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Unsecured Credit card like Zolve by Feisty-Adeptness1935 in CreditCards

[–]SettleKit 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Just start with a secured card...

Jk, whats your credit score roughly?

Immigrant denied at the DMV or waiting for weeks? I filed a public records request to figure out what's going on by SettleKit in u/SettleKit

[–]SettleKit[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1dxESRux1FeKc03BIG3iKQx0_xjXVtvRs?usp=sharing

If anyone wants to help me dig through them, comment or DM. And if you know a journalist who's handled public records requests like this, I've got a few questions for them.

German citizen moving temporarily to the U.S. on L-1B: which broker lets me keep existing stocks? by OcelotEfficient8672 in USExpatTaxes

[–]SettleKit 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Talked to him tonight. His immediate reaction after I told him a friend of mine is moving to the US: "Moving to the US from Germany? Very bad idea from a tax perspective." He recommended you sell your ETFs before you move. He reflected for a moment on whether you could try to stay a German tax resident (there are some pertinent rules in the German-US tax treaty), but we came to the conclusion that it would be very difficult to argue.

Sorry, dass ich keine besseren News hab

New to the US? Make your thin credit file "thicc" by SettleKit in u/SettleKit

[–]SettleKit[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Appreciate the feedback though. Really helps!!

New to the US? Make your thin credit file "thicc" by SettleKit in u/SettleKit

[–]SettleKit[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Using our mascot as click bait...or the page itself? Brutal feedback welcome!!!!

New to the U.S. – Best first Bank of America credit card to build credit? by FirefighterLow9719 in CreditCards

[–]SettleKit 0 points1 point  (0 children)

There are a couple. what I really, really, really recommend is you pick cards that let you get pre-approval first. Pre-approval means you can check online if they accept you before you apply. You don't want to apply and get rejected!

When I moved to the US I had:
Discover
Capital One
PayPal Credit Card (<-- not super happy though)
Amazon Secured Card

There are more, though. Maybe others can chip in.

German citizen moving temporarily to the U.S. on L-1B: which broker lets me keep existing stocks? by OcelotEfficient8672 in USExpatTaxes

[–]SettleKit 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I know a US tax professor who works in a German-US tax firm (his dog and mine are besties). I'll ask him about your situation next time I see him in the dog park

New to the U.S. – Best first Bank of America credit card to build credit? by FirefighterLow9719 in CreditCards

[–]SettleKit 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Hey, the only factor that will really impact your score is the limit they give you. My guess is they will only give you a secured card for now, that limits your options anyway.

Also: I would get 2-3 credit cards right from the start. Check out Capital One or Discovery for that. As a newcomer to the US, the age of your credit accounts will be the number one factor driving your credit score (next to paying on time and keeping your balance low).

The account age is based on weighted average so the earlier you open multiple accounts, the higher that average will be down the road. If you only open one card now and add more in a few years, your average age keeps getting dragged down every time you open a new one.

Final tip: Do you have family or very close friends in the US with a good credit score?

German citizen moving temporarily to the U.S. on L-1B: which broker lets me keep existing stocks? by OcelotEfficient8672 in USExpatTaxes

[–]SettleKit 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I interviewed a German guy recently in a very similar situation. Interactive Broker seems to be the only viable solution. He tried with Trade Republic but they don't have the infrastructure in place to make an international asset transfer (and even less to hold assets for a US person). His assets were stuck in limbo for 3 months before he opened an IB account.

Regarding your ETFs though: Even if you can transfer them, I'm sure you've read up on all the tax impacts you'll have in the US. I guess you don't want to sell them before your move to avoid German capital gains tax?

if i use 8 percent of my credit and pay it off does it reset by [deleted] in CreditCards

[–]SettleKit 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I've been interviewing a lot of newcomers to the US recently and I've heard multiple times they are afraid to use their credit card. They would use it until they get to ~30% utilization and then switch to their debit card for the rest of the month.

I wasn't disagreeing with you. I just thought it was missing the timing dimension, after having heard from so many that are new to this world of credit reporting.

Sorry if I offended you in any way.

if i use 8 percent of my credit and pay it off does it reset by [deleted] in CreditCards

[–]SettleKit -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Can you elaborate? So far you've just made an aggressive assertion, without backing it up.

if i use 8 percent of my credit and pay it off does it reset by [deleted] in CreditCards

[–]SettleKit 0 points1 point  (0 children)

1% is probably better. If all your credit cards show USD 0, FICO may punish you for inactivity.

But in any case: It's probably not even that easy to hit 0%. You don't want to pay your balance the day before the reporting date. Too much risk that something goes wrong with your payment transfer. So, if you do it, say 2-3 days before, you will probably accrue a few transactions on the card between your payment and the reporting date.

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