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Discussion starter ·
I travel 6 months a year outside of the USA. My cell provider has "WiFi Calling". With it I receive any calls or texts just as if I'm in the USA. Your expense is your monthly cell bill.

Beware, when a bank, brokerage, etc. discovers you are no longer residing in the USA they may/will freeze your s. If this happens you will probably need to return the US and visit a branch of your bank.

I've never had any problem with online access with more than a half dozen banks and brokerages. That said, every 6 months I'm back in the States, so maybe if they detect you never return to the states they will flag you.

It is not uncommon for companies to detect you are using a VPN. Many of the streaming services (Disney, Netflix, Amazon, etc.) detect you trying to use a VPN. I suspect banks do too.

Better to find a bank/brokerage that doesn't care if you live overseas. There are fewer of them now, since 9/11, because the Feds have made it onerous for the banks to have these kind of depositors. But, there still some. I believe Charles Schwab (checking/savings/brokerage) is one of them. Plus they refund overseas ATM fees! But, even they may limit the kind of investments you can have — mutual funds are often problematic.

Finally, if you do live in odds are good you will become a tax resident. You'll have to declare ALL of your USA assets to the French government. No free lunch! :)
Thank you so much for your valuable - it is always good to get some real-world experiences to learn from.
 
Discussion starter ·
5 Years ago, BOA closed my of 50 years (various banks bought out until totally BOA), anyway and I was retired in Thailand. But, I learned of the State Department Federal Credit Union (sdfcu.org) which is not for govt employees or state department folks but for any American and one does not need to have a US phone number or address. The bank will give a list of organizations that one can easily and then will open a full service with credit cards etc. They also WISE for sending funds overseas as well as using the bank itself for that service which I have used for 5 years with no problems whatsoever. Their cc fraud unit is always alerrt to stange charges and advises me immediately prior to payment so is very alert always,. I myself ed American Citizens Abroad (ACA) and once you have an I have been told you do not have to continue hip in that organization as hip is only needed to OPEN an . As for lying about address etc, due to FATCA rules, one fills in the form at their foreign bank, and along with the FATCA form stating you are or are not American, you are required to fill out IRS form 7 which you sign that the address you put on that form is correct so you need to be honest and with the SDFCU you can have that foreign with no problems. IMHO anyway, it is best to stay legal always.
Thanks for another vote of confidence for the State Department Federal Credit Union (sdfcu.org) ...
 
Discussion starter ·
I use Schwab for banking and the Debit card is quite useful abroad and worked very well in the past - but it looks like I have to look into Schwab International which also offers a great Debit card that can be used worldwide without any added fees...
 
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