PROTECT · VOLUME 3 OF 3 · DEEP DIVELife on a US Visa shelf
The Long Game: Green Card, Retirement or Leaving
The long-range money decisions for people building a life in the US on a visa, whether they stay or go. It covers a cash runway if the job ends, money planning through the green card wait, early retirement when you may not stay, Roth or traditional when you might leave, taking a 401(k) abroad, the expatriation tax, Social Security after you leave, and estate rules for people who are not citizens.
Chapters8
Reading time50 min
Worked examples17
Updated2026-10-01
What you will be able to do
- Size a cash reserve that outlasts the grace period after a layoff, including health insurance and the cost of a move.
- Compare retiring in the US with retiring in another country, including the effect of US withholding on your target.
- Choose between Roth and traditional contributions, and between keeping, rolling over or cashing out a 401(k), when you might leave the US.
- Tell whether the expatriation tax, the Social Security payments-abroad rules and the nonresident estate tax rules could apply to you, and what to bring to a professional.
- Name the dates and documents that matter most for your status, your accounts and your family before you decide to stay or go.
Contents
8 CHAPTERS · ABOUT 50 MIN- 01A Runway If the Job Ends What the up-to-60-day grace period for H-1B and similar workers does and does not allow, how to size a reserve that also covers health insurance and a possible move, and the money decisions to make before a layoff.7 min3 computed
- 02Money Planning Around the Green Card How the length of the employment-based green card wait shapes your money, who may pay which costs, a larger reserve while job-locked, portability dates, big purchases during the wait, and the lasting tax effects of permanent residence.6 min2 computed
- 03Retiring Early When You May Not Stay What financial independence means on a work visa, how retiring in a cheaper country shrinks the target, how US withholding on pre-tax accounts grows it again, and the inflation, health and tax risks of retiring abroad.6 min5 computed
- 04Roth or Traditional When You Might Leave How your tax rate today compares with how a nonresident's withdrawals are taxed later, what treaties and your new country change, what a Roth does for someone who leaves, and patterns for choosing or splitting contributions.6 min3 computed
- 05Leaving the US With a 401(k) and IRAs Your options for retirement accounts when you leave: keeping them, rolling over, drawing over time or cashing out; what a cash-out costs a nonresident; how treaties and Form 1040-NR settle the tax; and the departure-year paperwork.6 min2 computed
- 06The Expatriation Tax for Long-Term Green Card Holders Who the exit tax can reach and who it cannot, how a long-term resident is counted, when green card residence ends for tax, the three covered-expatriate tests for 2026, what happens to retirement accounts, and what to plan years ahead.6 min2 computed
- 07Social Security When You Leave What happens to Social Security you paid on a visa: the 40-credit rule, totalization agreements and the countries without one, when benefits can be paid abroad to non-citizens, the 25.5% withholding and treaty relief, and Medicare abroad.6 min
- 08Estate Rules for People Who Are Not Citizens Why domicile, not income-tax residence, decides US estate tax; the full exclusion but no unlimited marital deduction when a spouse is not a citizen; the much smaller exemption on US assets for nonresidents; treaties; and steps that protect heirs.6 min
CALCULATORS USED IN THIS BOOK