We’d like to remind Forumites to please avoid political debate on the Forum.

This is to keep it a safe and useful space for MoneySaving discussions. Threads that are – or become – political in nature may be removed in line with the Forum’s rules. Thank you for your understanding.

📨 Have you signed up to the Forum's new Email Digest yet? Get a selection of trending threads sent straight to your inbox daily, weekly or monthly!
The Forum now has a brand new text editor, adding a bunch of handy features to use when creating posts. Read more in our how-to guide

Saving whilst abroad

Hi all,


I have recently moved from the UK to Australia for 2-3 years on a skilled workers visa.
I have a cash ISA (Plum), lifetime ISA (Tembo) and a savings account.
Since moving to Australia, I have received a lump sum of £20000 from a relative passing away and wanted some guidance on how best to invest/ save this money whilst overseas.
The plan is to move back to the UK and consider buying a house at this stage so ideally I don’t want to convert the money to AUD and lose out on savings due to the exchange rate and transfer costs.
I’m also limit as I can’t put the money into the ISAs whilst overseas.
Any guidance would greatly be appreciated!

Comments

  • wmb194
    wmb194 Posts: 5,970 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    edited 26 February at 8:39AM

    Unless you're a Crown employee you can't add to Isas whilst abroad and you'll struggle to open new savings and brokerage accounts. You're probably stuck with your ordinary savings account or possibly a NS&I account.

    An offshore option might be Channel Islands and Isle of Man banks like Lloyds and Skipton International. With these your deposits won't be covered by the UK's FSCS deposit protection scheme but the local schemes.

    https://www.nsandi.com/help/join-nsandi/using-nsandi-outside-uk

Meet your Ambassadors

🚀 Getting Started

Hi new member!

Our Getting Started Guide will help you get the most out of the Forum

Categories

  • All Categories
  • 354.1K Banking & Borrowing
  • 254.3K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
  • 455.3K Spending & Discounts
  • 247.1K Work, Benefits & Business
  • 603.7K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
  • 178.3K Life & Family
  • 261.2K Travel & Transport
  • 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
  • 16.1K Discuss & Feedback
  • 37.7K Read-Only Boards

Is this how you want to be seen?

We see you are using a default avatar. It takes only a few seconds to pick a picture.