Liam Fraboulet: U.S. Expat Wealth Management

08/09/2026

🌍🇺🇸 What I've Learned From Working With Americans Across Europe

One thing has become increasingly clear to me from speaking with Americans living across Europe:
Moving abroad doesn't make your U.S. financial life disappear.

It usually just adds another layer to it.

I've spoken with Americans living in Switzerland, France, Germany and elsewhere across Europe.
Different careers.
Different reasons for moving.
Different financial situations.
But many of the same questions keep coming up.

➡️ “What should I do with the 401(k) I left in the U.S.?”
➡️ “Can I still invest through my U.S. accounts?”
➡️ “How do my European pension and U.S. retirement accounts work together?”
➡️ “Are the investments available where I live appropriate for an American?”
➡️ “Where should I actually be building my retirement savings?”

What I've found interesting is that these questions rarely exist in isolation.

Someone might initially reach out because of an old 401(k).

But behind that 401(k) might be:
🇺🇸 An IRA in the United States
🇨🇭 A Swiss pension
💶 Savings accumulating in Europe
💵 Investments denominated in dollars
🏡 A potential home purchase
🌍 And uncertainty about which country they'll eventually retire in.

That's when the conversation becomes much bigger than:
“What should I do with this account?”

It becomes:
“How do I make all of this work together?”

And I think that's one of the biggest challenges of building wealth internationally.

Most financial systems are designed around the assumption that your life happens in one country.

Increasingly, people's lives don't.

You might study in one country.
Build your career in another.
Accumulate retirement assets in a third.
And eventually retire somewhere completely different.

I can relate to that personally.

After spending nearly a decade living and working in the United States before moving back to Europe, I've experienced how quickly a financial life can become international.

And it's one of the reasons I've become so interested in this area of financial planning.

🌍 Your financial plan shouldn't stop at a border simply because your life crossed one.

The more internationally mobile our careers become, the more important it is to look at the whole picture.

💬 For those who have lived or worked in multiple countries: what's been the hardest part of keeping your financial life organized across borders?

04/09/2026

🌍 Issue #1 landed better than I expected. Thank you to everyone who read it, replied, or made an introduction, that's exactly what this newsletter is for.

📌 Cross-Border Connections is a monthly briefing for professionals who serve Americans living abroad, immigration attorneys, tax advisers, estate planners, relocation consultants, mortgage brokers, real estate specialists, and financial advisers like me.

Since Issue #1, two questions kept coming up in almost every client conversation I had, regardless of which country we were talking about:

🔑 What actually happens to a Roth IRA once someone moves abroad?
"Grows tax-free" only tells half the story once you leave the U.S.

🔑 What changes financially when one spouse in a marriage isn't a U.S. citizen?
A gap most couples never think to check until it's too late to fix it.

💬 Both sound like edge cases. In this network, they're closer to the norm.

Issue #2 of Cross-Border Connections is out now:
✅ Roth IRAs after moving abroad: what actually still works, and what doesn't
✅ The estate planning gap most mixed-nationality couples don't know exists
🤝 Partner Spotlight: Johann Trenkler, an independent real estate advisor helping Americans navigate Switzerland's Lex Koller rules
📈 Where private wealth is actually moving in 2026: Switzerland vs. France

If you work with U.S. expats or U.S.-connected clients, or know someone who does, I'd love for you to take a look.

📩 Read Issue #2 and subscribe here: https://liams-newsletter-84d58a.beehiiv.com/p/cross-border-connections-issue-2-roth-iras-abroad-cross-border-estates-and-swiss-property

🤝 If we're not connected yet, I'd be happy to connect.

Welcome back to Cross-Border Connections. Issue #1 landed better than I expected. Thank you to everyone who replied, and especially to those who made an introduction off the back of it. That's exactly what this is for.

03/09/2026

🌍🇺🇸 Can You Contribute to an IRA While Living Abroad?

It's a question many Americans ask after moving overseas:

“Can I still contribute to my IRA if I don't live in the United States?”

The answer isn't simply determined by where you live.

➡️ Living abroad, by itself, doesn't automatically prevent you from contributing to an IRA.

But whether you can contribute, and how much, depends on your individual circumstances.

Here are a few things worth understanding:

1️⃣ IRA contributions are tied to eligible compensation.
Simply having an IRA isn't enough.
Your ability to contribute generally depends on having qualifying compensation and meeting the applicable IRA rules.
That's why two Americans living in the same country can potentially have very different answers to this question.

2️⃣ Your U.S. tax situation matters.
Americans living abroad may use provisions such as the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion or Foreign Tax Credit when filing their U.S. taxes.
How your income is treated for U.S. tax purposes can become relevant when determining your IRA contribution eligibility.
This is an area where it's worth checking your individual circumstances rather than assuming the answer.

3️⃣ Traditional and Roth IRAs have different considerations.
Even if you're eligible to make an IRA contribution, that doesn't automatically answer:
➡️ Whether you can deduct a Traditional IRA contribution
➡️ Whether your income allows a direct Roth IRA contribution
➡️ Which option makes the most sense for your overall retirement strategy

4️⃣ Don't forget the retirement assets you're building overseas.
Your IRA is only one piece of the puzzle.

You may also be accumulating:
🇨🇭 Swiss pension benefits
🇩🇪 German retirement benefits
🇫🇷 French retirement benefits
🇪🇸 Spanish retirement benefits
🇳🇱 Dutch retirement benefits..while still holding a 401(k), IRA or other assets in the United States.

The bigger question becomes:
🎯 “Where should I be building my retirement savings?”

Not simply:
“Can I put money into my IRA?”

Living overseas doesn't mean you stop planning for retirement.

It means your retirement planning may now involve multiple countries, currencies and financial systems.

And that's why something as seemingly simple as making an IRA contribution can deserve a little more thought when you live abroad.

💬 If you're an American living overseas, did you continue contributing to your U.S. retirement accounts after you moved?

01/09/2026

🇩🇪🇺🇸 Americans in Germany: 5 Financial Questions Worth Asking

Moving to Germany can change a lot about your financial life.
You may start earning in euros.
You may participate in the German pension system.
You may open German bank accounts and begin building assets locally.
But if you're an American, your financial life in the United States doesn't simply disappear.

You may now have assets, retirement benefits, tax obligations and future goals spanning two countries.

Here are 5 questions worth asking:

1️⃣ What should I do with the U.S. retirement accounts I left behind?
If you previously worked in the United States, you may still have:
🇺🇸 A 401(k)
🇺🇸 A Traditional IRA
🇺🇸 A Roth IRA
Moving to Germany doesn't make these accounts irrelevant.

It's worth understanding what you own, how they're invested, what you're paying, and how they fit into your overall retirement strategy.

2️⃣ Are the investments I'm considering in Germany appropriate for a U.S. taxpayer?
This is an important one.
An investment can be completely normal for a German investor and still create additional tax or reporting considerations for an American.
Rules surrounding Passive Foreign Investment Companies (PFICs) are one example.
Before investing locally, it's worth asking:

➡️ “How will both Germany AND the United States treat this investment?”

3️⃣ How do my German and U.S. retirement benefits fit together?
If you're building pension benefits in Germany while also holding retirement assets in the United States, you don't really have two separate retirement plans.
You have one retirement funded from multiple countries.

🎯 The important question is how all of those pieces work together toward your long-term goals.

4️⃣ Am I thinking about currency?
You might:
💶 Earn and spend in euros
💵 Hold investments and retirement accounts in dollars
🌍 Eventually retire in Germany, the U.S., or somewhere else entirely

Currency can therefore become part of your financial life even if you aren't actively thinking about it.

5️⃣ Where do I ultimately want to retire?
Germany?
The United States?
Somewhere else in Europe?

Your answer may change over time, but where you ultimately plan to live can influence decisions you're making today.

🌍 Cross-border financial planning isn't about treating your German and American financial lives separately.

It's about understanding how they interact and building one strategy around both.

💬 If you're an American living in Germany, what's been the most confusing part of managing finances across both countries?

27/08/2026

🇺🇸🌍 Why So Many Americans Abroad Leave Their 401(k)s Forgotten

You leave your job in the United States.

You move overseas.

And your 401(k)?

It stays exactly where it was.

At first, that probably doesn't seem like a problem.

You're busy with a new country, a new job, housing, visas, banking, taxes and everything else that comes with an international move.

So the 401(k) gets pushed down the list.
Then one year becomes five.
Five becomes ten.

And an account that may represent a significant portion of your retirement savings has barely been looked at.

I come across this situation regularly with internationally mobile professionals.
The account isn't necessarily “lost.”

It's simply been forgotten.

And a lot can change during those years.
📈 Your investment objectives may have changed.
💰 You may not know what you're paying in fees.
🎯 Your retirement timeline may be different.
👨‍👩‍👧 Your beneficiaries may need updating.
🌍 You may now be building retirement assets in another country.

And sometimes, the 401(k) is still invested based on decisions made when you were at a completely different stage of your life.

That's why an old 401(k) deserves more than:
“I'll deal with it eventually.”

A few questions worth asking:
➡️ What do I actually own inside the account?
➡️ Is the investment strategy still appropriate for me?
➡️ What am I paying?
➡️ Can I properly manage it while living overseas?
➡️ How does it fit alongside the retirement assets I'm building where I live now?
➡️ What are my options for the account going forward?

This isn't only an issue for American expats either.

I also meet Europeans who worked in the United States for years, accumulated a 401(k), and then returned to Europe.
Their U.S. career ended.
Their U.S. retirement assets didn't.

🌍 When your career spans multiple countries, your retirement planning probably needs to as well.

💬 If you moved away from the U.S., when was the last time you actually reviewed the 401(k) you left behind?

25/08/2026

🌍🇺🇸 The PFIC Problem Isn't Just a France Problem

If you're an American living in Europe, there's one four-letter acronym worth knowing before investing locally:

PFIC.

Passive Foreign Investment Company.

I've talked about PFICs in the context of France before, but this is an important point:
➡️ PFIC considerations don't stop at the French border.

An American living in Germany, Switzerland, Spain, the Netherlands, or elsewhere overseas, can potentially encounter the same issue.

Why?

Because many investment funds that are completely normal for local investors may be treated very differently under U.S. tax rules.

🇩🇪 A German investment fund
🇨🇭 A Swiss investment fund
🇫🇷 A French investment fund
🇪🇸 A Spanish investment fund
🇳🇱 A Dutch investment fund

Depending on how they're structured, certain non-U.S. investments may fall under the U.S. PFIC rules.

And that's where things can become complicated.

PFIC ownership can potentially involve:
📄 Additional U.S. tax reporting
🧮 More complicated tax preparation
💰 Potentially unfavorable U.S. tax treatment

The frustrating part?

Someone can make what appears to be a perfectly sensible investment decision in their country of residence without realizing they've created an issue on the U.S. side.

That's why one question I think Americans abroad should ask before purchasing an investment is:

➡️ “How will the United States treat this?”
Not:
“Is this a good German investment?”
Or:
“Is this tax-efficient in Switzerland?”
But:
“Does this make sense when BOTH sides of my financial life are considered?”

That's one of the fundamental differences between traditional financial planning and cross-border financial planning.

🌍 Living abroad doesn't mean you shouldn't invest locally.

But being a U.S. taxpayer means it's worth understanding the cross-border consequences before making the investment rather than discovering them afterward.

💬 For Americans living abroad: had you ever heard the term “PFIC” before moving overseas?

21/08/2026

🌍🇺🇸 What Happens to Your IRA When You Move Abroad?

It's a question I hear regularly from Americans preparing for, or already living, overseas:
“What happens to my IRA now that I don't live in the United States?”

The first thing to understand is:
➡️ Moving abroad does not, by itself, make your IRA disappear.
Your Traditional IRA or Roth IRA remains a U.S. retirement account.
But living overseas can introduce some new questions.

1️⃣ Can I still manage my IRA from overseas?

This can depend on the financial institution holding the account.
Some U.S. custodians place restrictions on clients with foreign addresses, which can affect the investments or services available to them.
That's why it's worth understanding your custodian's policies rather than assuming everything will continue exactly as it did when you lived in the U.S.

2️⃣ Can I still contribute to my IRA?

Potentially, but this is where things become more technical.
IRA contribution eligibility depends on factors including your compensation and income.
Americans abroad may also be using provisions such as the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion, so it's worth checking your individual eligibility before making a contribution.

3️⃣ How does my IRA fit with the retirement assets I'm building overseas?

After several years abroad, your retirement picture might include:
🇺🇸 An IRA
🇺🇸 An old 401(k)
🇨🇭 A Swiss pension
🇩🇪 German retirement benefits
🇫🇷 French retirement benefits
🇪🇸 Or retirement assets somewhere else entirely

The question eventually becomes bigger than:
“What should I do with my IRA?”
It's:
🎯 “How do all of my retirement assets work together toward the life I want?”

4️⃣ Where will I eventually retire?
If you're 45 and living in Europe today, you might retire:
🇺🇸 Back in the United States
🇪🇺 Somewhere in Europe
🌍 Or in another country altogether.

That future destination can become an important part of long-term planning.

Your IRA doesn't stop being important when you move abroad.

If anything, having financial assets spread across multiple countries makes understanding the bigger picture even more important.

💬 If you're an American abroad, is your IRA still with the same institution you used before leaving the U.S.?

18/08/2026

🇩🇪🇺🇸 Americans in Germany: Why Investing Can Become More Complicated Than Expected

You move to Germany.

You open a German bank account, start earning in euros, and eventually decide it's time to invest locally.

Seems straightforward, right?

For an American, not necessarily.

One of the challenges of being a U.S. citizen abroad is that your investment decisions may need to work within two financial and tax systems at the same time.

Here are a few things Americans living in Germany should think about:
1️⃣ A normal German investment may not be simple from a U.S. perspective.

Many investment funds available outside the United States can create additional U.S. tax and reporting considerations for American taxpayers.
This is where rules surrounding Passive Foreign Investment Companies (PFICs) can become particularly important.

An investment can be perfectly normal in Germany while creating a very different result on your U.S. tax return.

2️⃣ Your U.S. investment accounts may become harder to manage.

Some U.S. financial institutions restrict the services or investments they offer to clients once they live overseas.

That can leave Americans wondering:
➡️ Can I keep my brokerage account?
➡️ Can I continue investing?
➡️ What happens to my IRA or 401(k)?
➡️ Who can actually advise me now that I live in Germany?

3️⃣ You're still connected to the U.S. tax system.

Living in Germany doesn't automatically end your U.S. filing obligations.
For many Americans abroad, investment planning therefore needs to consider both German and U.S. rules.

4️⃣ Your retirement assets may now be spread across two countries.

You might have:
🇺🇸 A 401(k) or IRA in the United States
🇩🇪 Pension and retirement benefits accumulating in Germany
💶 Savings and investments denominated in euros
💵 Existing U.S. assets denominated in dollars

Looking at each piece individually only tells part of the story.

🌍 The goal is to understand how everything fits together.

Moving to Germany shouldn't mean putting investing or retirement planning on hold.

But it does mean that decisions that seem simple locally may deserve a second look when you're a U.S. citizen.

💬 If you're an American living in Germany, what has surprised you most about managing your finances since moving?

14/08/2026

🇺🇸➡️🇪🇺 You Worked in the U.S. and Moved Back to Europe. What Happens to Your 401(k)?

You don't have to be an American expat to have a cross-border financial problem.

I regularly come across European professionals who spent part of their careers working in the United States before eventually returning home.

Maybe you worked in:
🇺🇸 New York
🇺🇸 California
🇺🇸 Texas
🇺🇸 Boston..and during those years, you accumulated money in a 401(k).

Then your career brought you back to Switzerland, Germany, France, Spain, the Netherlands, or somewhere else in Europe.

And the 401(k)?

➡️ It stayed behind.

For many people, years go by without giving it much thought.

But that raises some important questions:
➡️ Is the account still invested appropriately?
➡️ What fees am I paying?
➡️ Can I still manage the account now that I live overseas?
➡️ Are my beneficiaries up to date?
➡️ How should this U.S. retirement account fit alongside the pension and retirement assets I'm now building in Europe?

And perhaps most importantly:
What am I eventually going to do with it?

Your career may have crossed borders.

Your retirement plan probably has too.

🌍 The goal shouldn't be to look at your U.S. and European retirement assets separately. It should be to understand how all of the pieces fit together.

This is an issue that doesn't just affect Americans abroad.

It also affects the thousands of Europeans who spent meaningful parts of their careers in the United States and came home with U.S. financial assets.

💬 If you previously worked in the U.S. and now live in Europe, do you still have a 401(k) or other retirement account there?

12/08/2026

🇨🇭 Americans Working in Switzerland: 5 Financial Questions You Should Be Asking 🇨🇭

Switzerland can be an incredible place to build a career.

But for Americans working here, earning a Swiss salary and participating in the Swiss financial system doesn't mean your U.S. financial life disappears.

In fact, it can make planning even more important.

Here are 5 questions worth asking:

1️⃣ How does my Swiss pension fit with my U.S. retirement accounts?
You may be building benefits through the Swiss pension system while still holding a 401(k), IRA, or other retirement assets in the United States.
The important question isn't just what each account is worth individually.

➡️ How do they all work together toward your retirement?

2️⃣ Are my investments appropriate for a U.S. citizen?
An investment that's perfectly normal for a Swiss resident may create very different considerations for an American taxpayer.
Before investing locally, it's important to understand how an investment may be treated on the U.S. side as well.

3️⃣ What should I do with the 401(k) or IRA I left in the U.S.?
Moving to Switzerland doesn't mean those accounts should be forgotten.
It may be worth reviewing your:
📈 Investments
💰 Fees
👨‍👩‍👧 Beneficiaries
🎯 Overall retirement strategy

4️⃣ How much currency risk am I actually taking?
You may:
🇨🇭 Earn in Swiss francs
🇺🇸 Hold retirement assets in dollars
🇪🇺 Have future expenses in euros

That makes currency part of your financial plan, whether you actively think about it or not.

5️⃣ Where do I actually plan to retire?
Switzerland?
Back to the United States?
Somewhere else entirely?

🌍 Where you ultimately plan to live can influence decisions you're making decades before retirement.

For Americans in Switzerland, financial planning isn't simply U.S. planning + Swiss planning.

It's understanding how the two systems interact—and building one strategy around your life.

💬 If you're an American living in Switzerland, what's been the most confusing part of managing your finances across both countries?