Who writes this, and why
We are a small editorial team. We write for Indians living in the US who manage money, taxes, and paperwork in both countries.
I started NRI Playbook because college friends kept sending me the same message: "You've been in the US for 10 years. Can you just tell me what to do about my PPF?" Each answer took about 45 minutes, depended on a lot of details, and ended with me sending links to four IRS forms and two RBI circulars. After the eighth or ninth time, I realized there was no single place that explained this for NRIs in the US, and that the people best placed to write it were people dealing with it themselves.
Before this, I spent more than ten years in product roles at two US financial services firms. That work meant reading SEC filings, regulatory notices, and treaty texts every day. It also showed me how much of what regulators require never makes it into consumer guides. NRI financial guidance has the same problem, and mistakes cost more: a missed FBAR, a wrong DTAA claim, or an OCI overstay.
The newsletter is our main work. We added paid services because readers kept asking us to file their FBARs. We wrote the handbook because readers who had been in the US for a few months kept telling us they wished they had had it when they arrived. Our editorial standards are listed below, and we follow them in everything we publish.
If you have a question we haven't answered, email us at hello@nriplaybook.com. Many editions start with one reader's question that turns out to apply to a lot of other people.
Three rules we follow in everything we publish
We use exact numbers.
We write $10,000.01 for the FBAR threshold instead of "about $10,000." When we report on the rupee, we give the rate, such as ₹95.70, and the change so far this year, such as 6.20%. When we give a threshold, it is the figure the regulator published.
We keep FBAR and FATCA separate.
FBAR applies to most people with foreign accounts. FATCA applies only above thresholds of $50,000 to $600,000. They are different forms, filed with different agencies, with different definitions and penalties. Mixing them up is the most common mistake in NRI financial content online, and we are careful not to.
We disclose referral fees next to the link.
Some links earn us a commission, including Wise, Remitly, and some banks we refer you to for NRE accounts. When we use one of these links, we say so right next to it, not only in the footer. Commissions don't change what we cover. We write about the same products we would write about anyway.
How we write and check articles
Where articles come from
Most articles are built from an edition of the newsletter and keep its wording. Each of those links back to the edition it came from. A few are written as stand-alone guides.
Sources
Where an article states a rule, it links to the agency that publishes it, such as the IRS, FinCEN, or the Reserve Bank of India.
Dates
Each article shows when it was published and when it was last updated. Figures that change, such as exchange rates and bank rates, carry the date they applied.
Corrections
Articles are general information, not advice for your situation. If you find an error, email hello@nriplaybook.com and we will correct it.
Email us
Send questions, corrections, and sponsor inquiries to the same address.
hello@nriplaybook.com