Banking & Insurance for American Expats (2026)

The visa is only half the move. The other half is money: how you spend and get paid across borders, whether you keep a US bank account, and how you replace the US health coverage that stops at the border. Here's the money side for Americans moving abroad in 2026, with the actual numbers and the caveats the provider homepages leave out.

1. Moving and spending money: Wise vs Revolut

Both beat a typical US bank debit card, which often charges around 3% on foreign transactions. They aren't the same tool, though, and they win at different jobs. The one-line contrast: Wise converts at the mid-market rate with no weekend surcharge, while Revolut Standard gives the market rate only up to $1,000 of exchange a month and adds 1% outside FX-market hours, which includes the weekend.

The full job-by-job breakdown, with the fee ranges, ATM math, and the non-bank caveat spelled out, is in our Wise vs Revolut for US expats guide (2026). All of these fees are volatile; confirm the current numbers on the official Wise US and Revolut US pages before you move money.

2. Keeping a US bank account after you move

You usually can, and most expats do. Social Security and US pensions deposit to a US account, some brokerage and tax tasks are easier with one open, and it gives you a dollar base that isn't sitting inside a single money app. The common setup is to keep a US bank or brokerage account, pair it with a reliable US mailing address, and move money abroad with Wise when you need it.

Two honest cautions. First, tell your bank you're moving and check its policy on non-US residential addresses before you go; some accounts and cards get harder to keep once your address is foreign. Second, the money-mover apps above are not banks: your cash sits with partner banks under pass-through FDIC coverage, and accounts can be frozen by automated risk checks, so they're excellent for moving money and a poor place to park your only emergency fund.

3. Health insurance: Medicare does not follow you

The headline for retirees: Original Medicare generally does not cover care outside the US, apart from a few rare near-border emergencies. Turning 65 doesn't solve coverage abroad. Your US employer plan mostly stops at the border too, and travel insurance is built for a two-week trip, not a life. What replaces them falls into three buckets.

No insurer publishes a flat price; every premium is quote-based, and age is the single biggest driver. One broker's average annual premiums across roughly 2,000 of its own sales show the slope (they skew high because many buyers included US coverage):

Read those as the slope, not your price: the 65-and-over average is about six times the youngest band. If you are pricing a move in your 60s, budget in the five figures a year and get real quotes early. The full explainer, including how the area of cover (whether the plan includes the US) swings the premium, is in our explainer on what expat health insurance actually is (2026).

The money side, at a glance

The money follows the move. If you are choosing a country, start with retirement visas or citizenship by descent, and run your situation through the Country Matcher quiz.