Americans Relocating to Canada

The Value of a Collaborative Approach

Pacifica Partners, a Fiduciary, has specialized in cross-border investment management for US expatriates since 2008.  Our expertise is in providing collaborative management for expats with US and Canadian portfolios.

We currently service US expatriates from Victoria to Charlottetown and in nearly every Province in Canada.

American citizens who have moved to Canada must continue to file US returns, have special reporting requirements and constraints for the management of their investment portfolio.

We can open, transfer-in and manage many types of US investment accounts that include:

• IRAs (Individual Retirement Account) that include Traditional, Rollover, SEP, Roth IRAs, Inherited or Beneficiary IRAs
• Individual 401ks
• Living Trusts & Trust accounts
• US mutual fund and brokerage accounts

We pay attention to the nuances of currency cycles, interest rate trends as well as the relative performance of US, Canadian and Global stock and bond markets.  We pay attention to the fundamentals of security valuation when managing portfolios for clients that include US and Canadian accounts.  

Learn more about our investment philosophy and process here.

Key aspects to consider for a move, where Pacifica can help.

• Financial and tax implications.  In addition to our many years of experience, we use US and Canadian based planning software which can model and analyze your after-tax retirement income in one US state versus another, or in comparison to a Canadian Province. 

• We are not accountants.  We can connect you with experienced, independent, cross-border tax (or legal) professionals and work with them on your behalf.  We could have a team of accountants working in-house; however, this could pose a potential conflict of interest.

• Investment planning can start years prior to moving.   You may be moving to a higher tax jurisdiction and strategies for realizing gains or (for example) Roth conversions may be considered. US Living (Grantor) Trusts may not be treated the same in Canada as in the USA.

• Establishing an investment strategy.  How should your accounts and assets be structured to strike a balance between tax efficiency and meeting your return objectives?  

• Looking ahead. What Canadian accounts are best to open and how to invest in them with the IRS in mind?

Getting You Organized

We have expertise in getting clients financially organized with a crossborder investment plan, how best to get started with Canadian retirement and investment accounts, and how these should all fit together.

Further, we can help clients figure out how best to take their income in retirement.

• Which accounts to draw from first, and when to take pensions.
• Targeting a certain tax bracket or income level, or otherwise collaborating with your tax accountant’s recommendations.
• Pension planning for employer pensions along with Social Security, Canada Pension Plan (CPP) and Old Age Security (OAS).
• Incorporating estate planning objectives into long-term planning
• Running sophisticated retirement income projections and incorporating different scenarios and strategies.

Read our article on Social Security, CPP, OAS and the impact of the Windfall Elimination Provision here.

Our Commitment to Transparency

We provide an online platform where clients can view all their US and Canadian account holdings and balances on one screen, so that you can see your total portfolio in CAD or USD.

You can also generate a variety of reports to review and measure the following:

• Your rates of return in USD or CAD.
• Gain-Loss and Income reports.
• Account statements.
• Activities such as buys, sells, deposits, withdrawals, billing, and more.

Our clients are provided with a personal secure online document vault where we organize helpful communications, reports, invoices, statements, and key documents by tax year for easy reference and reporting.

Tax Reporting Help

We work closely with our client’s accountants as well as their tax or estate lawyers to ensure that cross-border reporting requirements are met. This can include:

• Translating Canadian investment gain-loss reports to an IRS reporting format.
• Translating US investment gain-loss reports to a CRA reporting format.
• Providing FBAR and reports at no extra cost.
• Providing T1135 foreign property reports at no extra cost.
• Detailed invoicing
• Keeping all your statements and reports organized by tax year.
• Taking feedback from your accountant to ensure your tax reports are aligned with their expectations, to minimize the cost of filing.

Estate & Long-term Planning

Throughout our decades of leadership within cross-border investment community, we have addressed a wide range of crossborder estate planning concerns.  

We have forged connections with capable, independent estate planning, trustee services which complement our own and can provide the following:

• Helping you put together an estate plan by connecting you with experienced independent crossborder tax and estate planning professionals and working with them to ensure yours and your family’s long-term investment objectives are carried out.
• Connecting clients with independent Trustee services, Professional Executors, Power of Attorney and other appropriate legal and agency services.

Please feel free to contact our team to schedule a conversation.