moved thread sorry

shiredeon

Hi everyone it's been a long time since i posted,
Basically i had a breakdown, got shafted by my business partner and now i live in the philippines,

I have a small pension in drawdown, and bought an enhanced anuity with my opted out of serps fund,

I have just sold the property that i had hoped to live in, in france and was going to transfer the money from euros to sterling via interchange and invest in the uk,

I have noticed that the Anglo Irish bank has a high interest euro account, should leave it in euros with them or switch it to sterling, thanks.

EdInvestor

Hi shiredeon

Sorry to hear about your problems, hope all is well now.

You may have noticed there are problems in the banking sustem at present (the credit crunch) and this is tending to cause a "flight to quality".Especially if we're talking large amounts, spreading the money around (35k is the max guaranteed in the event of trouble) and balancing high interest rates with stability could be the way tro go.

The euro is strong against sterling at the moment ( good timing on your sale, that's a bit of luck ), suggesting it might be a good time to change at least part of the money - especially as UK savings rates are pretty high at 6%+.

But what do I know?

shiredeon

Hi Ed
Thanks for the reply, yes although i lost a fortune on the sale of the french property i was pleasently surprised at the rate, i almost got my money back,
Well i had to have some luck, couldn't believe the state of the economy in uk now, it was ok a year ago when i left,

I'm jusy trying to create a bit of income for me and my ex to live off,(she's still in uk)
then hopefully when i get old and decrepid i'll give it to the kids,(hopefully they'll have got married and divorced a couple of times by then and be settled)

My hyp isn't doing anything so i don't want to put any more in that, i still have the flat in manchester which gives my ex her housekeeping.

Perhaps i should buy some funds, ? who knows, i'm not really up for research and my internet conection isn't good here. thanks.

EdInvestor

Probably best to spread the money round in cash for the moment (see my replies in the next door forum).

Congratulations on picking the only country in Asia (IIRC) where they will uprate your state pension for inflation when you eventually get it. Every little helps.

Re your HYP, dividends have been increased lots this year - many are up by 7-10%, and tax free, unlike cash interest. The capital value has gone down of course, but it will rise again.It could be a good time to buy soon, locking in income at high yields cheaply. I'd keep an eye on the market for a while, it's beginning to look more positive as of yesterday...

shiredeon

Thanks ed, i really appreciate your thoughts, will keep an eye on the forum and try and buy at the right time, is there any benefit in purchasing funds, or are they just like buying shares but with higher charges,(i guess a fund is just a portfolio of shares?) so you could replicate it yourself?.