U.S. Based Client – Case Study

Isabella is a Scandinavian tech entrepreneur that emigrated to the US because she knows that Silicon Valley is the place to be for her new venture. Her start-up, the third start-up, has just got the first round of funding and she is now busy building it to launch their first software next year. Before she emigrated she was a successful businesswoman that worked in several European countries for large companies before she ventured out on her own. Along with her husband, both in their mid-forties, they own real estate in Denmark and they have several investment accounts, including retirement accounts with multiple financial institutions. As emigrants, they need to work with someone that understands cross-border tax, estate planning and can advise them on their various investments, including education funding for their two children.

Isabella and her family immigrated to the Silicon Valley area of California from Europe to create a new business. The venture is now funded and working to launch its first software products. As a woman in her mid-forties, Isabella had already had a substantial career in Europe, working for several large companies, and launching several start-ups. Her entrepreneurial energy and success combined with her immigrant status mean that her family’s tax, investment, and estate planning situation is extremely complex. It is crucial to get the right financial advice to be able to meet all of her obligations without taking Isabella’s focus off her new start-up company.

As a result of their successful careers, Isabella and her husband hold several European-based investment accounts already. Their portfolio also includes retirement accounts with multiple financial institutions. In addition, they own property in Denmark, their country of origin. Now, they will be creating new investment accounts and incurring new tax liabilities, both personal and in association with Isabella’s start-up. This creates a very complicated set of financial conditions. Advising this family on financial strategy requires an intimate knowledge of international tax and investment law.

Finding the right financial advisor to help Isabella and her family make the right decisions as new immigrants to the US could determine not only whether they succeed or fail in their new business, but whether they are able to successfully provide for their children’s education and their own retirement. Getting it right is important.

Isabella and her husband discussed their goals with our cross-border specialists. With the family’s goals in mind, they carefully reviewed the details of the family’s current investments and liabilities and provided advice that helped to streamline the many sources of income and minimize the tax liabilities, with a focus on providing for the children’s college education while also creating a stable retirement future for Isabella and her husband.