<prompt> Human: A potential scenario for me in the upcoming year is that I leave the USA permanently. How does one legally take their life savings, 401k, IRA with them to a foreign country? Leaving the money within the US would not be an option.  <response>: This is pretty good solid start, Im leaving the US for Austria and had to look into this exact problem. EDIT: theres nothing anyone can do as far as Ive been told by my financial advisor to stop you from leaving the country with your money. They may take a hefty chunk depending on how much you have, but taking it with you is 100 legal. Theres no backdoor workarounds you have to go through just a lot of paperwork. Also, if you can prove that youre not giving up your citizenship you may bypass expatriate taxing all together. Its meant to punish US citizens for giving up citizenship and essentially taking their money away from the US economy. But if you dont do that, youre in the clear. An example would be wealthy pensioners or retirees who live abroad, which sounds similar to your case. Honestly, your best bet is to talk to a tax attorney not just a financial advisor. Find a large firm that specializes in tax law and ask for someone whos familiar with expatriating or overseas moves. If you dont give up your citizenship you wont have to withdraw your 401k etc right now. You can keep receiving them and using an American bank in another country. You can move any non-penalized cash assets to a foreign bank just make sure you report anything over 10,000 USD.Source: am moving out of the country and have had to make a lot of trips to see a tax attorney. 