Transferring USD from E*Trade account - avoiding double FX

Cambodia

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Hi, I have some USD denominated shares in my employer E*Trade account which I would like to invest in other (non-employer) USD denominated shares/S&P ETF etc for diversification and I'm wondering whether there is a way to avoid a double hit to FX fees. For instance, atm, I am selling the shares in Etrade and transferring the USD proceeds to MoneyCorp which I convert to euro (hit 1) and then I'm transferring euro to a Degiro account where I am re-converting to USD (hit 2).

Any thoughts?

Many thanks

Eugene
 
There are several existing threads on how to get the best exchange rate in situations like this. You should be able to find them by searching.
 
Open a us ‘Wise’ account and transfer from E*trade to there in USD. Then transfer to eToro from your USD wise account.
 
Open an Interactive Brokers account. You can hold US dollars in this account. Transfer the shares to IB. Sell them and use the US dollars in the IB account to buy other US shares. Another way could be to transfer the shares to Degiro. Set the currency setting in Degiro to manual. Then sell the shares. The proceeds will be held in US dollars in Degiro. Then use the US dollars to buy other US shares. The only disadvantage with Degiro is that you cannot withdraw US dollars directly. They will have to be converted to euro for withdrawal. IB allow US dollars be be directly withdrawn.
 
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Hi, I have some USD denominated shares in my employer E*Trade account which I would like to invest in other (non-employer) USD denominated shares/S&P ETF etc for diversification and I'm wondering whether there is a way to avoid a double hit to FX fees. For instance, atm, I am selling the shares in Etrade and transferring the USD proceeds to MoneyCorp which I convert to euro (hit 1) and then I'm transferring euro to a Degiro account where I am re-converting to USD (hit 2).

Any thoughts?

Many thanks

Eugene
You should be able to open an E*Trade brokerage/trading account if, as I assume, your existing E*Trade account is limited for the purposes of employer stock related incentives (ESPP, stock/RSU bonuses etc.). Then when you liquidate stock in your employer's company you can trade with the proceeds and everything stays in US$. I've always found E*Trade support to be very good when I called them. However you may still have obstacles to buying ETFs, particularly those without the necessary KIID documentation for purchase by EU citizens.
 
There are several existing threads on how to get the best exchange rate in situations like this. You should be able to find them by searching.
Yes but there are issues with Etrade, they require you to transfer into another denominated US account but it must be in your own name in order to avoid the big transfer out fees. Therefore setting up a currencyfair account and using their US dollar bank account wont work because that account is a generic account (but unique reference number per individual) but not in your own name
 
Yes but there are issues with Etrade, they require you to transfer into another denominated US account but it must be in your own name in order to avoid the big transfer out fees. Therefore setting up a currencyfair account and using their US dollar bank account wont work because that account is a generic account (but unique reference number per individual) but not in your own name
In not sure that's true. I manage a large transfer to such an account in the past after arranging it with E*Trade support. However it was a while ago so maybe things have changed since then?
 
Hi OP, after reading some newer posts I realize that I am was in quite a similar situation to you albeit over 20 years ago. I had an employee share scheme run through etrade. I used it exclusively for that. After I left the company & sold my shares I was able to set up a parallel portfolio using the same etrade account & use that for my personal trading. I still use it today & the old Employee share scheme portfolio placeholder is still there on the landing page although it is long empty. Like @ClubMan said their customer support is quite good, i'd give them a ring and ask them to set up a parallel portfolio separate but connected your existing employee share scheme portfoli.
 
Open a us ‘Wise’ account and transfer from E*trade to there in USD. Then transfer to eToro from your USD wise account.
i tried it with currencyfair, the problem was that etrade would send 2 small deposits to the currencyfair US dollar bank account . Then you needed to verify these deposits when they arrived in order to complete the verification process on etrade. However I think because the deposits are so small they are not picked up on currencyfair and assigned to my account, therefore I could not complete the verification because I need to know the exact amount of the 2 deposits. I have transferred money in and out of currencyfair no bother before and since so that was not the issue, just these small verification deposits
 
This time I managed to verify the external account with currencyfair, it was just a matter of asking them for the small deposit amounts from etrade and they emailed them to me this morning. Pretty happy with that as it was a problem I had been having but now its sorted
 
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