Retirement schemes (401k?) for international teacher?

[c7e]

Hi there,
I've been working abroad some years, and don't plan on going back to the US (my home) basically ever. I'm wondering if anyone can help me with any advice, websites, names, companies, whatever, basically looking to create a retirement scheme for myself, as I don't think it's likely that the countries I've worked in will pay me anything for my retirement. And I'm completely ignorant about investing. Can anyone point me in the right direction to begin to plan/learn more for my retirement? Much obliged!

[eion_padraig]

A of what you can do will depend on where you plan to live when/if you retire.

You may want to check out Andrew Hallam's book poor Teacher if you haven't already. He's an (former?) international teacher. I'm planning on looking more into his website and book myself.

I met with some US based accountants out of Columbia, South Carolina this past semester about tax issues. Their name was mentioned before on the forum. I don't remember the name off the top of my head. They had some good tax suggestions about moving traditional IRAs into Roth IRAs over time so they become tax free upon withdraw. I also gathered there is a way to legally invest in Hong Kong as an American where I think the Capital Gains tax are 0%. I need to look into this further.

Also Vanguard gets mentioned a lot by people as having low fees on their mutual funds. None of these have the tax benefits of IRAs, so you end up paying capital gains from what I understand.

[Helen Back]

Sorry, links don't cut and paste;

http://internationalschoolsreview.com/v ... rew+hallam

Andrew Hallam has another book coming out in November focused on expat investment for Canadians, Americans, Brits and Australians.

[newboygirl]

I agree wholeheartedly with Helen Black's post. Whatever you do NEVER invest with Friends Provident or Zurich International or the International Teachers pension scheme. All fo these have extremely high fees. There are feeder companies like SCI that sponsor Search job fairs and all they are looking to do is make their cut from your initial investment and they will tell you anything to get you to invest so they can make their fee.

Vanguard index funds are hte way to go as an American citizen. VERY low fees wonderful service adn you will see your money grow even if you pay capital gains it really is not much. YOu can get automatic deductions from your home bank account to go into a diversified portfolio of indexed funds. Then just do the annual check up with Vanguard and rest easy. I have been investing in Vanguard index funds for years and have a nice little next egg building up slowly but surely for early retirement. I was told about Vanguard in my late teens and never looked back.

It is an unfortunate thing that there are many scams out there from FPI and ZUrich and all of these kinds of companies that prey on unsuspecting international teachers. I think it is sick. I am glad you asked your question and I hope everyone reads this and the suggestion of Andrew Hallam because I do not want any more international teachers being scammed by these companies, schools and Search associates.

Good luck!

[c7e]

wow, thanks for the good advice everyone! Although I only understood about 20% of those terms (I really am ignorant about the world of finance) it provides me with a good starting point.

Two more possible considerations, I live in France, and have a bank account here, but not in the USA. Would this change or modify any suggestions? Also, I'm pushing 40, and while I have a decent amount of cash, nothing is invested, and well, I'm not getting younger :) should I be considering a different type of investment strategy than the one mentioned in the book? Thanks in advance.

[matt]

Make life easier on yourself and get a stateside bank account, especially if you are going to open up a Vanguard account. When you open up an account with Vanguard, don't tell them you are a full-time overseas resident. Give them an address of a relative so they don't give you a hassle about not residing in the US of A.

Great advive from Helen Back. Also, admitting that you are "completely ignorant about investing" in front of an investment professional is a sure way to get taken advantage of. Unfortunately, I speak from experience. Just a little bit of education can go a long way. Watch this Frontline episode called "The Retirement Gamble". http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline ... nt-gamble/

BTW . . . if you're pushing 40, now is a good time to start investing. Just be happy you aren't 55 and thinking about this. Good luck!

[Rob]

I spent 40+ years overseas, and only recently retired in the States. I have never had the time, interest nor aptitude to know how to invest my money, so I decided to be very conservative and relative risk free in my investments. Back in 1972 I started investing with TIAA-CREF, the largest private teacher retirement plan in the States. University professors, private school teachers, and people involved in scientific research contribute to it. I figure if Albert Einstein and Ben Bernanke had/have their retirement plans through it, that's good enough for me.

I contributed most of my money into an annuity. The rest is in real estate investments, stocks and government bonds, all through TIAA-CREF. My annuity retirement income is plenty, and it is continual. Annuities may not be for everyone, but there is never any anxiety should the stock market crash, or the economy sinks. However, to have alternatives beyond annuities, is always wise, if only as a supplement to the annuity income.

My two cents.

Rob