Dual US/CDN citizens contemplating retiring back to Canada

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piningforhome
Posts: 1
Joined: Wed Sep 11, 2019 5:32 pm

Dual US/CDN citizens contemplating retiring back to Canada

Post by piningforhome »

My DH and I moved to the USA from Canada 22 years ago for his job, and became naturalized citizens about 16 years ago. He is now considering retirement, and we are contemplating returning to Canada.

We don't particularly want to renounce our US citizenship as we have two children who have dual citizenship, one of whom appears to be establishing his life in the US, and another who is still in school and hasn't determined her next steps.

We both have RRSP's that remained in Canada, I also had a LIRA that was unlocked this year and rolled into my RRSP as I am over 55.

In the USA we have:
His 401K
His tIRA
His Roth IRA
His HSA
His Brokerage Account
His Stock Options
His RSU's
His PSU's
Joint Brokerage Account
Joint Donor Advised Fund
529 Accounts for each child which were overfunded and have residual amounts that are not required for their education unless graduate programs are pursued
A home jointly owned
A condo purchased under an LLC with DH as sole officer
3 vehicles purchased and titled in the US
DH is eligible and vested in a defined benefit pension with US employer which also has a non-qualified lump sum payout in the year after retirement.

We are trying to plan and anticipate all the steps we should take in anticipation of retiring back to Canada (Ontario) sometime in the next three years.

Our state of residence is Connecticut. Our condo is in NYC

I believe based on the reading that I have done on this forum that we should leave his 401K where it is so it can be treated as pension income for splitting purposed. We should probably change the ownership on the 529 accounts to each child since they aren't recognized in Canada. The HSA can be used for expenses already incurred (I have receipts) or kept for future expenses once in Canada. I believe individual stocks within the taxable brokerage accounts can be carried to Canada, but the mutual funds have to be sold. We will have to determine if the vehicles can be imported to Canada or not.

We would plan to sell the house before we move. We would like to keep the condo, but not be resident in NYC for tax purposes.

My questions: should we wait for the lump sum non-qualified payout before we relocate?
Should we exercise the options before relocating?
Can we leave the RSU's/PSU's to vest on their schedule even after relocating?
What happens to the donor advised fund? (it is at Fidelity)
Is there a strategy to minimize the capital gain tax on the taxable brokerage account mutual funds?

Is the burden of maintaining both Citizenships worse that the tax burden of renouncing our US Citizenship?

Thanks for reading, and for any advice.
nelsona
Posts: 18311
Joined: Wed Oct 27, 2004 2:33 pm
Location: Nowhere, man

Re: Dual US/CDN citizens contemplating retiring back to Canada

Post by nelsona »

Given your assets and the complexity of your holdings, I would suggest professional help.
nelsona non grata. Non pro. Please Search previous posts, no situation is unique as you might think. Happy Browsing :D
nizarhirani
Posts: 1
Joined: Mon Apr 13, 2020 2:23 pm

Re: Dual US/CDN citizens contemplating retiring back to Canada

Post by nizarhirani »

nelsona wrote:
> Given your assets and the complexity of your holdings, I would suggest
> professional help.

Hello, I just signed up on this forum.

I wanted to know there is some discussion thread on how to do estate/tax planning for dual citizens?

Niz
nelsona
Posts: 18311
Joined: Wed Oct 27, 2004 2:33 pm
Location: Nowhere, man

Re: Dual US/CDN citizens contemplating retiring back to Canada

Post by nelsona »

This is it, happy browsing.
nelsona non grata. Non pro. Please Search previous posts, no situation is unique as you might think. Happy Browsing :D
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