Welcome to the USA! Here's some useful links and resources to get your started (plus some additional win-wins for you and me both)

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• LinkedIn
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My Assumptions

• You’re moving to the US from Canada
• You did not attend a US school
• You’ll be moving for a job, assuming something within Tech or Finance
• You’ve got some student loans, liabilities to pay
• This works for interns & full time!

Disclaimer
I am not a financial advisor nor an immigration lawyer. I’m only sharing my own experiences and how I approached everything. I could be very wrong on a lot of things too.

Work Visas

Work with your company to find the best visa for your case. There are different classes for different kinds of work. Make sure to contact your recruiter or immigration lawyer to find the best fit for you. Please also do your own research as well via official sources, there is a lot of nuance and should only be taken as a glimpse into some of the most common cases.

There are also other ways to work in the US that aren’t listed, along with several sub-classes for each visa.

Social Security Number

Congrats! You’re now in the USA! The first thing you should do is to get your Social Security Number. This will become your permanent number, even if you move back to Canada. You should prioritize this to be done ASAP.

You’ll need to bring the following to an US SSN office. It will take several weeks to issue and ship you the physical card.

• Employment letter
• Passport
• IDs (Canadian drivers license)
• Visa documentation

This is the Social Security Form (accurate as of July 26, 2024)

• After 3-5 business days, you can go into the office and ask to get your number
• It should be assigned by then so at least you can provide the number to your employer

Phone Number

This should be the second thing to do. A lot of services and banks will require a US phone number for 2FA. Your Canadian number may cause issues.

I'm currently using Visible by Verizon, use my code 3RTJHTF to get $20 off your bill!

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• No SSN required to sign up
• $35 for unlimited or $45 for unlimited+ month to month with no contract (roaming in Canada/Mexico included)
• Canadian phones are usually compatible with US networks, just select that you were previously with Verizon and request a physical SIM

Other options include

• Mint Mobile http://fbuy.me/uCoWJ Use my code for $15 in renewal credit!

  • I used this during my internship. Very simple & they provide 3-month plans at affordable prices.

• Google FI https://g.co/fi/r/V6W7YK Use my code for $20 off your first bill

  • More expensive but also have unlimited roaming

Parking your Canadian number

I’d also HIGHLY recommend parking your Canadian number for the time being - if you get 2 factor authentication text message codes, this will help tremendously (or else you’ll be locked out of your accounts)

• I use Number Barn, it's only $24 a year and it’ll even still receive texts. You just access it on their website.
• For only $6/month, you also get call forwarding to your new number as well!
• If you’re moving for full-time, I would keep this around for at least a year.

Banking & Financials

You probably will not be able to set up direct deposit between US-based employers and Canadian Banks. The easiest option would be to open cross-border bank accounts through Canadian bank's Amercian equivalents. However - you'll quickly run into issues where they are different entities. i.e. TD in the US is not the same as TD in Canada.

I would recommend opening a US Bank account ASAP or use cross-border banking solutions temporarily. US Banks also have much more competitive rates & rewards imo.

Order of banking priorities:

1. Open a US bank account
2. Set up your investments, 401k, etc.
3. Open a US credit card - your Canadian credit history does not carry over

Bank Account

Sofi Bank

The easiest bank that allowed me to open an account was SOFI (use my link for $25 & $250 when you deposit $5k+, $100 for less than $5k)

• It’s a digital-first bank (more like EQ Bank than Tangerine)
• Imo, best blend between high-yield savings & quality banking experience
• Hybrid savings account where you can leave all your money in savings, then all transactions from chequing will automatically draw from savings (you can set limits)
• No monthly fees
• 2-day early paycheque
• You’ll need a US phone number & SSN first!

Chase Total Checking

I used Chase Total Checking to start - it’s a solid account for the time being. Use my link to get a  $200 bonus when you open your account! https://accounts.chase.com/raf/share/3038070257

• Check for sign up bonuses when you open it
• $12 a month in fees, unless you have $1.5K in it
• They let me open it before I had an SSN - I just brought my Passport, Offer Letter, visa stuff, etc
  • The specific branch was in South Lake Union, Seattle
  • They’ve seen our case before and are hella chill

My friends have also opened Wells Fargo or Bank of America accounts too.

Wise Alternative

The alternative could also be to use a service such as Wise (formerly TransferWise) - Use the link to send up to $800 for free with a Debit account: https://wise.com/invite/ih/justinz41

• This comes with a debit account you can use to deposit checks right away

Credit Cards

Your credit score does NOT carry over to the US. Even though we use the same credit bureaus, they are legally not allowed to share information across borders. It’s crucial that you start building credit ASAP.

Discover It

The starter card that is recommended by all is Discover It - Here’s my code, you get $100 in statement credit

• This is the de-facto starter credit card in the US
• It uses the Discover Network (like Visa/Mastercard) - it only really works in the US
• No Foreign Exchange Fees
• Literally everyone gets approved - you will need an SSN first
• 1% cashback on most things
• Every month there’s a new 5% cashback category - August-September 2023 was Apple Pay & Gas Stations
  • It's up to $75 in cashback ($1.5K in spend) per month
• No Annual Fee

The reason I like this card is that you can basically keep this forever and rotate it in. Remember, a major impactor on your credit score is the average length of your credit accounts. The longer you can keep a card, the better it is for you. You should never close this account.

Amex (thru Nova Credit)

Alternatively, you may also open an Amex card. They use Nova Credit as a way to pull your Canadian credit score and issue you the card. I also got accepted only for 1 month of credit history (with Discover 😉). If you know about Amex benefits, then this is the right card for you (especially for newly moved folks)

Use my code for elevated welcome bonuses:

• Gold ($250 annual fee) - worth around ~$700 for 90K points + $120 annual Uber credit + $120 dining credit
• Select the “No SSN” option when applying - you may need to call in to confirm some additional details. They can then manually add your Canadian information!

Capital One Savour One

This is a solid card that has an option for “okay” credit (600+). Decent cashback, no annual fee, AND it’s another card to add to your roster to continue building credit. Use my Link to apply!

• 3% cashback on dining, entertainment, popular streaming services and at grocery stores
• 1% on everything else
• No Foreign Exchange Fees
• If you’ve got “good” credit, you get $200 bonus for spending $500
• No Annual Fee

Sending Money Abroad

Use a service such as Wise (formerly TransferWise) - Use my link to send up to $800 for free!

• Their fees are usually the lowest (or close to it)
• They’ll even tell you when there’s better exchange rates!
• It’s super fast (same day/1 day processing)
• Optional debit card + bank account to use if you need one in a pinch
  • You can even use for Payroll

Investments

401K -> Retirement Account that your employer will match to, 2023 contribution limit was $22,500

IRA -> Individual Retirement Account, 2023 contribution limit was $6,500

There’s two variants for both (i.e. Roth 401k, Roth IRA, Traditional 401k, Traditional 401k):

• Traditional (pre-tax), save yourself on tax when contributing, but get taxed when taking it out -> exactly like a RRSP
• Roth (post-tax), contribute after taxes, but no tax when taking out
• All 401k accounts penalize you for taking out money before 59.5 years old (as of Aug 2, 2023) -> this is usually 10%
• IRA usually have more options for you to manage the money with (i.e. buying certain stocks, investment strategies), but 401k have larger contribution room and benefit from employer matches
• Roth IRAs are exactly like TFSA from Canada. You can always withdraw up to your contributions (i.e. if you deposit $1K, your money grows to $2K, you can still only take out $1K without penalties)
• Though there is an option for “extenuating circumstances” such as buying a house, medical, etc that allow you to withdraw money from your accounts
• The money in these accounts will grow tax free

You can also look into Backdoor Roth IRA

• Certain employers (especially Big Tech, will allow for Mega Backdoor Roth IRAs)
• Your investing strategy will vary based on your own risk tolerance

My Personal Take

There’s a lot of different things you can do, but optimize for what you believe is your own risk tolerance and what your personal goals are. Below are just my own opinions and are NOT professional financial advice.

1. Contribute the amount your employer your matches into your 401k
   1. i.e. If they match 50% of the first 6% of your paycheque, make sure that you put at least 6% of your pay into the 401k accounts - it’s literally free money!
2. Then try to max out your Roth IRA if you can -> a TFSA-like account is powerful. This is a story on how Peter Thiel used his Roth IRA and turned it into $5 billion, tax free
3. Follow something like the 50/30/20 rule. 50% for needs, 30% for wants, 20% for savings
   1. Where your rent should not exceed 30% of your total income
4. Save enough for a rainy day fund of 4-6 months of expenses if you can

Financial Planning

An app that I absolutely love is Copilot Money - use my code during sign up (NURRN4) for 2 months free!

• There is an annual fee of $95, but trust me when I say it's the nicest/best budgeting app I’ve ever used - it actually keeps me on track
• iOS only
• Much more stable integrations with your banks thru Plaid + their own custom APIs
• If you think about it, it’s the price of a large boba a month that will help you save 100x that in the long run 😉

Two free alternatives are:

• Mint (by Intuit)
  • Edit -> Mint is shutting down :( They’re filling everything into CreditKarma now
  • It’s pretty solid in tracking your stuff and gets the job done
  • Clunky interface tho and I have to re-sign into accounts often
• Another alternative Rocket Money (formerly Truebill)
  • Has great features for managing your money and keeping an eye on your purchases

Housing

• Prepare to have guarantors (i.e. US residents that can post the money in case you default) it’s sometimes a requirement to rent to non-citizens
• Use sites such as realtor.com (no bias 😉) to find rentals to start
  • They’ve got tons of listings and can connect you with rental aggregators (people who promote rentals online and get a cut from the apartment directly)
• You may also face an elevated deposit amount due to limited credit history
• A strategy that you could do is stay out of an Airbnb for your first month while looking for a permanent place. You should also try and set your initial mailing address to a friend’s permanent home to start.
• Once you settle into your permanent home, you will need to let HR know and you’ll need to file an address change with the US government (a formality)

Tax

Never fun 😭 Prepare to pay taxes on your American earnings. US & Canada have a tax treaty where you will pay up to the country with the higher taxes (which is literally always Canada)

To estimate your tax burden:

1. Calculate the amount of money you make pre-tax, less deductibles (deduct things such as Traditional 401k/IRA contributions, health deductibles, etc)
2. Use a US state tax calculator with this amount to calculate how much you’d pay in taxes
3. Convert the amount of money you make pre-tax, less deductibles and use the Bank of Canada daily rate to convert it to Canadian dollars (you need to do this to hit the correct tax brackets)
4. Convert this Canadian amount BACK to USD (with any rate tbh)
5. Subtract your US tax amount from your Canadian Tax amount (in USD)
6. That will be the amount you need to pay to the CRA

Example:

• You make 100K, you need to pay 20% avg in US taxes, you need to pay 30% avg in CAN taxes, and the exchange rate is 1 USD = 1.3 CAD
• You pay 20K USD to IRS, then you pay 100K _ 1.3 _ 30% = 39K CAD to CRA
• 39K CAD -> 30K USD
• You owe an additional 10K USD to CRA

Usually after the first year, you will stop paying Canadian taxes. You should talk to a professional tax accountant though for your case - this is NOT professional advice ⚖️

Non-Resident Alien? Resident Alien?

This is based on the Substantial Presence Test, whether you’ll be in the US for 183 consecutive days.

1. If you are >183 days, then you are a Resident Alien for tax purposes
2. If not, then you are a Non-Resident Alien

Transportation

Flights

• I’d recommend getting a Nexus card - you get expedited entry into Canada & US on flights
• You also get US Global Entry + TSA Precheck included for free (Canadian government is paying for it)
• Its valid for 5 years + renewals
• Only $50, most Aeroplan credit cards will waive this fee/pay for it
  • For reference, TSA Precheck alone is $78 USD for US citizens

Car

• Used Cars are also cheaper in the US. If you live somewhere that really needs one (anywhere that isn’t New York City 😢)
• Each state has specific rules on how your drivers license carries over from Canada, but usually there’s a grace period.
  • Afterwards, you’ll need to follow their respective laws on how to convert your license into the correct one

And that’s a wrap for now! Hopefully this helps to get you started in your exciting new journey :)