Offshore accounts

rockitup

expatasia wrote: »

Yes it's the latest form, cheers. Hope you had more luck with the BWealth applications.

Hi expatasia

No luck whatsoever with BWealth, they managed to open accounts after 3 weeks but the BStockbrokers have taken 4 weeks and still no account opened. They say no certified copy of passport provided, I put it in the envelope, sealed it and then inside a sealed courier envelope and cost me £32 to send it.

If they popped next door to the BWealth office on the same floor of the building they also have a certified copy of my passport and other verification items, but that is too far from their chair at the account opening unit.

IMO I think it is because the Relationship Manager who called me after I applied was probably not too happy that I was intending to make my own investments through the MarketMaster account rather than pay BWealth a totally outrageous fee for their (Global custody) execution only service, or their useless Structured Products and Managed Funds.
If I bought and sold £20k of one company share with them - Dealing fees come to £430 (plus usual stamp duty). For a £50k buy and sell deal - £730 dealing costs!!

I must point out that if I used the services of an adviser, it would be those of an IFA and I would expect to agree their charges on a FEE basis. That would be fair but BWealths amount to thousand of pounds more than those of a FEE based IFA.

When I buy shares I mostly swing trade so sell after days or a few weeks, rather stick with HL, pay £12.50 a quarter and deal for £9.95 each way. I still have the problem then of moving money from another bank to HL but with interest rates so low I might just shove it into HL and leave it there.

Try and google BWealth for reviews or complaints and it is very hard to find out anything said about them, must be massaging the search engine results or something like that.

rockitup

ENZO12 wrote: »

I coming, where are you, where do you live, just want a quiet life, got my cash, do i need a visa?

Philippines

For tax reasons it is good but apart from that and a cheap massage I wouldn't bother too much with this place - not much to do unless you can handle the heat & humidity (and pollution in city and towns)

Visa for visitors is 21 day & 59 day extendable every 59 days after that up to a year. Retirement visa is available and a marriage visa if you don't mind playing Russian Roulette finding a wife :rotfl::eek:;)

rockitup

expatasia wrote: »

I see Enzo's point, rainy season here now...so more radiation sh.te getting carried over this region :eek:

How does the cost of living compare to the UK, rockitup?

For me I don't find too much difference overall.

Cheaper is property tax (as in council tax) £27 a year
Diesel 57p a litre
Petrol 71p a litre
Local food, fish, rice, fatty pork and noodles are all cheap enough.

But if you like western food anything imported is well expensive because of freight costs, taxes, duties, extra profit for shopkeeper because a Foreigner is buying it.

Electrical items are expensive here, Hong Kong is much better for that
I am running USA made car & bike here, very expensive for parts so import on a door to door courier service.

Whereabouts are you based then?

ENZO12

rockitup wrote: »

Philippines

For tax reasons it is good but apart from that and a cheap massage I wouldn't bother too much with this place - not much to do unless you can handle the heat & humidity (and pollution in city and towns)

Visa for visitors is 21 day & 59 day extendable every 59 days after that up to a year. Retirement visa is available and a marriage visa if you don't mind playing Russian Roulette finding a wife :rotfl::eek:;)

I have thought about it, Thailand maybe? I also have residency in the US and Oz, just considering my options really. Got a chunk of money to last me till i pop off, just not sure where to go? Maybe stay in the UK, just cannot decide.

expatasia

rockitup wrote: »

No luck whatsoever with BWealth, they managed to open accounts after 3 weeks but the BStockbrokers have taken 4 weeks and still no account opened.

If they popped next door to the BWealth office on the same floor of the building they also have a certified copy of my passport and other verification items, but that is too far from their chair at the account opening unit.

IMO I think it is because the Relationship Manager who called me after I applied was probably not too happy that I was intending to make my own investments through the MarketMaster account rather than pay BWealth a totally outrageous fee for their (Global custody) execution only service, or their useless Structured Products and Managed Funds.

Try and google BWealth for reviews or complaints and it is very hard to find out anything said about them, must be massaging the search engine results or something like that.

(Let's see if we can get the following post up on Google then :rotfl:)

Now that I'll NEVER bank again with them I can be frank about Barclay's (Offshore/BW) - in the good old days when one received good interest rates I used to bank with them in different currencies, at one point they 'lost' my Sterling account and when it was retrieved at my request it was seriously in minus figures (because of monthly fees imposed for my having overall less than 2k with them supposedly - in fact I had thousands in other currencies!!) and letters started arriving claiming I was now into my reserve or something and had to pay penalties every 4 days or so! Took me ages to sort it out (no sign of an apology) and when subsequently closing the accounts I made the mistake of faxing them during the process to speed things up - they used that as an excuse to delay it still further, intimating potential fraud on the account and making me jump through hoops (four or five steps including having to physically travel to the nearest Barclay's office to get documents re-certified) to close it and get the monies out - even then they accused me/the other bank of having given them wrong details for making the transfer - staggering arrogance from them all the way through just like with their PATHETIC interest rates now. Sorry I'm frothing now, never had anything remotely similar from any other bank ever. :mad:

expatasia

rockitup wrote: »

For me I don't find too much difference overall.

Cheaper is property tax (as in council tax) £27 a year
Diesel 57p a litre
Petrol 71p a litre
Local food, fish, rice, fatty pork and noodles are all cheap enough.

But if you like western food anything imported is well expensive because of freight costs, taxes, duties, extra profit for shopkeeper because a Foreigner is buying it.

Electrical items are expensive here, Hong Kong is much better for that
I am running USA made car & bike here, very expensive for parts so import on a door to door courier service.

Whereabouts are you based then?

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3085460 - see 7th post


I'm surprised you say you don't find much difference overall - do you buy a lot of expensive imported goods/food? Surely housing/public transport/eating out etc is as cheap as hell there...

rockitup

ENZO12 wrote: »

I have thought about it, Thailand maybe? I also have residency in the US and Oz, just considering my options really. Got a chunk of money to last me till i pop off, just not sure where to go? Maybe stay in the UK, just cannot decide.

Best thing you can do is rent for 6 months or a year if possible wherever you decide to try and settle just so you can see if the place is for you. Get to know some other Expats there too if possible. Sometimes it can be hard adjusting if a place is too quiet and you have given up work.

I did a 5 month driving trip around the US visiting National Parks, spending a week in places that I really liked but had no timetable to stick to. I found that great but it's horses for courses really, so just take your time to make the right decision.

rockitup

expatasia wrote: »

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3085460 - see 7th post


I'm surprised you say you don't find much difference overall - do you buy a lot of expensive imported goods/food? Surely housing/public transport/eating out etc is as cheap as hell there...

I got a funny feeling we been dealing with the same bank

Since being here we bought a house, yes they are cheap but you get what you pay for and they will not last as long as those we lived in back in UK.
Lots of improvements needed to get the home comforts and we used a shipping container to bring all our furniture & appliances. My electric bill varies between £80 and £130 depending on how hot it gets and how long we spend at home.

I don't fancy public transport here as some Expats have been robbed on the Jeepneys so I bought an American SUV secondhand (roads are bad in some provinces) That was big mistake as Chevrolet dealership charge 4 times the price for parts compared to buying from USA. Now I import parts myself but car is off the road whilst waiting, same problem with my Harley (I feel unsafe on a 125cc scooter )

Eating out, yes I found some good restaurants and prices are quite good but remember the portions are generally much smaller here so less bang for your buck. The big problem with eating out is that I have caught Amoeba twice from lack of hygiene at the restaurants (I take it you know what I mean there)

Because of above reason, we tend to cook at home mostly and still have boxes of food (long shelf life) sent over a couple of times a year.
One example of buying imported item recently was a simple Sara Lee Cheesecake (standard size) priced at equivalent of £7. My fault really for not getting used to eating fish & noodles & rice :rotfl:

rockitup

expatasia wrote: »

(Let's see if we can get the following post up on Google then :rotfl:)

Now that I'll NEVER bank again with them I can be frank about Barclay's (Offshore/BW) - in the good old days when one received good interest rates I used to bank with them in different currencies, at one point they 'lost' my Sterling account and when it was retrieved at my request it was seriously in minus figures (because of monthly fees imposed for my having overall less than 2k with them supposedly - in fact I had thousands in other currencies!!) and letters started arriving claiming I was now into my reserve or something and had to pay penalties every 4 days or so! Took me ages to sort it out (no sign of an apology) and when subsequently closing the accounts I made the mistake of faxing them during the process to speed things up - they used that as an excuse to delay it still further, intimating potential fraud on the account and making me jump through hoops (four or five steps including having to physically travel to the nearest Barclay's office to get documents re-certified) to close it and get the monies out - even then they accused me/the other bank of having given them wrong details for making the transfer - staggering arrogance from them all the way through just like with their PATHETIC interest rates now. Sorry I'm frothing now, never had anything remotely similar from any other bank ever. :mad:

I thought you'd been Barclayed too!!

You even use the same phrase as me "jump through hoops". I had passport copies certified while I was in London branch of Barclays (1 copy for BW and 1 copy for BS) BS wait 4 weeks before telling me that I never sent it, lying toerags. Funny thing was I even asked if I could pop in to their BW offices in Knightsbridge to open the account in person seeing that I was in London on a visit but they seemed keen on me applying over the phone. I said I wanted to get details of charges they make for investments but was stalled on that. Have a look at Barclays Wealth investment pages and see how hard it is to find their charges...

I am so glad that I did not close my alternative UK accounts now, and even more glad that I have not transferred any money over to BW. Looks like I will end up more wealthier by not dealing with them

Are we going to get sued for telling the truth here? :eek:

expatasia

rockitup wrote: »

I am so glad that I did not close my alternative UK accounts now, and even more glad that I have not transferred any money over to BW. Looks like I will end up more wealthier by not dealing with them

Are we going to get sued for telling the truth here? :eek:

No, more apt would be grovelling letters of apology from them with monetary compensation for grief caused.

Ironically one can go back and live in the UK and open accounts with any local Barclay's and get decent rates on fixed term deposits, given current base rates.