Pound slide predicted - how to move money to euro account.

WanderingBloke

I'm looking to move £50k or more savings into euros before January as I expect the pound to slide in January as Transition ends. What's the best account to set up to keep my money safe and then to be able to transfer back from euros into pounds when the pound has slumped and it's cheaper to do so? I'm not looking to make a large killing, just preserve my position as I hope to use my money and buy in the EU when I retire. Is a Euro account with Santander or Barclays any good? How easy are such accounts to set up?

Rheumatoid

Why don't you just get in to currency speculation and make you millions that way
There is no way you can be confident about this and you might lose out heavily. Some might argue the damage is already factored in and is unlikely to get worse and may go completely the other way. You will also lose through exchange costs. I would just stick with the £. Its only 50k and barring a major currency crash the risk isn't worth it.
If you are determined, I used a Transferwise borderless account to buy a Spanish property and continue to use if to pay bills, etc. Easy to use and amongst best rates in the business.

colsten

Leaving aside whether it's a good or a bad idea: Santander or Barclays are definitely not a good as their exchange rates would be quite bad. Santander doesn't offer Euro accounts in the UK, anyway. Transferwise, as mentioned above, offer good rates but have no FSCS protection so your money would be at risk. Starling Bank offers effectively the same rates and functionality and has full FSCS protection.

Sailtheworld

You could just leave your cash where it is and take out a spread bet against sterling to cover the expected devaluation.

Albermarle

If you were actually in the process of buying a house in the Eurozone in the next few months it could make sense to convert to Euros now, regardless of any political or economic news .
If the house buy is some years ahead then you are purely currency speculating, which is not recommended unless you are a City FX trader .
 I monitor £/€ rate as it affects our business as does Brexit . I can only say it is pretty unpredictable and I would not dream of gambling £50K on swings in the currency. 

dunstonh

I'm looking to move £50k or more savings into euros before January as I expect the pound to slide in January as Transition ends

Interesting as many expect the pound to rise when realisation is that no longer being in the transition period is not so bad and an increasing number of side deals appear over time.

What's the best account to set up to keep my money safe and then to be able to transfer back from euros into pounds when the pound has slumped and it's cheaper to do so?

You use the word "safe".  Yet you talk about currency speculation.   The two things do not go hand in hand.

bowlhead99

Sailtheworld said:

You could just leave your cash where it is and take out a spread bet against sterling to cover the expected devaluation.

^ This.
If you just want to bet on or against a particular direction of movement, then instead of paying FX translation fees and buying Euros and then needing somewhere to store them, it may be cheaper to just do a straight gamble with an amount per point that represents the total amount of pounds or Euros you want to hedge. 

However, in your case, you say you actually want Euros for your retirement anyway, so you may feel it's sensible to remove currency fluctuation risk and just buy them now. But note that Eurozone interest rates are low or negative; for example Starling charges negative interest on Eur current account balances over €50k. If retirement is a long way off (you don't say), and you want Euros for the retirement, an alternative of course is just to buy investment funds which have a lot of exposure to shares and bonds in the EU rather than the UK or other parts of the world.

Malthusian

dunstonh said:

I'm looking to move £50k or more savings into euros before January as I expect the pound to slide in January as Transition ends

Interesting as many expect the pound to rise when realisation is that no longer being in the transition period is not so bad and an increasing number of side deals appear over time.

Although not that many, as otherwise that expectation would be already priced in and the pound would stay exactly where it was when everyone realised things ain't so bad.

Frequentlyhere

Agree with others that locking in currency for anything but a short-term defined purpose is unwise.
To add to the conversation though, you can store up to 50,000 euros in a Starling Euro account for free, which also is FSCS protected. (you can store more than 50k too, but I believe you then 'earn' an interest rate of -0.5% (!) )

MaxiRobriguez

Malthusian said:

dunstonh said:

I'm looking to move £50k or more savings into euros before January as I expect the pound to slide in January as Transition ends

Interesting as many expect the pound to rise when realisation is that no longer being in the transition period is not so bad and an increasing number of side deals appear over time.

Although not that many, as otherwise that expectation would be already priced in and the pound would stay exactly where it was when everyone realised things ain't so bad.

More factors in play than just whether Brexit will be woeful or not-so-woeful, and that'll continue to be the case after the TP ends.

I tend to agree that end of the TP doesn't mean GBP will fall. Practically everyone now assumes there will be no deal, or at best a very light touch deal, and practically everyone understands that will comes with challenges. As a contrarian, the upside potential for GBP therefore is much greater that downside. Brexit would have to be an absolute catastrophe for GBP to sink - worse than most, including ardent remainers, would have expected. On the other side of the coin Brexit can get away with being "only a little bit bad" and that may cause GBP to gain. 

If I was the OP I'd probably just move my savings into Euros if I was certain to be moving in the near term. Key word there is certain though... as retiring to the continent may become much harder next year.

WanderingBloke

Thank you for all your comments so far.  Two issues I guess really.
1. I would like to be wrong but I'm expecting Brexit to bring chaos in January.  If I can make a few bob by putting my money into euros and then buying back pounds it will help. I've never played the stock market and I'm looking for an easy option..
2. I have GB and EU citizenship and plan to move in  12-24 months to Spain or Greece so I will need a Euro account to access money abroad, but where? Sounds like Starling Bank is probably worth a look. If I were to deposit £100k instead would advice still be the same?