USC, resident of India. Want to open a brokerage account in US

r2mysore · Post by **r2mysore** » Sat Aug 04, 2018 8:43 pm

Hi,
I am a USC, resident of India. Which brokerage company allows persons with non US address to open brokerage accounts? Also e mails statements and service requests can be made through e mail?
I believe due to security and legal risks not many companies send statements through e mail for accounts with foreign address. All tax information and other correspondence is only through postal mail. i am afraid postal information may get lost.
Can one give a secondary US mailing address of a relative?

regards

Dwija123 · Post by **Dwija123** » Sat Aug 04, 2018 9:03 pm

Hi r2mysore,

No need for US address. The best options in my opinion are
https://www.interactivebrokers.co.in
http://international.schwab.com/public/international/us_investing

When I was exploring schwab international had minimum 25 K investment requirement so I went with interactivebrokers

r2mysore · Post by **r2mysore** » Sun Aug 05, 2018 12:40 am

Dwija123;678876Hi r2mysore,

No need for US address. The best options in my opinion are
https://www.interactivebrokers.co.in
http://international.schwab.com/public/international/us_investing

When I was exploring schwab international had minimum 25 K investment requirement so I went with interactivebrokers

Thanks Dwija123. Will you be able to access your account on line like in USA? I am worried about not getting tax details in time by postal mail to file taxes in India and USA. I live in an apartment and postal mail, many go missing.
How do you buy, sell individual stocks on line or by telephone call after answering security questions?
How do you manage obtaining end of the year tax information?

regards

Dwija123 · Post by **Dwija123** » Sun Aug 05, 2018 7:56 pm

r2mysore;678890
How do you buy, sell individual stocks on line or by telephone call after answering security questions?

Everything is online. Interactive brokers have web trader, which is one of the best in market.

r2mysore;678890
How do you manage obtaining end of the year tax information?

:) I have just opened IB account 6 months back but they will file the form to IRS (US) and also you can download tax docs from what I explored.

I opened another thread on why I don't think trading is suitable for me so instead I am going to focus on Funds.( Mainly Vanguard). Some of the advanced tools of IB is more suitable for active investors, so I didn't try them for me the simple web trader is enough. But from the docs it appears that they have one of the best tools in market.

BTW There are far more experienced and knowledgeable people in Finance on this forum than me, so may be you should explore those threads too.

r2mysore · Post by **r2mysore** » Fri Aug 10, 2018 1:53 pm

Hi Dwija123,
I wont be day trading. Right now my US mutual fund is giving very low return. About 6-7 %. I want to invest SMALL amount of money in stocks like apple, Google, Microsoft, Tesla and leave it for 10 yrs. Historically over ten years they have given very high returns even after 2008 crash.
Do you have any opinion on Schwab?
These brokers do they deposit dividends directly to US bank account? Do they have money market account where I can leave some money before investing waiting for the right time to invest?
regards

Dwija123 · Post by **Dwija123** » Fri Aug 10, 2018 8:51 pm

Hi r2m -
yes directly to your US bank accounts and usually you can ask them to automatically reinvest on your behalf as well.
I didn't try Schwab but I have heard good things about it. ( from friends not from fin. advisors so take that with grain of salt). Best would be for you to call them on their customer service number and they will give all details.

r2mysore · Post by **r2mysore** » Thu Oct 04, 2018 11:43 pm

I called Schwab. They told me with foreign address I wont be able to buy any US based mutual funds. I can buy individual stocks, ETF, certain off shore registered mutual funds. They could not explain why? I told them I am a USC.

WageRage · Post by **WageRage** » Sun Oct 07, 2018 6:44 pm

Hi R2iMysore,

You can open an account with TDAmeriTrade with an Indian address. They will ask for ID proof with Indian address and Aadhar is accepted. You can buy Vanguard ETFs through them.

r2mysore · Post by **r2mysore** » Mon Oct 08, 2018 10:01 pm

WageRage;682368Hi R2iMysore,

You can open an account with TDAmeriTrade with an Indian address. They will ask for ID proof with Indian address and Aadhar is accepted. You can buy Vanguard ETFs through them.

Schwab or Ameritrade, how to decide? minimum investment in Schwab is $25000. Schwab accepts electricity bill.

r2mysore · Post by **r2mysore** » Thu Oct 18, 2018 10:35 pm

Does any brokerage house allow USC with international address to buy US based mutual funds?
What is the reason for not allowing USC with international address to buy US based mutual fund? How is it OK to buy ETF's and individual securities?