About KoruVest
U.S. money rules can change when your life crosses borders.
KoruVest publishes practical, source-checked guides for visa holders, international students, non-U.S. citizens, newcomers, and global investors navigating U.S. investing, taxes, retirement accounts, banking, and credit.
Why KoruVest exists
A simple financial question can have more than one correct answer. Whether you can open an account, how investment income is taxed, whether a form is required, or what happens to a retirement account after you leave the United States may depend on facts such as where you live, your U.S. tax residency, your visa status, and the policy of the financial institution involved.
KoruVest was created to make those decision points easier to see. We do not assume that every reader is a U.S. citizen or that one rule applies to everyone. Our goal is to explain the underlying rule, identify what can change the answer, and show the practical next questions a reader should check.
Who KoruVest is for
- International students and visa holders learning how U.S. financial accounts and tax rules apply to them.
- Non-U.S. citizens who want to invest through U.S. brokerages or understand U.S.-source investment income.
- Newcomers building U.S. banking, credit, retirement, and investing knowledge from the ground up.
- People preparing to leave the United States who need to understand what may happen to U.S. accounts and retirement assets.
- Global investors who need a clearer distinction between citizenship, immigration status, tax residency, residence, and a financial institution’s own eligibility rules.
What we cover
Cross-border accounts & investing
Brokerage eligibility, W-8BEN, investment accounts, nonresident issues, and the practical differences between tax status and an institution’s account-opening rules.
Tax & reporting
U.S.-source investment income, withholding, FBAR, payroll-tax questions, and other rules where residency classification can materially change the result.
Retirement & leaving the U.S.
401(k)s, IRAs, rollovers, distributions, and the questions that arise when a worker or investor later moves outside the United States.
Newcomer money & credit
Credit files, banking, saving, and investing fundamentals when they are useful for people entering the U.S. financial system.
We still explain investing fundamentals when they help readers make a cross-border or newcomer decision. We do not aim to recreate a general finance encyclopedia.
How we research
For financial, tax, regulatory, and account-eligibility claims, KoruVest prioritizes primary and authoritative sources. Depending on the topic, these may include the IRS, SEC and Investor.gov, FINRA, FDIC, U.S. Treasury, Social Security Administration, USCIS, Department of Labor, and official documents published by financial institutions.
A source list is not the end of the research process. We use source material to verify the rule, then add the part readers usually need most: what fact changes the answer, what assumptions a calculation uses, what a comparison does and does not establish, and when the question becomes too fact-specific for a general article.
Our standard: distinguish immigration status, tax residency, physical residence, account-provider policy, and product rules whenever combining them would create a misleading answer.
Who is responsible for the content?
KoruVest articles are published under the byline of David Han, the site’s lead author. The byline is intended to make responsibility for each article clear rather than publish material under an anonymous editorial label.
Our separate Editorial Standards page explains the author’s background, how sources are selected, how financial claims are reviewed, how updates and corrections are handled, and how commercial relationships are kept separate from editorial conclusions.
What we do not claim
KoruVest provides general educational information. We do not know a reader’s complete tax, legal, immigration, investment, or financial circumstances, and our articles are not a substitute for individualized professional advice.
We also do not treat a product as “best” merely because it pays compensation or appears in an affiliate program. Where a comparison is based on published eligibility rules, fees, features, or official documentation rather than first-hand testing, the article should say so.
Editorial independence
KoruVest is designed to educate readers, not to make an advertiser’s preferred conclusion look like editorial advice. Advertisers, sponsors, and commercial partners do not determine our factual conclusions.
If affiliate links, sponsorships, or other commercial relationships are used, they should be disclosed where relevant. Compensation does not replace our stated research criteria.
Corrections and questions
Financial rules, thresholds, product policies, and tax guidance can change. If you find an error, believe an article needs an update, or want to ask about the source behind a claim, please contact us.