The American Abroad Retirement Playbook

A practical framework for turning US retirement accounts, Social Security, foreign pensions and investments into one coordinated retirement plan when you live overseas.

Retiring internationally creates a different planning problem.

You may have retirement assets in the United States, pensions in another country, investments held elsewhere again and a retirement lifestyle funded in a completely different currency.

The solution is not to optimise every account separately. It is to decide how they should work together.

• Coordinate 401(k)s, IRAs, Roth IRAs and foreign pensions
• Build Social Security and portfolio withdrawals into one income strategy
• Plan for tax, RMDs, currency, beneficiaries and future residence

International retirement is a sequencing problem

Most Americans approaching retirement do not have one retirement account.

They have layers.

Perhaps an old 401(k).

Another employer plan.

A Traditional IRA.

A Roth IRA.

A brokerage account.

Social Security.

A foreign pension.

Cash held in several currencies.

Each asset may have been accumulated for a different reason and at a different stage of life.

Retirement changes the question.

Instead of asking:

“How should this account be invested?”

you start asking:

“Which account should fund my life, when should I use it and what happens to everything else when I do?”

Should the brokerage account fund the early years?

Should Social Security start immediately or later?

Is there a useful period for Roth conversions before other taxable retirement income rises?

When will required minimum distributions begin affecting the plan?

How should a foreign pension fit alongside US retirement income?

What happens if you move country again?

And how will your beneficiaries deal with accounts located thousands of miles away?

The order matters because retirement decisions interact.

Using one account can change tax.

Delaying one income source increases reliance on another.

A conversion can change future pre-tax balances.

Moving country can change the local treatment of the same withdrawal.

International retirement therefore needs to be planned as one sequence, not as a collection of separate account decisions.

Who is this playbook for?

This playbook is designed for Americans and US-connected families who expect retirement to remain international.

It may be particularly useful if you:

• are a US citizen approaching retirement overseas
• have a 401(k), 403(b), IRA or Roth IRA in the United States
• also hold a pension or retirement account in another country
• expect to receive US Social Security
• have taxable brokerage investments alongside retirement accounts
• are considering retiring before Social Security begins
• want to understand which accounts to draw from first
• are considering Roth conversions before or during retirement
• need to prepare for future required minimum distributions
• expect to spend retirement income in a non-US currency
• may move country again after retiring
• have beneficiaries who live outside the United States
• want one retirement strategy rather than several disconnected accounts

The objective is not to create the cleverest withdrawal strategy.

It is to build one that remains practical, tax-aware and flexible throughout retirement.

Build the retirement income sequence

A useful American-abroad retirement plan can be built around seven stages.

1. SPENDING

Start with the life.

What will retirement cost?

Which expenses are essential?

Which are discretionary?

What currency will you actually spend?

2. SECURE INCOME

Map the income that does not depend directly on the investment portfolio.

Social Security.

Foreign pensions.

Employer pensions.

Other reliable sources.

For eligible US citizens, Social Security can generally continue to be paid while living outside the United States, subject to country-specific rules.

3. BRIDGE

Identify any gap between stopping work and later income starting.

If you retire at 58 and Social Security or a foreign pension starts later, what funds those intervening years?

That bridge can create important planning opportunities.

4. ACCOUNTS

Give each account a job.

Traditional retirement accounts.

Roth assets.

Taxable brokerage accounts.

Foreign pensions.

Cash.

Do not assume every account should be drawn proportionately.

5. TAX

Review the withdrawal sequence under both systems.

A distribution may be taxable in the United States and also relevant in your country of residence.

A Roth withdrawal may receive favourable US treatment without automatically receiving identical treatment overseas.

6. LATER-LIFE INCOME

Plan ahead for required distributions rather than discovering them when they arrive.

Under current IRS rules, Traditional IRAs and many retirement plans are subject to required minimum distribution rules, while original Roth IRA owners do not have lifetime RMDs from their Roth IRA.

7. LEGACY

Who receives what when you die?

Review:

• beneficiary nominations
• inherited retirement accounts
• spouse planning
• foreign beneficiaries
• wills
• estate and inheritance tax exposure

The withdrawal plan and the estate plan should support each other.

The objective is not to optimise each retirement account. It is to make every account perform the right job at the right stage of retirement.

Frequently asked questions

How should Americans abroad draw retirement income?

There is no universal withdrawal order. The strategy should consider taxable brokerage assets, Traditional retirement accounts, Roth assets, Social Security, foreign pensions, tax in both countries and how spending is expected to change during retirement.

Should I use my IRA before claiming Social Security?

Possibly. Some retirement plans deliberately use investment or retirement-account assets to fund a bridge while Social Security is delayed. Whether that improves your position depends on longevity, tax, other pensions, portfolio sustainability and household circumstances.

Should I do Roth conversions after I retire?

Retirement can create periods where taxable income is lower than it was during employment, which may make partial conversions worth reviewing. But a conversion deliberately creates US taxable income and the local-country treatment should also be checked before acting.

Do required minimum distributions still apply if I live abroad?

Living outside the United States does not itself remove US RMD obligations from accounts that are subject to them. The applicable starting age and calculation depend on the relevant US rules and your circumstances.

Do Roth IRAs have required minimum distributions?

Under current US rules, the original owner of a Roth IRA does not have lifetime RMDs from that Roth IRA. Different rules can apply after the owner dies.

Can I receive Social Security while retired overseas?

Many US citizens can receive Social Security retirement benefits while living abroad, although restrictions apply in certain countries and different rules can apply to non-US citizens and some dependent or survivor benefits.

About Josh Clancey

Josh Clancey is a cross-border financial planner working with Americans abroad and internationally mobile families on US retirement accounts, investment planning and retirement-income strategy.

His approach is to start with the retirement the client wants to fund and then work backwards through Social Security, 401(k)s, IRAs, Roth accounts, foreign pensions, investments, tax and currency.

The aim is not simply to minimise tax in one year or consolidate everything into fewer accounts.

It is to build a retirement-income strategy that works across both systems and remains flexible as life changes.