"In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes."
If you are like us, cost-conscious and a non-US person, US-listed ETFs are probably a bad idea. A caveat to this is that we are by no means tax experts, but we do understand the enormous effect of cost on investment returns. For this reason, tax cannot be ignored.
Yes, they are liquid, "cheap", heavily marketed, used by robo-advisors all over the world, and in general great products... but not for non-US persons. This may strike you as a surprise, but there are taxes that simply cannot be ignored, changing the "cost" quite drastically, especially when the ETF invests in non-US assets.
Why US-listed ETFs are not necessarily cost-efficient for you and me
1. First Hidden Cost/Tax - Dividend Withholding Taxes
Let's say you want to have exposure to emerging markets....
