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> I have a 401k from a previous job in the USA that is being shut down.

Depending on what you exactly mean by "shut down," it's conceivable the 401k will simply be rolled into a new 401k. Or a Traditional/Rollover IRA at the same custodian.

Have you clarified what would happen if you took no action?

Typically 401k companies also offer iras

No, but this is good advice.

I'm not 100% clear what's happening either. This is actually for my girlfriend and she's not very financially savvy and is having a hard time getting answers from the account owners.

I thought this would be a good opportunity to just move it into an IRA with a larger firm, but that is proving challenging...

What you're realizing is that while there's no laws against it, financial institutions in the US pretty much lack a desire to take on the risk of dealing with international customers.

Risk > Benefit

Yeah, I get that. It is frustrating though.

I feel like if the USA is going to continue taxing citizens who no longer work or live there, then they should have a duty to provide access to these kinds of services. What happened to "no taxation without representation"? Didn't you guys literally fight a war over that?

> then they should have a duty to provide access to these kinds of services.

Think about what you're saying.

You're basically saying that the government should take over custodianship and administering of 401k/IRA/etc.

We have far more pressing issues to resolve. We can't even get healthcare nationalized.

Ha ha! I know. I'm just venting. We've spent far too much time and energy dealing with the IRS' tax and reporting requirements than I think is reasonable considering nobody in our household has lived in the USA for years. Most countries don't make their citizens abroad jump through all those hoops.