Authoring My Own Post Mortem

     My recent vacation back home in the U.S. after being away for five years was notable. I caught up with a lot of family and dear friends. I let my suntan brag for itself to all the northern hemisphere  winter whites.  I engaged in some serious retail therapy to the tune of  a second 50 lb suitcase  (without being charged by the airline for it!)

     And I  got to hear how I died on April 1, 2008.

     Yeah, that was a bit of a shock to me, also. In a visit to my U.S. credit union to check up on my financial health, I discovered that where the consumer retail credit  world was concerned, I was little more than a name on a gravestone.
     This is how it happened.  When I moved to Australia five years ago, I changed my permanent address with all pertinent parties from the U.S. address to my new one overseas. Who wouldn't? Well, unbeknownst to me - and apparently to the razor sharp folks at my credit union, also - a foreign billing address is not recognized by North American credit reporting agencies. I had committed financial suicide. Add the fact that activity evaporates after several years -both the good and the bad- from one's credit rating , I essentially fell off the credit-worthy grid.  
     My credit rating went from 800+ to too low to calculate a score.   
     It is like being 18 years old again--in an unpleasant way.   I chose to take an immediate,  proactive role in my financial recovery (because yelling at the equally ignorant credit union people in shocked outrage would only have gotten me escorted out the door by armed security personnel) and have taken steps to reestablish myself  as a credit worthy individual.
     I don't believe in Woulda', Shoulda', Coulda's. I cannot change what is done.  I can help spread the word to other folks who plan to temporarily leave the country for contract work or preserve a retail credit presence in the U.S. for their own reasons to do so with the least amount of damage.  
     As we've seen, keeping a domestic address is paramount.  Start with a trusted relative or friend who will allow you a virtual home for your financial entity. Will they accept your mail and forward it to you?  If this is not a good option, try renting one of those private P.O. Boxes where the service will forward your mail. It will cost a fee per forward, but P.O. Boxes carry full weight as a residency requirement.  
     Remember to generate activity every now and again.  Make online purchases with your U.S. credit card or department store charge card a few times a year to make sure they are seen as active.  Take out a small secured loan against your savings and use the loan money to pay it back over a several month period.  Credit reporting companies love to see installment loans and aren't too fussy about the amount. A $300 secured loan paid back over nine months will probably cost you $5 in interest.  A much easier cost to swallow than trying to crawl your way out of a financial black hole.
      So much banking is done online or electronically that many people couldn't identify a single  employee in a brick & mortar office.  I know people who haven't stepped in a bank in years.  Not a good idea for a future expat.  Get to know your banker personally. Keep them in the loop of what you want to do and where you will be doing it from. This raises the customer service level and appropriate assistance you will get when managing or reassessing your financial affairs via email from some far corner of the Earth.
      And when you return to the good ol' US of A after your exotic couple of years abroad,  you won't find your name on the financial obituary list  hoping for an autopsy.