Can I put my savings in US Dollar?

MoMoHere

I have some savings which I have been wanted to use as a deposit for my first home's mortgage. I think that it will not be able to buy a house until 2023-2024, and at the same time, I do not want my money to be eradicated if the pound falls further. I wonder if I can put my money in a UK-based bank but in US Dollar. If yes, what options would you recommend me to consider?

Thank you,

wmb194

MoMoHere said:

I have some savings which I have been wanted to use as a deposit for my first home's mortgage. I think that it will not be able to buy a house until 2023-2024, and at the same time, I do not want my money to be eradicated if the pound falls further. I wonder if I can put my money in a UK-based bank but in US Dollar. If yes, what options would you recommend me to consider?

Thank you,

I wouldn't say I'd recommend them but if it has to be British bank then Barclays and HSBC offer USD accounts. 

Another option is Fineco which is an Italian bank but offers accounts to UK residents and has an branch/office in London. Including GBP, it offers multi currency accounts. It offers good exchange rates as well.

https://www.hsbc.co.uk/international/currency-account/

Emmia

Depending on which way the pound/dollar moves you could end up losing money out of your deposit via this currency speculating... would you be ok, with say a 20% loss?

MoMoHere

Emmia said:

Depending on which way the pound/dollar moves you could end up losing money out of your deposit via this currency speculating... would you be ok, with say a 20% loss?

Yeah, this is the tricky part. I was thinking of waiting for a month or so and see if the pound bounce up after the BoE meeting, and then make my decision. I am not a risk taker which made me shy away from speculating/investing in the stock market, but really the prospect of losing my life savings makes me very very nervous.

Emmia

MoMoHere said:

Emmia said:

Depending on which way the pound/dollar moves you could end up losing money out of your deposit via this currency speculating... would you be ok, with say a 20% loss?

Yeah, this is the tricky part. I was thinking of waiting for a month or so and see if the pound bounce up after the BoE meeting, and then make my decision. I am not a risk taker which made me shy away from speculating/investing in the stock market, but really the prospect of losing my life savings makes me very very nervous.

I'm also pretty risk averse, especially when it came to my deposit for my first property.

Personally I think this is riskier than a high risk stocks & shares ISA - you could seek out a lower risk ISA (but your timing of buying in 23/24 isn't necessarily great for that, since the usual advice is 5+ years for this sort of thing)

MX5huggy

Presume you are buying a uk property using Pounds. There is no need to take the risk of the pound strengthening against the Dollar. 

Albermarle

MoMoHere said:

Emmia said:

Depending on which way the pound/dollar moves you could end up losing money out of your deposit via this currency speculating... would you be ok, with say a 20% loss?

Yeah, this is the tricky part. I was thinking of waiting for a month or so and see if the pound bounce up after the BoE meeting, and then make my decision. I am not a risk taker which made me shy away from speculating/investing in the stock market, but really the prospect of losing my life savings makes me very very nervous.

You are not a risk taker, but you are thinking of putting your hard earned house deposit money, at the whim of the international currency markets. Not a very logical approach.

Most of the regular posters on here have long experience with investing, but will shy away from currency speculation, as it is far too risky.

Gary1984

Your house will be priced in GBP so holding the cash in USD creates unnecessary currency risk and is really just pure currency speculation.

There's a reasonable chance that house prices may start dropping soon and interest rates for savings accounts are going up so keep it simple and just save into the highest paying easy access account you can find.

MoMoHere

Albermarle said:

MoMoHere said:

Emmia said:

Depending on which way the pound/dollar moves you could end up losing money out of your deposit via this currency speculating... would you be ok, with say a 20% loss?

Yeah, this is the tricky part. I was thinking of waiting for a month or so and see if the pound bounce up after the BoE meeting, and then make my decision. I am not a risk taker which made me shy away from speculating/investing in the stock market, but really the prospect of losing my life savings makes me very very nervous.

You are not a risk taker, but you are thinking of putting your hard earned house deposit money, at the whim of the international currency markets. Not a very logical approach.

Most of the regular posters on here have long experience with investing, but will shy away from currency speculation, as it is far too risky.

Thanks guys for the advice which made me think again and realise that my idea was not necessarily the best

Thanks for your responses, I really appreciate it 

Albermarle

Best Easy Access Savings | Up to 2.10% Variable | moneyfacts.co.uk

Exodi

The best time to have bought dollars was a year ago, when you would have got about 15-20% more for your money, buying the news is very rarely the best strategy. Currently. this is the worst point to be buying dollars for the last 35 years...

Personally, currency speculation on a house purchase is madness, even from one of the more astute gamblers among us.