Are My Life Savings Safe in UK Banks and in Sterling?

aworriedsaver

I have about £200,000 in life savings. If my bank went bust I would lose most my savings as only £50,000 is covered.

One option is to spread the personal savings around and open bank accounts with 4 separately authorised banks and put £50,000 in each. But even this does not totally reassure me - and NS&I account would be simpler. But even this is not going to help totally because the other consideration is that I want to live abroad.

Already sterling has fallen so much against most other currencies that the spending power is worth much less than it was. The UK bank does not offer an account in the foreign currency, and if I transfer my savings to my overseas bank abroad to put it in the local currency, I may not be covered for even £50,000 that applies in the UK (although that is insufficient anyway, so maybe I should discount that concern). Once the Bank of England is cleared to start printing money I am worried my sterling savings will be so devalued they won't buy a shed where I wanted to live.

What can I do with my life savings to keep them safe and having regard to weakening sterling reducing its spending power where I eventually want to live?

Pssst

What are you saving so much for? If there is one lesson to be learned from this whole fiasco it is that savers are the whipping boys of society. Money is practically worthless unless its spent. It is only a promissory note and with another base rate cut all but imminent and some QE coming your way,your savings are losing value all the time.

aworriedsaver

Pssst wrote: »

What are you saving so much for? If there is one lesson to be learned from this whole fiasco it is that savers are the whipping boys of society. Money is practically worthless unless its spent. It is only a promissory note and with another base rate cut all but imminent and some QE coming your way,your savings are losing value all the time.

I understand that sterling is losing value all the time, and the threat of QE - that's why I posted my message. I'll eventually need the capital to buy a property overseas. So I can't just spend it all now.

Gwhiz

Opening 4 accounts is not exactly difficult is it? Then you are completely secure. Also... if part of this is your "pension" fund surely some financial advice on investing, rather than saving, would be in order.

aworriedsaver

Gwhiz wrote: »

Opening 4 accounts is not exactly difficult is it? Then you are completely secure. Also... if part of this is your "pension" fund surely some financial advice on investing, rather than saving, would be in order.

Secure maybe, but worth less every month! As I said, if it is in sterling, after the BoE starts printing money soon, the value of sterling to most other currencies will fall further. I am already downgrading the property I hoped to buy overseas. I'd like to keep the money safe, but preferably not in UK sterling. Is there such an option?

Gwhiz

aworriedsaver wrote: »

Secure maybe, but worth less every month! As I said, if it is in sterling, after the BoE starts printing money soon, the value of sterling to most other currencies will fall further. I am already downgrading the property I hoped to buy overseas. I'd like to keep the money safe, but preferably not in UK sterling. Is there such an option?

Many of the large UK banks will handle other currencies in their offshore operations.

gozomark

aworriedsaver wrote: »

I understand that sterling is losing value all the time

£ is the strongest major currency in the world in 2009...............

aworriedsaver

I was just worried that even if I transfer the money overseas, OK it's not in sterling any more which continues to devalue, but then it is totally exposed to the risk of the overseas bank going bust. Overseas banks are just as exposed as the UK banks.

mike22

gozomark wrote: »

£ is the strongest major currency in the world in 2009...............

How? Any reference for this?

gozomark

actually, it was true as of last week - the pound is now down 1% v the $, but is up v the yen, A$, C$, € and SF, and is up 5% on a trade weighted basis

sh856531

> after the BoE starts printing money soon, the value of sterling to most other currencies will fall further

Your making the assumption that other countries won't do exactly the same thing as the BoE. The currencies trade relative to one another - Sterling will only continue to fall if investors percieve the UK to be in a much worse situation than say Japan, Germany and the US. I'm not convinced that we are in a much worse situation than those countries given the amount by which their manufacturing industries have collapsed

Best Regards

S