Ask HN: Any ideas on how to invest money in the US from a latin american country

[hachesilva]

I currently have a couple thousand dollars in a PayPal account that I'd like to invest on anything.

My investing knowledge is the bare minimum, I know the basics of stocks, forex and the like but that's it. I know about affiliate marketing and that stuff but don't want to pull the trigger on those without first looking into stocks.

Also, due to the fact that I'm on a latin american country with a poor banking, legal and financial system, I cannot bring the money to my country without the government taxing me heavily (around 30%) of almost any amount I bring.

What options do I have to invest in the US from outside?

PS: I've been on HN for some time now and this is my first time asking anything, please be kind.

[wakeneddreamer]

If you don't know what you're doing with investing, consider the Malcolm Gladwell thesis that you have to invest ten thousand hours into anything to become adept at it. That largely applies to investing - if you're not willing and able to invest that kind of time into it, then keep it super simple and worry more about your own risk tolerance than about trying to add value by picking stocks or sectors. Is this money that you can afford to tie up for a while, or is there a possibility that you'd need it and thus be forced to sell it at the worst time ?

smt88's advice about ETFs is relevant, but I'd try to keep it simpler than that, especially if you're talking about small amounts. Think stock and bond mix and get a US and non-US index ETF or index fund for each and leave it alone except to periodically rebalance it or add/remove money depending on external needs.

Depending on what Latin American country you're from you may struggle to find a US based broker happy to take your account. In many countries, a broker will need to have a license in the country of a customer's residence to face a retail customer (this works the other way too, so a German broker would not take a US person's account unless they have an SEC registration). You may be able to get around that by setting up a US LLC or LP to put the money into and hold the account, but that's not economical unless you're investing quite large amounts.

Also if you're considering the tax implications, be aware that the OECD Automatic Exchange of Information applies between the USA and many other countries - so the broker may well be sending tax statements to your home country's tax authority who may send you a bill based upon the income generated by the account, with a penalty on top for not declaring it.

[hachesilva → wakeneddreamer]

Thanks for your answer.

This is money that I can certainly "tie up" for quite some time. I'm talking about a very small amount in the US context but a good amount compared to local standards, around $4.000 USD.

What I really don't want is that money to lose value after bringing it home and having to pay 30% on local taxes to a corrupt government that will do almost no good to me or the community.

I'm looking for anything, not necessarily stocks, that I could invest in online, that accepts PayPal as a funding/payment source and that keeps my money from losing value to local taxes. Stocks in the US were my example because I really thought it would be an investment that the government in my country would find difficult to tax me for, but from your very well explained answer I understand it might not be my best option now.

[imakwana]

I highly recommend to you to post your question on the Bogleheads forum [1], specifically within its "Non-US Investors" category/sub-forum. There is a lot of expertise in that forum regarding international investing in general & focus on maintaining a simple, efficient index based portfolio with low costs. You may also find their wiki [2] page on Non-US investing useful.

[1] https://www.bogleheads.org/forum/index.php [2] https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Outline_of_Non-US_domiciles

[hachesilva → imakwana]

Thanks for the suggestion, dind't know about that forum.

[smt88]

We're at the top of a historic economic expansion, so it's not the best time to buy stocks. Even if you do, you should buy ETFs. Something that might be recession-proof, like health care, would be ideal.

[justaguyhere]

I'd like to learn the reverse - investing from US in other countries

[wakeneddreamer → justaguyhere]

If you're talking about listed stocks and such, then the licensing caveat I mentioned, so only some firms will be willing to take you, especially since US tax and securities laws are particularly strict. Easiest is going through a US-based ETF or mutual fund that targets the world ex US or specific regions/countries. Otherwise several US brokers can give you access to foreign stock markets at varying costs. Either will also simplify your tax situation vs. using a non-US firm (foreign bank and investment accounts are a US tax reporting nightmare, even if you live overseas, and also the US has agreements with many countries to exchange tax information, so you'll still need to pay). Whatever you do don't invest in a non-US mutual fund, as the tax treatment is usually quite punitive.

Note correlation across stock markets is higher the last 10-15 years than it has been before then, so that reduces the diversification benefits.