Most cross-border professionals have built financial lives across jurisdictions one account at a time. The compliance gaps, the unconsolidated retirement picture, the FX exposure — they accumulate quietly until something forces the reckoning. If your picture includes NRE/NRO accounts, a UK SIPP, a German Riester, or a flat back home that no US advisor wants to discuss — this was built for that situation.
Four questions. One number that tells you if you're ahead or behind.
You're probably in one of these situations
H-1B or L-1 at a US tech company
RSUs vesting in the US, NRE/NRO accounts in India. Nobody has looked at both sides of the picture at the same time.
American abroad — London, Singapore, the Netherlands
Your US brokerage is still open. Your UK pension or CPF is growing. You're not sure which tax credits to claim where.
Returning NRI with an RNOR window
You have two to three years where foreign income isn't taxed in India. Most people find out about this window after it closes.
On a global assignment
Your employer handles tax equalization on your salary. Nobody handles the pension from your last role, the flat back home, or what happens after you repatriate.
If any of these are you, this was built for your situation specifically.
Yes, if the aggregate value of all foreign financial accounts exceeds $10,000 at any point during the calendar year, FinCEN Form 114 (FBAR) is required by April 15 (with automatic extension to October 15). This is separate from FATCA Form 8938, which has different thresholds and applies to specified foreign financial assets. Non-willful failure penalties start at $10,000 per account per year; willful failure penalties can reach the greater of $100,000 or 50% of the account balance.
UK workplace pensions and SIPPs are generally taxable in the US, with the US-UK tax treaty (Article 17) providing some relief. The complexity: contributions to UK pensions aren't deductible in the US, creating potential double-taxation. Many cross-border professionals have significant unrecognized pension assets — the UK pension exists in British pounds in a British institution, and no US-facing financial tool consolidates it with US retirement accounts. This creates a systematic undercount of total retirement assets.
Currency risk is the most underestimated factor in cross-border net worth. A 10% USD/GBP movement creates a 10% swing in the USD value of UK assets — with no market movement required. Over a decade, unhedged multi-currency exposure can erode effective purchasing power by 8–15%. True net worth for a cross-border professional requires currency-normalized consolidation to a base currency, updated regularly.
PPF is not automatically treated like a Roth IRA. The IRS position is ambiguous — some practitioners treat it as a foreign trust requiring Form 3520; others report only distributions. The asymmetry matters: most NRIs have been contributing for years without knowing their US reporting obligations. PPF also appears on the FBAR threshold calculation if combined with other foreign accounts, which many people miss. NettWorth flags your India-side account structure against your current FBAR filing profile so your CPA has the complete picture before filing.
RNOR (Resident but Not Ordinarily Resident) is a 2–3 year status window after returning to India during which foreign income — including 401k distributions and US brokerage gains — may not be taxable in India. It's the most valuable tax window available to returning NRIs, and it has to be planned while you're still in the US. Decisions about Roth conversions, 401k distributions, and US property sales need to happen before your RNOR window opens, not during it. Most NRIs only discover this after they've moved — when it's too late to take full advantage.
Both directions covered
This page covers professionals moving to the US and multi-jurisdiction portfolios. If you're an American living abroad — still filing US returns, still subject to FBAR, still taxed on worldwide income — there's a dedicated assessment for your direction.
