Good time to transfer money to europe??

ladybug3434

Hi there I am really hoping that some of you more financially literate people can help me! I have just received a one off windfall of £30,000 which is currently sitting between my Natwest cash ISA (0.5%) and my natwest savings account (some small amount of interest).

I work and travel frequently in Europe as I work seasonally there between France and Portugal and would ideally like to eventually settle in Portugal in the next couple of years. Either try to buy/rent a property.

With the euro so weak against the pound now would it be advisable to transfer a portion of this money to europe to take advantage of the strong pound? I currently have a basic CIC debit account in France for my wages I could transfer the money to now. It seems like it would be a better idea to send the money to a bank account in Portugal however I wont be able to do that for a couple of months until my contract there starts by which time i am afraid the conversion rate will go down.

Or would it be just better to leave it in england and maybe just open a better interest ISA such as the Virgin one?

Please help! Thanks in advance :rotfl:

brasso

What does your crystal ball say?

Who knows? You could transfer into euros at the current rate (1.44 or so?) but find that it then falls even more and doesn't recover for ages. Or, of course, the opposite might happen....

I've been having similar thoughts, and was waiting for the Greek situation to be resolved. However, it doesn't seem to have been resolved despite the agreement reached, so am not sure it's much clearer.

If I do go ahead, I will probably transfer in chunks over a period. Yep, I might lose out, but I might not.

In short, Keine Ahnung!

gaffel

I was in the position of having debt (mortgage) in euros and income in stg. Last Friday I jumped at 1.435 and converted enough to clear the mortgage. I might have jumped too soon but I was happy at the rate.

Glen_Clark

Just be careful with the current Euro's.

They may be withdrawn from circulation.

This is to enable reissue of new notes printed on Greece-proof paper

Glen_Clark

Seriously if you want more exposure to the Euro have you considered a Euro ETF - its never been easier or cheaper for UK retail investors. I hold http://funds.ft.com/uk/Tearsheet/Summary?s=VEUR:LSE:GBP

gt94sss2

ladybug3434 wrote: »

With the euro so weak against the pound now would it be advisable to transfer a portion of this money to europe to take advantage of the strong pound? I currently have a basic CIC debit account in France for my wages I could transfer the money to now. It seems like it would be a better idea to send the money to a bank account in Portugal however I wont be able to do that for a couple of months until my contract there starts by which time i am afraid the conversion rate will go down.

No one can say about exchange rates and how they will move in the future. But you could definitely earn more interest now by putting the money in a different UK account rather than in Natwest as they are now.

If you did want to convert the funds to EUR, I would be tempted to place them in a country with a decent economy - not Portugal until you plan to use it - if only as I don't think we have seen the end of the euro crisis...

Regards
Sunil