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US vs Canadian retirement (lemmy.world)

submitted 10 months ago by root@lemmy.world to c/personalfinancecanada@lemmy.ca

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Hey all,

I've been lurking this sub for a bit, and came across your flow chart (which is very similar to the American one, minus the HSA for health care).

Aside from some naming differences, the goals are more or less in alignment. Save 15% of pre tax income for retirement, emergency fund, pay off debts, etc.

Having followed this for some time now, and considering moving to Canada in the future, how screwed would I be in terms of the work I've put into my savings for retirement? Most of it is post tax (Roth), so it might not be as bad as I'm imagining.

In that situation I've heard people leave their accounts as is in the states to let them compound, as you cannot contribute to them with money earned outside of the US.

Does anyone have any insights?

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[–] AspieEgg@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 points 10 months ago (2 children)

This is going to be very dubious advice, as I’m just some American living in Canada who has kind of looked into this myself. I honestly don’t really know what I’m talking about but here’s how I understand it.

First, you can just leave your retirement accounts in the US. Start a new retirement account when you get to Canada. Then just let both accounts grow separately.

Second, it is possible to move a US retirement account to a Canadian RRSP, but you’ll probably have to pay a 15% - 30% tax to the US when you do that.

[–] root@lemmy.world 2 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Thank you very much for the reply, even if it is just your current understandings. That is also my current understandings as well, and I guess there's no problem with letting them compound separately, other than a larger lump sum will compound faster.

I'm curious about how post-tax funds can be transferred over (eg. Roth IRA to the equivalent in Canada). I'll probably have to talk to a professional if I get more serious about it. How do you like Canada so far, btw? What province?

[–] AspieEgg@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 points 10 months ago

We love it here. Canada is a great place to live in my opinion. We live in eastern Ontario.