Retirement Accounts for Immigrants
For American residents, retirement saving often seems like a natural process. But for immigrants, this process is a lot more difficult. And there are a lot of factors that contribute to this.
Retirement Resources
According to the US Social Security Administration, comparing the retirement resources of immigrants and natives gives us a fair idea of the financial disparity between the two near retirement.
They concluded in their study that while immigrants may have fewer social security benefits, they have a higher net worth.
There are three main resources that help you get by during retirement: social security, pension, and private savings.
Your income directly affects social security and private savings. Immigration is an extensive procedure and not everyone who arrives in the US is loaded with money; therefore, the initial settling in period may deplete your savings.
Furthermore, education and skills from your home country don’t necessarily translate to the US, which means your earnings may suffer further.
Legal Challenges for Immigrants
At times, immigrants may not even realize which retirement benefits they are eligible for.
US based retirement income sources like social security and pensions, IRAs, and 401(k)s all have different mechanisms based on your immigration status.
If you’re a resident alien or even a permanent resident, you’re eligible to contribute to and receive Social Security. For nonresident aliens, things are a bit trickier.
Their benefits expire if they leave the country for longer than 6 months. In some cases, benefits can be restored if they come back for at least a month.
And in case someone decides to return to their country or immigrate to another one, transferring US retirement accounts can be very tough.
The assets in the account might need to be liquidated and there will be taxes and penalties that’ll be deducted before the funds can be transferred outside of the country.
Lack of Awareness
In general, foreign born US citizens are less likely to be involved in formal retirement saving programs because they wouldn’t know the intricacies.
This can be due to a language barrier or just a social hindrance and lack of experience in the US financial market.
These factors combined directly impact their financial participation, their investment portfolio or lack thereof, retirement planning as a whole, and they may not even trust financial institutions due to these issues.
If you’re an immigrant, get in touch with us, at Orion Metal Exchange, and let us help you navigate your way through the complexities of retirement planning in the US.
We can also help you with a precious metals IRA account to guarantee a luxurious retirement for you and your family.
