If an American citizen lives full-time abroad, such as in Mexico or Canada, can he/she transfer thier IRA monies abroad, to a safe tax-
haven, such as the Netherlands, Switzerland, Austria or the Bahamas...?

Your original question has been answered but you might also want to consider other issues too. Roths can be a troublesome issue for those who live abroad. Many countries don't consider them to be tax deferred investment vehicles and if you are living in say Canada and are a tax resident there then you will owe taxes each and every year on any realized gains in the Roth - that includes sales from within the Roth for distributions. They are completely unsheltered in Canada and many other foreign countries.

You may also want to look into the tax treaties between the US and other countries at - http://www.irs.gov/businesses/corporations/article/0,,id=96739,00.html - and summaries at - http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p901.pdf

If you are specifically considering issues for residing in Canada then I highly recommend the Grasmick board at www.grasmick.com There are two web boards there (financial and visa/immigration) that are mostly dealing with Canucks in the US but there are some intelligent folks who might be able to help you out.

Hyperborea