitration process for an investor abroad — filing, the answer, arbitrators, discovery, mediation, the hearing, and getting paid.
The hearing
7 min read
Video Hearings in FINRA Arbitration: What Actually Happens
How a FINRA arbitration hearing works over video for an investor abroad: who is on screen, testimony and exhibits, time zones, and preparing your room.
Deadlines
6 min read
The FINRA Six-Year Eligibility Rule, Explained for Expats
FINRA Rule 12206 bars claims six years after the event. What counts as the event, why state limitations periods may be shorter, and why waiting hurts.
Smaller claims
6 min read
FINRA Simplified Arbitration for Claims of $50,000 or Less
How FINRA Rule 12800 works: one arbitrator, a decision on the papers unless you ask for a hearing, lower fees, a shorter timeline — and why to file.
Your statements
8 min read
How to Read Your Brokerage Statements for Churning
Turnover ratio, cost-to-equity, and confirmations you never approved: a plain guide to finding unauthorized trading and churning in your statements.
Products
7 min read
Variable Annuities Sold to Retirees Abroad: What to Know
Surrender charges, layered fees, oversold riders, and annuities inside IRAs: how variable annuity claims work for American retirees abroad.
Products
7 min read
Non-Traded REITs: Why You Cannot Sell Them
Why a non-traded REIT cannot be sold, where the distributions really came from, and when the recommendation — not the market — was the problem.
Advisors abroad
7 min read
Offshore and Expat Specialist Advisors: Who Regulates Them
How to check whether an “expat specialist” advisor is registered — BrokerCheck, the SEC’s IAPD, host-country regulators — and what unregistered means.
Getting started
6 min read
What to Send a Securities Lawyer: A Document Checklist
The documents a securities lawyer needs for a free case review — statements, confirmations, the account application, the firm’s letters — from abroad.
Retirement accounts
7 min read
The Retirement Rollover Checklist Before You Move Abroad
Before you roll a 401(k), TSP, or pension into an IRA and leave the country: what Regulation Best Interest requires, and the questions to ask in writing.
Selling away
7 min read
Selling Away: When a Side Deal Is the Firm’s Problem
Your broker sold you something that never appeared on a statement. FINRA Rules 3280 and 3110 explain when the brokerage firm is responsible anyway.
Free case review
Read the guide, then send the statements. The review is free.
Free and confidential review by Richard Frankowski. Calls scheduled in your time zone, never ours.