I am a dual American-Italian citizen living in the US and planning to retire to Italy in 2-3 years. I'm curious how social security payments are made from the US to a recipient living in a foreign country with a different currency. I checked on the SSA website but couldn't find a clear answer. I expect to have a bank account in Italy in retirement so payments would be sent electronically, but what about the currency exchange? Who decides on the exchange rate for each payment and is there a fee taken out due to the different currency?