UK to USA finances

cromercrab

Hi MSE,
I have inherited monies from my late Brothers estate in the UK, around 130k.

I live in the USA now and wondered how best to move it across the pond.

Thanks in anticipation of help.

Best.

eskbanker

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/banking/foreign-currency-exchange/

Daliah

I would look for a multi-currency account that you can open as a US resident. Here's a selection from Google:

bostonerimus

I was in the same situation a couple of years ago. I just had the solicitor wire the money directly to my US bank account. You might get a better deal now by using something like "Wise", but it won't save you enormous amounts.

There's no tax to pay, but you will have to declare you inheritance to the IRS on Form 3520

eskbanker

bostonerimus said:

You might get a better deal now by using something like "Wise", but it won't save you enormous amounts.

In the spirit of MSE, it doesn't take much of a variance to make a decent-sized difference on £130K!

Daliah

eskbanker said:

bostonerimus said:

You might get a better deal now by using something like "Wise", but it won't save you enormous amounts.

In the spirit of MSE, it doesn't take much of a variance to make a decent-sized difference on £130K!

Quite agree. 

I don't do GBP to USD, but I do a lot of GBP to EUR and EUR to GBP, and there are substantial differences. Interestingly, Wise now always comes bottom (though I only compare Starling, Wise, Fineco and Atlantic), even though they are a much better deal than the likes of HSBC or other High Street banks. On a recent transfer of €130,000, the difference between Wise and Fineco was £438, so I used Fineco. I would not be surprised if similar were true for GBP to USD - in fact, I would expect it would be. Although the players might be different, as the OP would ideally need a multi-currency account they can open as a US resident. This would exclude e.g. Fineco.

MX5huggy

The way it’s going at the moment doing it today is more important than messing about opening accounts to get the best rate next week. 

Daliah

MX5huggy said:

The way it’s going at the moment doing it today is more important than messing about opening accounts to get the best rate next week. 

Not sure anyone suggested any delay. You'd still want to do it with the best provider this week rather than panicking into doing it with any old bank because the good guys are around this week, too. 

cromercrab

Thanks for your information, appreciated 

Millyonare

Currencies Direct.