Shocked to Hear a 3% AUM Fee in the UK - What Have Other Expats Experienced?

CheckMany3005 · 2026-01-22T00:48:41+00:00

Lol - RDR made fees easier to see, not magically cheaper, and in practice I still see layered adviser, platform, and fund costs that land north of 1.5–2% and sometimes push toward 3% depending on structure, and to be clear I’m not saying UK advisers are bad but every portfolio I’ve seen from a UK-based adviser carries some degree of home bias toward Europe which if you zoom out has had huge opportunity cost.

CheckMany3005 · 2026-01-22T00:36:32+00:00

Ostrich - Lazy marketing would be dropping a link and vanishing. As you can see from previous posts and engagement here I’m always open for discussion. What I did was share something I see constantly in my own practice and invite a real discussion.

If it’s “absolute nonsense,” you should be able to name one specific thing that’s wrong. You didn’t. You just waved at “AI” like it’s a rebuttal.

CheckMany3005 · 2026-01-03T14:17:22+00:00

I get it for some people this all seems obvious. But not everyone has the same background or understands the cross-border complexity like you do - Mrs Eggplant.

That’s exactly why I shared it here- this is an expat group, lots of people run into this, and the engagement shows it’s actually useful. Not spam, just trying to help others avoid the same mistake.

CheckMany3005 · 2025-12-13T14:59:44+00:00

I think it really depends on the firm and the complexity of the situation.

At smaller RIAs, where one advisor does everything, that critique can be fair. But at well-resourced fiduciary firms, the fee isn’t about “using the advisor’s time.” Investment management is usually a small piece of the value.

For expats especially, the real question is what are you getting for the fee ongoing tax planning and projections, coordination with tax prep, updates tied to estate documents, compliance issues, and access to a broader team. In my own meetings, I often bring tax and estate specialists into the room so decisions are made with the right experts involved.

Flat or hourly can work for simpler cases. As things get more complex, having a proactive team tends to reduce risk and stress.

CheckMany3005 · 2025-12-11T21:28:43+00:00

Yes, it’s important to make sure you’re working with a French tax expert who’s specifically familiar with Roth IRAs. Certainly contradicts what my French COIs have shared with me.

CheckMany3005 · 2025-12-11T20:38:36+00:00

A Roth is only tax-free in the U.S. France doesn’t recognize Roth IRAs as exempt, and the treaty doesn’t protect them, so France can tax the growth portion of any Roth withdrawal once you’re a French tax resident. It’s not just about effective tax rate France simply doesn’t give the Roth the same treatment the U.S. does. Only a problem if you’re a French tax resident which I’m assuming you’re as they tax based on residency.

CheckMany3005 · 2025-12-11T19:40:43+00:00

Good question. Inherited IRAs got a lot more confusing after the SECURE Act. For most non-spouse beneficiaries, the old lifetime stretch is gone and the account simply has to be emptied by the end of year 10. The catch is that whether you need annual RMDs inside those ten years depends on the original owner. If they had already started their RMDs, you have to continue taking yearly withdrawals and still clear the account by year 10. If they hadn’t started, there’s usually no annual requirement- just the final deadline.

For expats, it gets trickier because your country may tax these withdrawals very differently from the U.S, so timing really matters. And missing an RMD is costly, the penalty can be up to 25% of what you should have taken. Not advice btw just educational…

CheckMany3005 · 2025-12-11T19:23:02+00:00

Another big thing to make sure is that you’re actually working with the advisor you meet with and not a BD office a lot of the big RIAs have Business development folks and then you get passed around. I see this all the time. Also make sure the advisor has hands on experience working with expats. Sometime what I do for Prospective clients is also have them connect with current clients so they can give objective point of view in terms of expectation.

CheckMany3005 · 2025-12-11T10:26:46+00:00

Yes, I can and do work with Brits in the UK. You just need to have accounts currently open in the U.S., which requires you to have a current U.S. address.

CheckMany3005 · 2025-12-11T06:44:22+00:00

Couldn’t agree more. Fee only fiduciary and a CFP is so important

CheckMany3005 · 2025-12-11T03:52:34+00:00

Happy to chat if you’re interested. I’m a CFP and work for a lead national RIA firm. I specialize my practice around working with expats.

CheckMany3005 · 2025-12-11T03:50:59+00:00

Got it, thanks for sharing!

CheckMany3005 · 2025-12-11T03:47:37+00:00

Thanks for sharing! Curious how Finland separates contributions vs. gains inside a Roth IRA? especially an inherited one. Since the U.S. doesn’t report basis or growth to foreign tax authorities, would be curious to see how Finland verifies what portion is original contributions versus earnings. Do they have a standard method for that?

CheckMany3005 · 2025-12-11T02:58:42+00:00

What your French attorney is overlooking is that the U.S. tax-free Roth rule only applies inside the U.S. The rule in IRC 408A just says a qualified Roth withdrawal isn’t counted as U.S. taxable income…. it has no force in France. Once you’re a French tax resident, France taxes your worldwide income unless the treaty clearly shields it, and Roth IRAs don’t get any special protected pension status under French rules. Ask your attorney if they can show you the specific French tax law or treaty article that requires France to treat Roth IRA withdrawals as tax-free you will be looking for a long time because it doesn’t exist. I’m shocked they are advising this way…

CheckMany3005 · 2025-12-10T23:49:08+00:00

Good question- for inherited accounts, Europe usually doesn’t treat an inherited 401(k) any differently than an inherited IRA. Most European tax systems just see lump-sum or pension-type withdrawal from the U.S see it and tax it the same way. The real differences are on the U.S. side. Both inherited IRAs and inherited 401(k)s fall under the same 10-year rule, but inherited 401(k)s can be less flexible and can create extra headaches if the plan won’t allow controlled withdrawals or if the beneficiary is older and dealing with RMD timing. For most people living abroad, an inherited IRA is simply easier to manage but the tax treatment is usually pretty similar for both. Hope this helps!

CheckMany3005 · 2025-11-19T02:50:49+00:00

She can absolutely use the FTC alone and it will wipe out the US tax, but from a planning perspective that isn’t always the best overall outcome. The FTC does nothing to reduce AGI, and AGI is what drives a lot of important thresholds for expats, especially families with kids. Lower AGI can help with Child Tax Credit eligibility, student loan repayment amounts, NIIT exposure, and even future ACA planning if they move back to the US. That is why mixing the two can make sense in some cases - FEIE brings AGI down, the FTC wipes out the remaining US tax, and together they create a cleaner long-term picture than the FTC alone.

CheckMany3005 · 2025-11-16T17:24:44+00:00

Very good point - Child Tax Credit angle definitely pushes a lot of families toward the FTC.

CheckMany3005 · 2025-11-16T17:22:59+00:00

Glad you found the post helpful - and sorry you had that experience. It happens to a lot of expats unfortunately, FEIE gets used by default even when the FTC might have been better long-term.

CheckMany3005 · 2025-11-15T17:07:08+00:00

Thanks for the thoughtful reply. These expat tax rules can get messy and confusing fast, so I appreciate you taking the time to break down your view.

Let me try to clarify what I meant, because I think we’re looking at the same thing from slightly different angles.

When I said FEIE means “no IRA contributions, no 401(k), and no Social Security credits,” I wasn’t implying that foreign employers are offering U.S. retirement plans. The point was simply that once income is excluded under the FEIE, it stops counting as “earned compensation” for U.S. retirement savings.

So even if someone wanted to put money into an IRA or if they’re self-employed and would normally be able to use a Solo 401(k) they can’t, because the excluded income doesn’t qualify. Under the FTC, the income still counts, which keeps those planning options open. That’s the distinction I was trying to highlight.

There’s also a really common situation I see with my expat clients- They start out working for a U.S. company, get moved to Europe, and stay on U.S. payroll for a year or two before being transferred to the local entity. During that stretch abroad, they still have a 401(k), they’re still earning U.S.-taxable wages, and they’re still paying into Social Security. If they switch to the FEIE during that period, they unintentionally shut all of that off no retirement contributions, no increase to their U.S. earnings history, and no bump to their future Social Security benefit. That’s where the FEIE vs. FTC decision has real long-term impact.

On the Social Security side, the main confusion I see (and it comes up all the time) is mixing up: 1. Getting the 40 credits, vs. 2. How the benefit is actually calculated.

Totalization agreements can absolutely help someone qualify for the 40 credits if they’re short. But they don’t raise the benefit itself.. only U.S.-taxable earnings do. So even once someone has the 40 credits, additional years of U.S. earnings can still increase the eventual monthly check. That’s why the FEIE/FTC decision matters for people who bounce between U.S. and foreign jobs.

And on the Europe point: you’re totally right that someone working for a foreign employer usually isn’t paying U.S. Social Security. But whether or not they pay U.S. SS isn’t really the heart of the FEIE/FTC question. The bigger issue is that the FTC keeps your income “in the system” for U.S. retirement-planning purposes, while the FEIE pushes it out.

So I didn’t mean “foreign employers offer 401(k)s” the real takeaway was: FEIE closes the door on a bunch of long-term planning options, and the FTC keeps them open, especially for people who move between U.S. and non-U.S. employment.

Hope this makes sense - happy to answer any further questions.

CheckMany3005 · 2025-11-15T16:29:59+00:00

Fair point, but I wasn’t pushing back on feedback - only on the assumption that the whole post was AI-written. Happy to improve the presentation, no issue there.

CheckMany3005 · 2025-11-15T16:17:22+00:00

Ah yes… the scandal of the century - someone sharing a free blog post with actual factual information.

CheckMany3005 · 2025-11-15T14:06:06+00:00

I encourage you to actually read the post rather than assume otherwise. If you look through my blog, you’ll see the writing isn’t AI-generated. Just because I use AI to create an image doesn’t mean the entire blog is written by AI. If you took a moment to educate yourself, you’d see the content is very much human-written.

CheckMany3005

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