Suitcase portfolio test
The suitcase test is Geldchen's decision procedure for asking what remains usable if a household must move again. It inventories financial assets, pension claims, property, debts, and earning capacity, then tests each for continuity, access, tax friction, reversibility, concentration, and documentary proof. It exposes relocation dependencies; it does not prescribe a particular portfolio.
Why it matters
A portfolio can look diversified by ticker while the household remains tied to one country, employer, currency, licence, bank, or property market. Human capital, pension rights, and housing can be larger exposures than the securities account.
For an immigrant household, “portable” does not mean that an asset physically crosses a border. It means that the asset or skill retains useful economic value, remains controllable, and can be reported, taxed, transferred, sold, or claimed with tolerable friction after a defined move.
The suitcase test is a project heuristic, not an academic doctrine or legal status. Its underlying questions come from cross-border pension coordination, professional-recognition rules, tax residence, diversification, and transaction-cost research [1][2][3][4][5].
Run the test in six steps
1. Define a specific move
Write a destination and a deadline: for example, “move from Germany to another EU country within 90 days.” Run a separate test for a move outside the EU. Portability rules change by destination, citizenship, contract, and account provider; “abroad” is too vague to test.
2. Inventory the whole economic portfolio
List five groups:
- cash, securities, pensions, insurance claims, and other financial assets;
- home, other property, business interests, and valuable physical assets;
- mortgages, guarantees, leases, and other continuing obligations;
- qualifications, licences, language skills, employer-specific knowledge, and income sources;
- documents and people needed to control or prove each item.
Rank items by economic exposure before scoring. For assets and debts, use current value or liability. For income, use annual cash flow. Keep human capital as its own list instead of pretending that a precise euro valuation exists.
3. Score six dimensions
Use evidence available today, not an assumption about what a provider or authority might allow.
| Dimension | 0 — blocked or unknown | 1 — works with material friction | 2 — documented low-friction continuity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Economic continuity | Value or service is lost or unverified | Value remains, but use changes materially | Value and intended function remain usable |
| Access and control | Access after the move is blocked or unconfirmed | Extra approval, local account, agent, or repeated administration is needed | Control continues through documented procedures |
| Tax and reporting | Treatment is unknown | Rules are known but add filings, withholding, or advice costs | Treatment and reporting path are documented and manageable |
| Exit and reversibility | Cannot exit on the required timeline, or terms are unknown | Exit is possible with delay, penalty, spread, or material effort | Can transfer, sell, close, or restructure on known terms |
| Dependency concentration | Depends on the same country, employer, currency, or counterparty as several major exposures | One important shared dependency remains | Independent of the household's main dependency cluster |
| Evidence readiness | Rights depend on missing records or informal knowledge | Records exist but need translation, certification, or consolidation | Current statements, contracts, credentials, and contacts are retrievable |
Use “not applicable” only when a dimension truly has no meaning for that item; exclude it from the item's denominator. An unknown is a zero, because uncertainty is exactly what the test is meant to surface.
4. Apply gates before averages
Do not let several easy twos conceal one decisive zero.
- Continuity gate: Can the item still perform its intended economic function?
- Control gate: Can the household access or administer it after departure?
- Deadline gate: Can any required transfer or exit happen before the move?
- Income gate: Can at least one income path operate without unresolved recognition or work-authorisation barriers?
A failed gate creates a research or contingency task, not an automatic instruction to sell, transfer, or abandon the item.
5. Draw the dependency map
Connect every major exposure to its country, currency, employer, provider, licence, and property market. Flag a cluster when several top exposures share the same failure point. Diversification across securities does not offset a household whose salary, home equity, pension, and debt service all depend on one local economy [4].
6. Produce three outputs
The test ends with:
- a red list of zeros and missing answers;
- an evidence pack containing statements, contracts, contribution records, credentials, contact routes, and access tests;
- a contingency sequence stating what must be verified, transferred, delegated, or professionally reviewed before a move.
Worked relocation scenario
Assume a household is testing a move from Germany to another EU country. It owns a German home, has a German statutory-pension record, uses a German brokerage account, and one partner works in a regulated profession.
| Exposure | Evidence-based finding | Score implication | Next question |
|---|---|---|---|
| Statutory pension record | EU coordination preserves national insurance records and provides for pension payment across the EU/EEA and Switzerland [1] | Continuity 2; access and tax still need country-specific checks | Are contribution records complete, and where will the claim and tax reporting occur? |
| Regulated profession | Recognition may be required before practising in the destination; documents and language evidence may be requested [2] | Continuity and access stay at 1 until the process and timing are verified | Which authority decides, which documents are needed, and can work start before recognition? |
| Brokerage account | No written confirmation has been obtained about servicing residents of the destination | Continuity and access are 0, even if the securities themselves are diversified | Will the provider retain the account, restrict transactions, or require transfer? |
| Owner-occupied home | The property remains in Germany and can retain value, but no plan exists for sale, rental administration, debt service, or local tax filings | Access, tax, and exit are 1; concentration may be 0 if it dominates net worth | Who manages it, what are the exit costs and timeline, and how does the destination tax the position? |
The statutory pension is not “portable” in the same way as cash, and the home does not have to be sold to pass. The test identifies the distinct mechanism for each exposure. It also prevents a false green result: EU pension coordination does not answer provider rules, professional recognition, or cross-border tax treatment. Tax residence can bring worldwide income and gains into the destination's tax base, subject to national law and treaties [3].
Interpreting the result
A high score means the household has documented continuity under the stated scenario. It does not mean the asset is low-risk, profitable, or suitable. A low score means the move could create friction or loss of control; it does not mean the asset is inherently poor.
Repeat the test after a new property purchase, employer-linked investment, pension election, business formation, or change of likely destination. For an actual cross-border move, unresolved tax residence, property, pension, business, or inheritance questions require advice from professionals qualified in both relevant jurisdictions.
Check yourself
What is the first step in a suitcase portfolio test?
A broker has not confirmed whether it serves residents of the destination country. What access score applies?
Which exposures belong in the whole-economic-portfolio inventory? Select all that apply.
A household owns diversified securities, but its salary, home equity, pension, and debt service all depend on Germany. What does the suitcase test reveal?
Sources
- European Commission — Pensions: EU social-security coordination for people who worked in more than one country, https://employment-social-affairs.ec.europa.eu/policies-and-activities/moving-working-europe/eu-social-security-coordination/what-are-your-rights/pensions_en (accessed 2026)
- Your Europe — Professional qualifications: recognition when moving to another EU country, https://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/work/professional-qualifications/index_en.htm (accessed 2026)
- Your Europe — Income taxes abroad: tax residence, worldwide income, and double-tax agreements, https://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/work/taxes/income-taxes-abroad/index_en.htm (accessed 2026)
- US Securities and Exchange Commission, Investor.gov — Diversification, https://www.investor.gov/introduction-investing/investing-basics/glossary/diversification (accessed 2026)
- OECD — To Move or Not to Move: What Drives Residential Mobility Rates in the OECD?, Economics Department Working Papers No. 846, https://www.oecd.org/content/dam/oecd/en/publications/reports/2011/02/to-move-or-not-to-move-what-drives-residential-mobility-rates-in-the-oecd_g17a1f63/5kghtc7kzx21-en.pdf (2011)