The Border Guide: A Canadian's Guide to Living, Working, and Investing in the United States (Self-Counsel Reference) (Paperback)

~ (Author) "The economic and tax environment of the United States and Canada has grown in breadth and complexity over the past few years and, with it,..." (more)
Key Phrases: tax treaty rules, labour certification, derivative citizen, United States, The Border Guide, Internal Revenue Service (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"... a must for anyone who has ever considered investing, purchasing property, or seasonal residence in the United States" -- Canadian MoneySaver

"A Comprehensive cross-border financial tool." -- Alexandra Eadie, Globe and Mail

Product Description

- For "snowbirds" and permanent residents

- Save money with sound cross-border financial planning

- Get the best from both countries

- Learn tips on investing in real estate

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 300 pages
• Publisher: Self-Counsel Press (March 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1551805723
• ISBN-13: 978-1551805726
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #948,530 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A "must" read for US bound Canadians, July 9, 2004

By	Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

There are three million Canadian citizens living in the United States (often traveling back and forth across the border), with almost two millions Canadians visiting Florida each years. Many Canadians and Americans incorrectly assume that the laws governing investment, taxation, and immigration are the same in both countries. They are not. And that's why The Border Guide: A Canadian's Guide To Living, Working, And Investing In The United States is such a timely and necessary book recommended to the attention of all Canadians coming into the United States for reasons of work, education, travel, investment, or residence. Thoroughly "user friendly", The Border Guide will help anyone from getting disadvantaged by the fluctuations between Canadian and American currency; quality for old-age and social security benefits on either side of the border; obtain the best that the Canadian and US medical systems have to offer; receive Canadian pensions in the US almost tax free; even how to buy a retirement home and deduct the mortgage interest from Canadian tax returns. All these and so much more make The Border Guide a "must" read for US bound Canadians!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Questions answered, October 23, 2005

By	James Schroeder (Beaufort SC) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This was a very informitive book that gave us great insight into our situation about our retirement in the US.
With just a quick scan thru this book at the public library we knew it had information that was very valueable to us .
We not only bought one for ourselves but bought a copy for our investment advisor and another for our accountant.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Few can afford not to read this, August 1, 2009

By	Francois Brunet (Madison, WI USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Border Guide: A Canadian's Guide to Living, Working, and Investing in the United States (Border Guide: A Guide to Living, Working & Investing Across the) (Paperback)

I thought I did it right before moving from Canada to the US: I consulted a tax expert, cut my economical and social affiliations with Canada, and crossed the border. Reading The Border Guide was an eye-opener, as there is so much more to think about.

Did you know that capital gain on your RRSP is taxable by the IRS when you become a US resident?
If you own a green card, did you know that the IRS will tax you on your world-wide income *no matter where you live in the world*?

These are just two small examples of stuff you should really, really know before moving to the US, or thinking of coming back to Canada after spending some time in the US with a green card.

The book targets mainly two types of cross-border residents: Canadian retirees spending much of their time in the Sun belt, and investors aiming to widen their portfolio by investing in both countries. As a simple engineer in my thirties, with no estate or businesses, much of this material did not apply to me, but I still found the book extremely resourceful. Even if case studies applied mostly to millionaires, virtually all possible immigration cases are described in some detail.

The book is well structured, giving you the salient information right at the beginning, in the first few chapters. The remaining is well organized for discussing the details, whether you are a small-business owner, a Canadian citizen living in the US and thinking of moving back to Canada, and so on. It is free of jargon, accessible for anybody who once filed their own taxes. I especially appreciated the questions and answers at the end of each chapter, taken from a magazine column written by the author over the years.

One downside: the author is reminding us a little too often to my taste that real border planning should be done by professionals only, that qualified professionals are very rare, expensive, and it is okay to pay a lot for this. This may all be true, but the repeated sales pitch is damaging for the overall reading experience. Also, the chapter on investments does not add much to the usual wisdom: choose your portfolio carefully according to your needs and tolerance for risk. No, really? I would have traded this for more practical information or case studies specific to cross-border planning.