An Advisor’s Investment Journey Into The Promised Land

Goldstein moved to Israel from the United States 20 years ago and specializes in helping expat Americans live a financially stable life in that country. Part of that means figuring out what the best local investment options might be, but it also means making sure that his clients fully understand all the implications of living abroad, not least how it's going to affect their taxes.

"As much as I educate people about the issues of investing in foreign countries and currencies, I also spend a lot of my time on tax planning, and this is a huge part of what I do," he said. "I work very closely with specialists in international tax planning, and now, with the U.S. government making a vigorous effort to collect tax dollars from expats, everyone who leaves the country is under the IRS's microscope."

Goldstein is a huge advocate for cross-border expertise; an area he feels is going to become increasingly important as more Americans choose to retire overseas. Professionals who are able to talk to their clients about all the different implications of taking up residence in another country, who are fluent in different tax regimes, and who have solid on-the-ground, local expertise to help clients build strong cross-border financial plans will become more and more the order of the day, he said.

"People need to very careful about the kinds of investments they're making, since sometimes investing in the new country of residence can prove to be a U.S. tax nightmare," he said. "I always say that if there's a local opportunity that looks good then one should assume that there's a parallel opportunity in the US, and I think that any advisor who wants to succeed in the next 10 years should be able to offer that kind of cross-border expertise to his clients."