Repatriation Cost Calculator

Almost every tool that costs an offshore investment models the money going out and stops there. The money has to come back, and when it does it is converted a second time at a second fee, on a balance that has grown in the meantime. That second conversion is rarely advertised, frequently the same rate as the first, and completely absent from the comparison most people run before they invest. This page models the whole round trip. It converts out at your entry rate less the entry fee, applies whatever return you expect over however long you intend to hold, then converts back at your exit rate less the exit fee, with brokerage at each end if your platform charges it. It reports the round-trip cost as a percentage rather than as the sum of the two fees, because the second fee applies to an amount the first has already reduced, so two 0.60% charges do not make 1.20%. It also reports the gross gain the investment needs simply to leave you level, which is slightly higher again because the gain has to be earned on the reduced amount that actually reaches the market. The most useful output is the last one: the round trip is a one-off charge, so what it costs you depends almost entirely on how many years you spread it across. The same 1.196% is a serious cost over one year and a rounding error over twenty, which is an argument against moving in and out repeatedly rather than an argument against investing offshore.

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The Fee You Do Not See Coming

Platforms advertise the rate to convert into a foreign currency. The rate to convert back is rarely on the same page and is frequently the same charge again.

On the worked example the entry fee is $300.00 and the exit fee is $418.24, because the exit is charged on five years of growth. Together they are $598.20 measured against the starting amount, and $839.01 measured against a fee-free round trip at the end.

Worked Example: $50,000 Out And Back

$50,000.00 less 0.60% is $49,700.00, converted at 0.5850 to US$29,074.50.

Five years at 7.00% takes it to US$40,778.49.

Converted back at 0.5850 gives $69,706.82, less 0.60% leaves $69,288.58.

A fee-free round trip would have ended at $70,127.59, so the conversions cost $839.01.

Two Fees Do Not Simply Add

Two 0.60% charges give a round-trip cost of 1.196%, not 1.200%, because the second applies to an amount the first has already reduced.

The difference is trivial at these rates and grows as the fees do. At 1.50% each end the round trip is 2.978% rather than 3.000%.

The break-even is a third number again, at 1.211%. It is higher than the cost because the gain has to be earned on the reduced amount that actually reaches the market, which is a distinction worth getting right when the margins are this fine.

The Horizon Decides Whether It Matters

The round trip is one charge. Whether it is expensive depends entirely on how long the money stays offshore.

Held for a year, 1.196% is 1.196% a year, which is more than most funds charge in fees and would consume a meaningful share of a normal year's return.

Held for ten years it is 0.120% a year. Held for twenty it is 0.060%, which is smaller than the expense ratio of most funds.

So the argument this calculation supports is not against investing offshore. It is against moving in and out, because each round trip pays the full cost again and resets the amortisation to zero.

The Currency Move Is Larger Than The Fee

Both exchange rates start at the same value here so the output isolates the fees. That is not how a real round trip works.

A currency that moves five percent between your entry and exit swings the result by roughly four times the entire round-trip fee, and ten percent by eight times.

The distinction worth holding onto is that the fee is certain and always against you, while the currency move is uncertain and helps as often as it hurts. Our currency hedged vs unhedged calculator deals with that side properly, and our FX drip-feed vs lump sum calculator covers whether to convert all at once.

What This Page Deliberately Leaves Out

Tax, entirely. The foreign investment fund rules are usually a larger annual cost than the whole round trip, and our total cost of owning a US ETF calculator brings them together with the conversion charges into one figure.

Any mark-up buried in the exchange rate itself rather than shown as a fee. A platform quoting a poor rate with no fee can be dearer than one charging a visible fee at a fair rate, and our FX spread vs fee calculator separates the two.

And the alternative that avoids the question: a New Zealand domiciled fund holding the same foreign assets is bought and sold in New Zealand dollars, so you never convert anything. The fund manages the currency internally at institutional rates and the cost sits inside its fee.

Related NZ Offshore Investing Calculators

• US Share FX Cost Calculator: the entry conversion in detail.
• Total Cost Of Owning A US ETF Calculator: conversions plus tax plus fees.
• FX Spread vs Fee Calculator: the cost hidden in the rate itself.
• Currency Hedged vs Unhedged Calculator: the exchange rate risk.
• FX Fee Tier Break-Even Calculator: whether a paid tier is worth it.