Ok. Almost every reference to US Citizens in this thread is incorrect. The actual term is a US Person and the definition is:
1) a US Citizen
2) US (or US possession) Resident
3) non-US citizen/non-resident who is married to US Person and has elected to be screwed over by the IRS :D

So the Schwab account with relaxed investment restrictions just because you don't live in the US is against SEC and IRS regulations. You have to be an non-US person for that.

Checking accounts (and checks) are pretty much non-existent in Europe, with France, UK & Ireland being exceptions. Most payments are directly via electronic transfer or using debit cards.

Most European banks require 3 months of salary to hit the account before you can have a credit card (or even debit card in some places). Contrary to the US, it is rare, if not impossible (again, country specific) to have a credit card from a bnk other than one that you have a current account at. AMEX is an exception to this of course.

Depending on the OP's salary level and lifestyle, there will not be much need for transfering funds around between Europe and the US. Put some money into a USD savings account somewhere and spend the rest on travelling around while you can is my suggestion. Don't forget to file your US return (as well as 8938 and FBAR).

I think you will be coming from one of the more reasonable states (unlike Georgia or Cali to name a few) so the state will not continue sucking your blood for a few years after you leave. If they do, move to another state (like where your parent live) before moving abroad. DO NOT USE A LOCAL CPA to do your taxes! I have seen even the majors screw up and continue to pay state when it isn't due, forget earned income deductions, misapply housing credits, etc. If your pay grade can afford it, make sure you get an expat experienced CPA. It may even be a deductible expense on your Austrian taxes (as it is for me on mine).

US Person may be technically correct, but references are to US citizens (i.e., living abroad) in this particular thread are specifically relevant to the OP's situation/query, and are not technically incorrect...

Huh? To which relaxed investment restrictions are you referring? The OP was advised that there are aspects of the Schwab International account that are not available to US citizen account holders.

Living in the UK, but paid in USD, I maintain US and UK accounts. I did this largely due to the use of PIN and Chip and, of course, to pay my rent and utilities. It is also useful for making purchases on some UK sites where I cannot use a US credit card.

I do maintain a small amount in my Sterling savings account, but was surprised they take taxes directly out of it...even for the paltry amount I keep in it. :)

:confused: The OP made the statement that he/she is a US Citizen? Must have missed that post. However it is clear that they are a US person, regardless of nationality, since they are living and working in the US (residency test).

"women must carry their passports when travelling internationally" is a technically correct statement (as per your logic), but remains incorrect in the broader context of travel, becuase the correct statement would be "all travellers must carry their passports when travelling internationally". Limiting the statement is the whole point I am trying to get across.

No, you said that if you live abroad you must convert to an International Account and that an international account permits mutual fund investing not allowed to US citizens. Replace US citizens with US Persons and I will agree. Which is my whole point about this thread anyway. All of the rules and regulations bandied about in this thread are relative to US PERSONS and not just US citizens.

Besides Schwab, you can also open an maintain an E-Trade account from outside the US, and it basically functions like an American bank account.

I have an E-Trade account which feeds my US credit cards. It's easy to top up from my bank account in Japan -- a SWIFT transfer out every few months, and the money usually shows up in E-Trade within 24 hours.

Does anyone have experience with Citigold internationally? Long story short, I just starting a short term project in India for which I am being transferred to our Indian company. That company has an affiliation with Citibank, so we are required to open Citi Gold accounts and have our paychecks deposited there - in INR of course. I will want to instantly transfer back to a US account - which I currently have Chase, Fidelity, and a few others. I can open a Citibank account in the US if it helps. I've been pretty unimpressed with the Indian Citibank folks - so I just want to get my money out of their accounts and back to the US as fast as possible.

just an update:
-i canceled all US banks except schwab -- which i maintained by changing to family address
-i canceled all US credit cards except amex plat and chase sapphire (both forex-free) -- by using method as above
-i opened a local bank account w/ atm (maestro) and visa card


findings:
-cash is king
-atm card is queen
-local credit cards are rarely used (as advised by banker: only for web purchases)
-atm card has odd limits (e.g. xxx per day, yyy per week, excluding ZZZ stores)
-local credit card have LOW limits, regardless of card type -- plain/gold/platinum, regardless of income, regardless of bank balance
--insignificant differences between plain/gold/plat benefits
-person-to-person transaction are done by bank transfers (i.e. almost no checks ever)


thoughts:
the whole thing seems, to me at least, very primitive. say goodbye to any points or rewards earnings. also, between the meager atm and cc limits, one can BARELY, if at all, furnish an apartment, or spend a week on medium-luxury accomodations and dining in london. (of course, both atm and cc would incur additional forex and transactional fees)


result:
(1)locally - do as the locals do: cash + atm everywhere.
(2)for huge purchases e.g. furniture, where allowable (&necessary, due to limits), use Chase Sapphire/Amex plat
(3)when traveling regionally, i use US-atm and US-cc's as much as possible
(4)i've been faxing wire requests from Schwab to local bank to fund #1. (luckily, exchange rate has been favorable)

a bit of a pain but not the end of the world

Starting credit limits are very low, but often can be increased by simply requesting it. My visa has a 5k limit from 1k simply because I asked. That said, you may have to be out of the 3-months of salary hitting the account period that mmany bank use to assess your income level. Cards in Europe (ex-AMEX) are really just overdraft lines as your balance will be paid automatically by your current account and the credit line on this account is equal to the limit on your card. This translates to 0% interest credit cards, because you end up paying interest based on overdraft usage. Overdraft rates of sub-8% beats 12-19.5% any day though it does mean lower limits.

Your EU ATM card will work in every country in Europe and you should get so many non-home bank withdrawls per month/quarter for free. Be forewarned that if you have one of the new Vpay ATM cards, it ONLY works in Europe, Turkey and Israel.

XXX/day, YYY/week limits is common for Europe, but the limits are usually significantly higher than the US. Never had the store limit, but these things vary slightly in each country.

Outside of France (represents over 50% of all cheques issued in Europe), checks are near non-existant.