USA rules making investment advice difficult to live in Nica

I am a US citizen retired in Nicaragua, but I have my retirement investments in the USA.  My investment adviser in the USA has recently informed me he can no loner provide investment advice to me, as the US government has enacted rules that are restricting investment advisers from providing advice to anyone living in Nicaragua. 

Has anyone else encountered this issue?  Has anyone come up with a work around?  I have been told to start seeking alternate arrangements to hold my investments.

There are sanctions that have been imposed on persons / entities with ties to specific Nicaraguan companies.  The sanctions are not imposed on all financial transactions.

I suggest subscribing to the US Dept of Treasury email notification system regarding sanctions specific to Central America & Nicaragua.

Please see the following link for all the information relating to the sanctions imposed.

https://www.state.gov/nicaragua-sanctions/



FYI:  I also own investment property in Nica and live in Florida.  We are still expanding our investments and have no intention of slowing down.

It now appears that the US government is not specifically "preventing" investment firms from providing services to me, but the investment firms themselves are setting the restrictions.  These were not investments being made in Nicaraguan entities, but rather were normal US based mutual funds - but some US investment companies do not want to have clients that live in Nicaragua.  They did not have this issue when I lived in Costa Rica.

I have now found a financial adviser that specializes in working with Expats all over the world - Thun Financial Advisers in Madison, Wisconsin.  They do not have an issue with my living in Nicaragua.

As the author of the original post, I was not able to keep my previous investment account with my financial adviser, but I was able to transfer my investments to a financial advisor that specializes in advising US Citizens who live in foreign countries:  Thun Financial Advisers in Madison, Wisconsin.  My funds are now deposited in an account with Charles Schwab Institutional and are managed by Thun.  (Schwab would not open an account for me directly but are willing to work with Thun financial for international clients.)

Why not  Just provide them an address in the USA?   That's the easiest work around.  What precisely do you need to obtain from the investment advisor by mail when most things are online.

The recent sanctions resulted in a memo being issued to financial institutions to verify that the Nicaraguan is not affiliated with the government or those on the sanctions list.  It then warned that discrimination should not be done against Nicaraguans not on the list (because it's in the best interests of the government for legit Nicas to move their money to USA or elsewhere).  However, the financial institutions don't have time for that.  Even banks/brokers focusing on Latin American customers are closing accounts just based on the Nica address. 

Easiest fix is to change it. 

If you don't have a maildrop, contact us and we will recommend a couple USA mail services that don't flag as a mail service.

I would look into on YouTube NOMAD CAPITALIST or subscribe to Sovereign Man.  Both recommend legal ways to invest out of the US. 

I am planning to cash out in the US and keep my money in Singapore as well as live in San Juan del Sur.

I found https://travelingmailbox.com/ to be a good service if you need a US address

Pancho 2 wrote:

I would look into on YouTube NOMAD CAPITALIST or subscribe to Sovereign Man.  Both recommend legal ways to invest out of the US. 

I am planning to cash out in the US and keep my money in Singapore as well as live in San Juan del Sur.


I'd be wary of using these YouTube advisers that Pancho is suggesting.

Based on my viewing, their 'leading lights' long have been -- and still are -- predicting the downfall of the USA economy. 

Even with The Situation (since March 2020) they predict that things will get much worse.

And... based on a lack of persuasive arguments to back it up, that's just their opinion, man.

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I have always kept a US  mailing address, but my investment advisor knew where I lived. This issue is not specific to Nicaragua, but relates to expats with US investments, particularly in mutual funds. I now use an investment advisor that works with expats and invests in ETFs. It is now working well.

Redbeard wrote:

I now use an investment advisor that works with expats and invests in ETFs. It is now working well.


I think ETF's are a great way to go. :top:

During the early days of The Situation, I sold most of my stocks and sat in cash.

When I got back into the market in a big way (early this year), I put the cash to work by buying ETF's.

Feel free, Redbeard, to tell us more about your investment advisor, including contact information.  It is allowed on this site.

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