Hi,
I am new to the blog and haven’t seen much regarding international medical graduates (IMG) that end up staying in the US for work and how to go about reaching financial independence, and was wondering if anyone here is in a similar situation.
By way of introduction, I’m a 34 year-old IMG (no student debt) with training in pathology and about to finish my last fellowship in June 2018. I got a job lined up to start in August 2018 in California (I’m well aware of the taxation/cost-of-living downsides, but because of my current visa (J1) I don’t have many options). When I first started as a PGY-1, I was able to save ~30% of my income for the first 2 years. I knew that there were better things to do with the money than having it sit around in my savings account but unfortunately, I didn’t have much knowledge about investing. I opened a taxable account in Schwab and invested a few thousand dollars on some random stocks (not the best idea). Then I met my wife to be and not only did my savings rate dropped dramatically but also my savings. I spent most of the money travelling, on the wedding, honey moon, opening a company in my home country (provides some passive income now, not much), moving for fellowship and buying a house in Texas, and we’ve recently been blessed with a baby girl. Unfortunately, I was also one more of the victims of whole life insurance through the NWM commission salesman that I met via my wife. I’ve now cancelled both mine and my wife’s policies and took the hit after 2 and 4 years of putting money, respectively. Currently, we have ~$10k in credit card debt that we’ll hopefully pay once my wife goes back to work from maternity leave and we owe my parents ~$30k for the down payment of the house. There is no deadline to pay them and it does not accrue any interest. I recently finished the WCI book and I’m caught up with the podcast. Both are great. Stumbling on this blog has been an eye-opening experience. I am in the process of putting together my IPS and my portfolio so that my first attending paycheck gets distributed to the appropriate accounts, but I still have many questions that I would really appreciate if people took some time to answer or point me in the right direction.
Questions:
I tried opening a Roth account in Vanguard but couldn’t because of my visa status. My wife is a US citizen, though. Should I open a Roth account in Vanguard for her and one for me elsewhere like Fidelity? In addition to the Schwab account I also have Wealthfront and Betterment accounts where I could open a Roth. Would you recommend against opening a Roth with any of them? I guess the MOST important question I have right now is when should I open the account(s), before the year ends or early next year before becoming an attending? Is there a minimum that you recommend to open a Roth account? I don’t think I can fund the maximum amount now.
I would also appreciate any suggestions regarding the house we bought, should we sell or rent? Does anyone know how to find a good property manager? Since my wife’s family and my family have some properties abroad, does anyone know if opening some sort of Trust or corporation that manages all the properties including the house in Texas is a good/feasible idea?
Does anyone know the implications of having tax-deferred/tax-exempt/taxable accounts as a foreigner, if I don’t become a US citizen and plan to retire in my home-country?
Thanks and happy Holidays!
I am new to the blog and haven’t seen much regarding international medical graduates (IMG) that end up staying in the US for work and how to go about reaching financial independence, and was wondering if anyone here is in a similar situation.
By way of introduction, I’m a 34 year-old IMG (no student debt) with training in pathology and about to finish my last fellowship in June 2018. I got a job lined up to start in August 2018 in California (I’m well aware of the taxation/cost-of-living downsides, but because of my current visa (J1) I don’t have many options). When I first started as a PGY-1, I was able to save ~30% of my income for the first 2 years. I knew that there were better things to do with the money than having it sit around in my savings account but unfortunately, I didn’t have much knowledge about investing. I opened a taxable account in Schwab and invested a few thousand dollars on some random stocks (not the best idea). Then I met my wife to be and not only did my savings rate dropped dramatically but also my savings. I spent most of the money travelling, on the wedding, honey moon, opening a company in my home country (provides some passive income now, not much), moving for fellowship and buying a house in Texas, and we’ve recently been blessed with a baby girl. Unfortunately, I was also one more of the victims of whole life insurance through the NWM commission salesman that I met via my wife. I’ve now cancelled both mine and my wife’s policies and took the hit after 2 and 4 years of putting money, respectively. Currently, we have ~$10k in credit card debt that we’ll hopefully pay once my wife goes back to work from maternity leave and we owe my parents ~$30k for the down payment of the house. There is no deadline to pay them and it does not accrue any interest. I recently finished the WCI book and I’m caught up with the podcast. Both are great. Stumbling on this blog has been an eye-opening experience. I am in the process of putting together my IPS and my portfolio so that my first attending paycheck gets distributed to the appropriate accounts, but I still have many questions that I would really appreciate if people took some time to answer or point me in the right direction.
Questions:
I tried opening a Roth account in Vanguard but couldn’t because of my visa status. My wife is a US citizen, though. Should I open a Roth account in Vanguard for her and one for me elsewhere like Fidelity? In addition to the Schwab account I also have Wealthfront and Betterment accounts where I could open a Roth. Would you recommend against opening a Roth with any of them? I guess the MOST important question I have right now is when should I open the account(s), before the year ends or early next year before becoming an attending? Is there a minimum that you recommend to open a Roth account? I don’t think I can fund the maximum amount now.
I would also appreciate any suggestions regarding the house we bought, should we sell or rent? Does anyone know how to find a good property manager? Since my wife’s family and my family have some properties abroad, does anyone know if opening some sort of Trust or corporation that manages all the properties including the house in Texas is a good/feasible idea?
Does anyone know the implications of having tax-deferred/tax-exempt/taxable accounts as a foreigner, if I don’t become a US citizen and plan to retire in my home-country?
Thanks and happy Holidays!
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