TIAA has my pension $ but won't talk to non-US resident

Thank you, Nan!  So kind of you.  The SEC hotline sounds like a good idea, too.

I do get regular notices from Fidelity that being overseas they will not advise me on anything and that their website is not for overseas customers. When on the phone with them recently they would not even tell me what investment options were available to me.

I have my IRA with Fidelity, my wife's is with TIAA. She has done nothing with TIAA since we came here (4 yrs) and so has had no issues. I like to fiddle with my investments so first noticed I lost the ability to put new money into mutual funds, then the same happened with ETF's. Recently I tried to buy CD's and those are closed off now as well. Not happy that I was not given notice of these changes. I'm stuck with owning individual stocks or a practically interest-free sweep account. I imagine all US firms have to abide by the same guidelines; they might just act at different times.

I'm loathe to transfer our substantial IRA's to UK firms without knowing if we'll take a ridiculous tax hit. We're not drawing funds yet.

Don't know if this helps, just ranting.

I do get regular notices from Fidelity that being overseas they will not advise me on anything and that their website is not for overseas customers. When on the phone with them recently they would not even tell me what investment options were available to me.

I have my IRA with Fidelity, my wife's is with TIAA. She has done nothing with TIAA since we came here (4 yrs) and so has had no issues. I like to fiddle with my investments so first noticed I lost the ability to put new money into mutual funds, then the same happened with ETF's. Recently I tried to buy CD's and those are closed off now as well. Not happy that I was not given notice of these changes. I'm stuck with owning individual stocks or a practically interest-free sweep account. I imagine all US firms have to abide by the same guidelines; they might just act at different times.

I'm loathe to transfer our substantial IRA's to UK firms without knowing if we'll take a ridiculous tax hit. We're not drawing funds yet.

Don't know if this helps, just ranting.

I don’t believe you can transfer your IRAs to the UK without a huge tax hit but as long as Fidelity allow you to take distributions then I would just leave them at Fidelity and withdraw at your own pace.

I have my IRA with Fidelity, my wife's is with TIAA. She has done nothing with TIAA since we came here (4 yrs) and so has had no issues. I like to fiddle with my investments so first noticed I lost the ability to put new money into mutual funds, then the same happened with ETF's. Recently I tried to buy CD's and those are closed off now as well. Not happy that I was not given notice of these changes. I'm stuck with owning individual stocks or a practically interest-free sweep account. I imagine all US firms have to abide by the same guidelines; they might just act at different times.

I'm loathe to transfer our substantial IRA's to UK firms without knowing if we'll take a ridiculous tax hit. We're not drawing funds yet.

Years ago I transferred my 401(k) to an IRA with Charles Schwab in UK. Similar to your experience with Fidelity,  US Regulations over the years have meant that I am no longer able to buy new funds or ETFs. However, I can buy bonds with a decent interest rate. 

There is no commission for online trades of individual shares, just a very small processing fee (e.g. 4 US cents for a recent sale of shares for $5,080).