Moving to the USA Financial Checklist: What We’re Doing a Year Out

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In about a year, we are moving to Seattle.

I have never lived in America. My wife Sarah is American, she grew up there, she understands the financial system the way I understand Taiwan’s. But for me, America has always been a place I visited, not a place I lived. In a year it will be both.

We have two children, our eldest is three, and our second will be born next month. Sarah will likely find work first. I will probably spend the first year as a stay-at-home dad while building the blog and getting our footing in a new city. We will be starting over in the most literal sense: new community, new church, new financial system, new everything.

Here is the part that keeps me thinking: the financial habits I have spent six years building in Taiwan do not transfer automatically. The emergency fund amount that protected us here will not protect us there. The investment accounts that served me well need to be reconsidered. The budget framework we relied on in Danshui and then Taitung was built around NTD, around Taiwanese costs, around a life that is ending and a new one that hasn’t started yet.

This is our moving to USA financial checklist, written a year out, while we are still figuring it out.

Here is the part that keeps me thinking: the financial habits I have spent six years building in Taiwan do not transfer automatically. The emergency fund amount that protected us here will not protect us there. The investment accounts that served me well need to be reconsidered. The budget framework we relied on in Danshui and then Taitung was built around NTD, around Taiwanese costs, around a life that is ending and a new one that hasn’t started yet.

This is our moving to USA financial checklist – written a year out, while we are still figuring it out.

Why Moving to America Is a Financial Reset, Not Just a Life Change

Most people think of moving as a logistical event. Pack the boxes. Book the flights. Find a place to live.

But for a family moving from Taiwan to the United States, especially one where one partner has no US financial history at all, the financial reset is as significant as the physical one.

I have no credit score in America. Not a bad credit score. Zero credit score. I don’t exist yet in that system.

I have no US bank account. No US tax history. No health insurance history. No sense yet of what things actually cost, not from a website but from the experience of living inside it. In Taiwan, I understood the rhythms of our expenses well enough to know when something was unusually expensive. In Seattle, I will not have that instinct for a while.

Sarah has a Social Security number and some US financial history from before we were married. That is the one thread we are starting from.

Everything else we are building from scratch, deliberately, before we land.

The 6 Things We Are Doing a Year Before We Move

1. Understanding what we are walking into with US credit

In Taiwan, credit works differently. In America, your credit score follows you everywhere, rental applications, phone contracts, car loans, sometimes even job applications. A person with no credit history is not treated the same as a person with good credit. They are treated like a risk.

I have been learning this in detail because it is the piece I cannot afford to get wrong. The most common path for immigrants building US credit from scratch is to start with a secured credit card, you deposit money as collateral, the card reports to the credit bureaus, and you build a record over months. Sarah can also add me as an authorized user on one of her existing accounts, which gives me some history immediately.

We are not waiting until we arrive to think about this. I am making a plan now so the moment we land we can move on it within the first week.

2. Choosing a US bank account before we arrive

The second piece of the puzzle. We need an account that is accessible quickly, does not penalize us for international transfers, we will need to move money from Taiwan at some point, and ideally has no minimum balance requirements while we are in the income transition period.

Sarah’s existing US account gives us a starting point. But we are also researching which bank makes the most sense for a family in our situation: one partner arriving as a new resident with no US financial history, one income initially, and a need to move NTD to USD without losing significant money in fees each time.

We don’t have a final answer yet, but we know the three filters we are running every option through: no minimum balance requirement during the income transition period; no penalty on international transfers, because we will need to move NTD to USD at some point; and accessible to a new resident without an established US financial history. If a bank fails any of these three, it comes off the list. We are working through the options against those criteria now.

3. Resizing the emergency fund for American costs

This is the one I think about most.

Our emergency fund in Taiwan was built to cover six months of expenses. On a missionary income of $1,000 to $1,500 a month, six months meant roughly $7,000 to $9,000 sitting completely separate, untouched, waiting. That fund saved us during the 2024 move from Danshui to Taitung, we used it, handled the move without panic, and rebuilt it steadily over the months that followed.

That number does not translate to Seattle.

Seattle has a significantly higher cost of living than Taitung. Healthcare in America is not what it is in Taiwan, a single unexpected medical event without the right coverage can cost more than our entire Taiwan emergency fund. Rent in a city like Seattle is a different category of expense than what we have known.

I do not know yet what six months of American expenses will look like for our family. But I am estimating conservatively, building toward it now, and committing to not increasing investment contributions until the American emergency fund is properly sized. The foundation first, always the foundation first.

How we used our emergency fund during a major life transition

4. Figuring out what happens to our Taiwan investments

This is a question most immigration financial checklists do not address.

I hold three funds: 0050, Taiwan’s most well-known ETF tracking the top 50 companies on the Taiwan Stock Exchange, held at Fubon Securities; VTI, Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF, held at Firstrade; and VXUS, Vanguard Total International Stock ETF, also at Firstrade.

The Firstrade accounts follow me. Firstrade is an online brokerage that serves international account holders, and my VTI and VXUS positions do not need to move anywhere, they stay exactly where they are.

The 0050 position is more complicated. Fubon Securities is a Taiwanese brokerage. Managing a Taiwanese brokerage account from America as a US resident comes with tax reporting obligations I am still working through, specifically around PFIC rules, which can make certain foreign funds significantly more complex to hold once you are taxed as a US person.

I am not going to pretend I have fully worked this out yet. I haven’t. What I know is that this is the piece that needs the most careful attention before we move, and it is the piece most people in my situation never think about until after they have already moved.

The first step, if you hold foreign-domiciled funds and are planning a move to the US, is not to wait until you have arrived to ask these questions. Find a CPA who works specifically with US expats and new immigrants before you leave. Not after you land. The PFIC rules in particular have implications that are significantly easier to navigate before you are taxed as a US person than after.

The three funds I hold and why I chose them

5. Planning for the income gap

Sarah will likely work first. I will be at home with the children, building the blog, learning the financial landscape of a country I have never lived in.

This means we will have a period, possibly a year, possibly two, where our household is rebuilding income from a lower base in a higher-cost environment. We have planned for this. We are not arriving without a runway.

But I want to be honest about what this period requires. It requires us to know our minimum monthly number: the absolute floor for our family of four to live in Seattle without going into debt. It requires us to have that number covered before we land, not hoped for after.

Our Taiwan budget framework, 50% needs, 20% giving and savings, 20% investing, 10% wants, will need to be rebuilt for American costs and American income. The categories will be the same. The numbers will not.

More details on our exact budgeting framework

6. Building the financial knowledge we don’t have yet

This section is the one I cannot finish yet because the work is still in progress.

I know enough to know I don’t know enough. And I know the difference between not knowing something and not having started to learn it.

We are starting to learn it now, a year out, not six months in when the decisions are already pressing on us. That is the principle behind every item on this checklist, not just this one. Twelve months out is the right time to start learning everything you don’t know yet. Six months in is when it starts costing you.

What We Are Not Doing

Waiting until we arrive. The single biggest financial mistake I see people make before an international move is treating financial preparation as something you do after the logistics. Housing, flights, schools, those feel urgent. Credit scores and banking and PFIC rules feel abstract until they’re not. By the time they’re not, you have already lost months of preparation time.

Counting on the transfer going smoothly. Moving money internationally takes longer and costs more than most people expect. We are planning for that friction, not around it.

Assuming our Taiwan numbers translate to anything. Our cost of living in Taiwan was low. Our savings rate felt healthy in that context. It will look different in America. We are not arriving with inflated confidence about what we have.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I build US credit as an immigrant with no history?

The two most accessible starting points are a secured credit card, you fund the collateral, the card builds your record, and being added as an authorized user on an existing account held by a US citizen or resident with good history. Both report to the major credit bureaus and both start the clock on your credit age.

Can I keep foreign investments after moving to the US?

Yes, but the tax treatment can change significantly. US tax residents are required to report and in some cases pay taxes on foreign financial accounts. Certain foreign fund structures, including many ETFs held in non-US brokerages, may be classified as PFICs, which changes how they are taxed. This is an area that benefits from specific guidance, ideally from a CPA who works with expats and new immigrants.

How big should my emergency fund be before moving to a new country?

Bigger than you think. I would target at least six months of expenses at the destination cost of living, not what you are used to spending. If you do not know the destination cost of living well yet, err on the side of over-preparing. An emergency fund that is too large is an inconvenience. One that is too small during a major transition is a real problem.

Do I need a Social Security Number to open a US bank account?

Not always. Some banks and credit unions will open accounts for non-residents or new residents using a passport and other identification. Others require an SSN or ITIN. Worth confirming specific bank requirements before you arrive.

We are not ready yet. That is the honest answer.

But we are preparing, and the difference between arriving ready and arriving overwhelmed is usually built in the months before the plane takes off, not after.

I will write a follow-up post once we have actually made the move, once we have lived inside the American financial system, not just studied it. The real version of this checklist, written from the other side.

If you want to know how it goes, get on the email list. I will send it as soon as we are through it.