Emigrating to New Zealand - need help with savings, money transfers and bank accounts

adidas

Dear all

I know this spans several topic areas so I apologise if I'm posting in the wrong area. I will be moving to New Zealand in August to work for a year. I have no idea about the 'best' New Zealand bank accounts out there and I wondered if you could help. I will be maxing out my cash ISA allowance before I go out and will be earning money in NZ. I don't have much in the way of financial committments here, apart from student loan.

I don't need to send money back that frequently but wondered what the best way would be to do this. Would I be better waiting until I have a lump sum built up and then transfer or do small frequent transfers?

The MSE site suggests Citibank for people in the UK transferring to accounts abroad. But reading the forums, it seems that there is a loss in the exchange rate between currencies when you do things this way.

As I will be maxing out my ISA here, should I save in NZ instead? I have no idea if they have a similar tax free system like ISAs. I want to try to get the most out of my savings.

Are there many differences between NZ bank accounts? Anyone recommend a good account? Ideally, I'd be looking for one that offers good rates of interest whilst in-credit or has a 0% overdraft or is linked with a high interest savings account? And is there such a thing as the best account for money transfers, or would I be better off with a broker?

PS. I will be posting this in the savings area as well, in case I've posted in the wrong place, so apologies if you're reading this twice/for the duplication.

HappyMJ

For 1 year...I would just take with you a minimal amount of cash and have online access to your UK accounts to transfer any money if needed. Once you get paid in NZ you will have enough money and won't need any further pounds. Could the NZ employer help you out by giving you an advance in NZ dollars rather than you sending UK pounds over?

You should be able to open an NZ account from here but if you can't then you can apply once you get there. For 1 year don't get anything with an overdraft (being credit it probably won't be approved) just an ordinary basic bank account will be fine. They don't pay much interest. You have to open savings accounts once you have money you want to save longer term such as a term deposit.

Lump sums are best...the transaction fee for sending (telegraphic transfers) TT's is rather high so just send the whole lot back at the end of the year or when you get to the limit of the TT's.

ISA income is not tax free in NZ so you would be better off putting money into normal savings accounts and getting a tax credit in the UK. Then reclaim the money in the UK and use the tax credit to not be taxed twice on the same money. You may not be considered tax resident in NZ for such a short time so you might not need to do that. If it is worth it then seek some professional advice.