Strong pound effecting my foreign currency savings

VXman

Linton said:

Your experience shows the futility of trying to gamble with foreign exchange.    So what should you do? Perhaps accept that you have received a valuable but expensive lesson, transfer to £s now and dont get into the situation in the future of holding substantial amounts in foreign currencies unless you need it for expenditure.

Not gambling - just moving money earned in HK back to UK.

VXman

pbartlett said:

Also you should be asking the same question about the HKD (pegged to USD) - my guess is the USD will climb once they get a grip on COVID - certainly relative the the GBP

That's is possible....

VXman

sevenhills said:

I would be more concerned about the politics in Hong Kong/China.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-01-24/china-s-growing-power-is-scaring-ordinary-savers-out-of-hong-kong

Yes there certainly are issues over there, but not for boring, normal expats who aren't interfering in HK/China politics. I think the 'average' persons money is safe.....at the moment!

dfchk

How will you feel if it becomes worth £25k? It's definitely at the low end of where it could go.
Seen the highs and lows through 21 years £/HK$ from under $10 to almost $17 - when you need £'s for bills or mortgage you just have to suck it up.
If you have no financial obligations in HK, I would get it out, invested and hopefully growing.

dfchk

And look for the best rates for currency exchange/transfer - HSBC rates are pretty poor

VXman

dfchk said:

And look for the best rates for currency exchange/transfer - HSBC rates are pretty poor

I generally use Transferwise - and sometimes Instarem. They tend to be the best rates out there.

VXman

dfchk said:

How will you feel if it becomes worth £25k? It's definitely at the low end of where it could go.
Seen the highs and lows through 21 years £/HK$ from under $10 to almost $17 - when you need £'s for bills or mortgage you just have to suck it up.
If you have no financial obligations in HK, I would get it out, invested and hopefully growing.

Or wait a few years and get 32K which I have done in the past few years (I have had several years experience of transferring HK earnings to the UK.) An extra 4.5K  would be much better return than putting it in a UK savings account or even a conservative investment fund.
Hmmm...decisions, decisions. 

Thrugelmir

VXman said:

dfchk said:

How will you feel if it becomes worth £25k? It's definitely at the low end of where it could go.
Seen the highs and lows through 21 years £/HK$ from under $10 to almost $17 - when you need £'s for bills or mortgage you just have to suck it up.
If you have no financial obligations in HK, I would get it out, invested and hopefully growing.

Or wait a few years and get 32K which I have done in the past few years (I have had several years experience of transferring HK earnings to the UK.) An extra 4.5K  would be much better return than putting it in a UK savings account or even a conservative investment fund.
Hmmm...decisions, decisions. 

£ is hardly strong at current levels. Wouldn't be surprised to see it recovery a little further in the coming months. The US economy internally is in somewhat of a mess. Printing $ and helicopter dropping them to all and sundry in the longer term doesn't solve anything. 

kinger101

I had to move by USD savings to the UK in 2006.  The only positive thing I can say about that was that I didn't have to do it in 2007.  Can't believe you've left it so long.  Nobody can predict exactly where the currency would move, but my inkling would have been to transfer ASAP with the pound being relatively weak. 

hoc

As others have said GBP is not particularly strong historically, looking at the 5 year trend against other global currencies like EUR, CHF following the Brexit devaluation in 2016 easily confirm this. It is USD that is weakening due to US domestic and foreign policy, in the last year weak currencies like INR, TRY, ZAR have all gained against the USD.

When life calls to move money it's generally best to just do it and not contemplate. It is part of relocating costs. If you are really unconvinced and concerned about movements then spread it over 2-3 transfers across the year. The only thing you can control is getting the best rate possible at the time so use a good transfer service.