How I Got My Financial Life in Order after Moving Back to the UK from the US

Moving to a different country is a complex, multi-step operation. Squaring away your finances is just one in a lengthy list of administrative tasks that need to be completed. In this blog post, I will share some of my family’s actionable items that could help you identify items for your own financial To Do list, if you are in a similar situation.

My husband (American) and I (British citizen, and US green card holder) recently moved back to the UK after almost twenty years in the States. Here are the things I did to get our financial house in order on returning home:

1.    Filed our 2024 Federal and State Tax Returns

The USA is in a minority of nations that operate a citizenship-based system of taxation whereby its citizens (and green card holders) must file taxes on global income regardless of where they live.

2.    Opened a Wise account

We each opened a Wise account so that we can easily transfer money between our US and UK accounts while saving on fees.

3.    Updated the address on our joint UK bank account

We had previously lived in the UK and held a joint account. We had kept this account active throughout our time in the States, so the first order of business once we moved out of temporary, holiday accommodation into our rental home was making sure the correspondence address was now our residential address in the UK.

4.    Updated my address on the electoral register

If you have the right to vote in the UK, make sure you register with your local electoral registration office. If you’re already a registered voter, make sure your registration is tied to the address of the constituency where you now live.

Checking the electoral register is one way creditors can verify your identity and confirm you live where you say you do.

5.    Applied for a credit card with our bank in the UK

After the best part of two decades in the US, the realisation that our available credit (and therefore buying power) in the UK was a fraction of what we had in the States was quite sobering! I applied for a credit card with the same bank who holds our main account and used an online tool to check whether I was likely to be accepted before actually applying.

Due to the visa process, my husband arrived in the UK after me. Once he arrived, I immediately added him as an authorized user on the card.

We use this card for any online purchases (to get the credit card protections) and pay it off in full each month. Doing this in combination with keeping the balance at less than 30% of the available credit will, over time, help to build our credit score in the UK.

For more information about building your credit score in the UK, view our recent blog post here.

6.    Made sure our insurance is still valid

Some policies have clauses that specify restrictions on residence, so be sure to look into this and don’t assume that any existing policies will remain valid.

We contacted the providers of our term life insurance policies to confirm that our coverage will remain in place despite our transnational move.

7.    Reworked our spending priorities in our household’s preferred online budget software

Our household budget, or spending plan as I prefer to think of it, needed to be updated to accommodate our new life (it isn’t only the location that changes!)

We have been longtime users of YNAB (Fyvie has no affiliation) and were pleased to learn it could be linked to our British bank account, so we created a new “British Budget” in our account and started from scratch.  

New spending categories that  didn’t apply to our old, Oklahoma life include: dental care (no more dental insurance), public transport (no more cars - hurray), and TV Licence.

8.    Contacted Charles Schwab International to discuss moving US retirement accounts to UK compliant vehicles

Many US custodians do not allow you to live overseas and maintain open accounts on their US platforms, due to the complexity of rules and compliance issues. Therefore, we will likely move our accounts to Schwab International. Interactive Brokers is another good option.

9.    Maintain our US bank accounts

The future is unknown, and we will forever have links to both countries. We are leaving our bank accounts open with our regional bank in the US, making sure that they have a valid US address on file where correspondence can be sent.

Our next steps…

Buying a home: we are working with an independent mortgage broker who has experience helping expats and transplants secure home financing.

Reviewing our estate plan: estate docs should be updated after each and every relocation (even if it’s just across State lines) and/or significant life event.