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Post by elsie on Apr 4, 2024 9:55:24 GMT 1
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Post by lindalovely on Apr 4, 2024 14:16:12 GMT 1
Of course if you don't want to leave your money under the matress in cash then you have to choose somewhere for it to go and everything has a risk. The advice I was given was to spread things around.. So some savings in Euros, some in pounds, some in property and some in longer term investments. I always try to stay below the level of compensation. I don't know whether anyone has mentioned this, but there is a good value Assurance Vie operated in Ireland by Prudential and only available to British passport holders living in the EU. It offers bonds on Euros or pounds. Of course it is dependent on the performance of the stockmarket and to benefit you have to leave money in for 5 years.
And yes, I was a previous Barclays customer. I also opened a small Wise sterling account for day to day use.
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Post by iolar on Apr 7, 2024 17:59:58 GMT 1
Of course if you don't want to leave your money under the matress in cash then you have to choose somewhere for it to go and everything has a risk. The advice I was given was to spread things around.. So some savings in Euros, some in pounds, some in property and some in longer term investments. I always try to stay below the level of compensation. I don't know whether anyone has mentioned this, but there is a good value Assurance Vie operated in Ireland by Prudential and only available to British passport holders living in the EU. It offers bonds on Euros or pounds. Of course it is dependent on the performance of the stockmarket and to benefit you have to leave money in for 5 years. And yes, I was a previous Barclays customer. I also opened a small Wise sterling account for day to day use. Hi Linda, One thing I learned at a very young age, I was 11 is - beware of tying money up. I learned this from a retired British Empire, district officer who lived in a tiny bedsit at the top of the house where my family rented a flat. These district officers (they were always men) retired on fixed pensions. They were the backbone of the Empire and they got well and truly shafted. As we all know Sterling has been on a one way trajectory downwards from the end of WW11. He used to take the Financial Times every day and he really had to work his money via the stock market to ensure he didn't end up in poverty. At 10 my father stopped giving me pocket money. He had an upbringing like so many that can only be described as bloody hard. He said that I had to think of ways of making my pocket money and don't steal or I will knock you through the wall - and he meant it. I used to go round and collect newspapers which I took to the council market in Brighton. You got paid for every 10lbs of clean newspapers. In those days there was no such thing as paper or plastic bags. I knew that this retired man took the FT and he thought I was very enterprising. When he realised that I was interested in learning about money and the markets he began to teach me. I've never been in debt in my life, as my father used to say "if you borrow £1 it will cost you £2 at least. I've only ever borrowed money for business. When I started visiting the Netherlands the Dutch lads took delight in telling me that when they were growing up in the 60s it was 10 Guilders to the £1 - by the 70s' it was around 5 guilders. . I refuse point blank to tie money up for any length of time. History is not a dead subject at all, without history we simply do not exist. It was 27 years between the end of WW1 and the beginning of WW11, then there was Korea, then Vietnam. Lots of little wars far from Europe then there was the horror of Yugoslavia. Afghanistan/Iraq/Syria and Ukraine. Putin and his cronies like all dictators simply cannot back down. To not understand this is to misunderstand all the lessons of history. Bretton Woods was the moment that money essentially became worthless. My wife and I are cash rich and asset poor, not something I like at all. I think that Europe is making the same mistake as it did in the 1930s. It's possible that another Weimar Republic could happen again but this time Europe wide and relying on the USA would be a huge mistake, America doesn't have friends, never has, it only has business interests.
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Aardvark
Non-gamer
Living in soggy 22 and still wondering what's going on.
Posts: 2,172
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Post by Aardvark on Apr 8, 2024 10:15:24 GMT 1
"America doesn't have friends, never has, it only has business interests."
And anyone that believes otherwise is sadly mistaken.
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Nifty
Member
Posts: 5,045
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Post by Nifty on Apr 9, 2024 3:38:15 GMT 1
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Nifty
Member
Posts: 5,045
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Post by Nifty on Apr 9, 2024 4:08:49 GMT 1
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Post by lindalovely on Apr 9, 2024 10:48:09 GMT 1
Hi Linda, One thing I learned at a very young age, I was 11 is - beware of tying money up. I have no problem tying some things up for a little while if I don't need them immediately. I have no interest in cruises or expensive treats, or luxury cars, but if we did ever want any of that stuff we could liquidate some assets. Of course there is always uncertainty and over the years you win some and you lose some. I was one of the generation that was sold an endowment mortgage in the 80s.. In the 90s I bit the bullet and switched to a repayment but I never cashed in the endowments and continued paying into what by then was a very small amount and in the end they matured into a nice little lump sum that I didn't need for the mortgage..plus I got compensation. So.. I guess it depends what you want to do with your money. I am fortunate.. I have my pension which covers the basics, no debt, and no kids so what I have is mine to spend. I have a few charities named and I would like to think that if I need care for a couple of years at the end of my life I could afford it..however the assets in the properties could then be released and by that time it would become someone else's problem to manage that. Spreading things around still seems like the best option.
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Post by iolar on Apr 9, 2024 12:28:33 GMT 1
Hi Linda, One thing I learned at a very young age, I was 11 is - beware of tying money up. I have no problem tying some things up for a little while if I don't need them immediately. I have no interest in cruises or expensive treats, or luxury cars, but if we did ever want any of that stuff we could liquidate some assets. Of course there is always uncertainty and over the years you win some and you lose some. I was one of the generation that was sold an endowment mortgage in the 80s.. In the 90s I bit the bullet and switched to a repayment but I never cashed in the endowments and continued paying into what by then was a very small amount and in the end they matured into a nice little lump sum that I didn't need for the mortgage..plus I got compensation. So.. I guess it depends what you want to do with your money. I am fortunate.. I have my pension which covers the basics, no debt, and no kids so what I have is mine to spend. I have a few charities named and I would like to think that if I need care for a couple of years at the end of my life I could afford it..however the assets in the properties could then be released and by that time it would become someone else's problem to manage that. Spreading things around still seems like the best option. ditto your first paragraph. A lot of people were 'encouraged to take out endowment mortgages 'at the wrong time'. My wife (before I knew her) took out a repayment mortgage on a badly bodged apartment that didn't comply with Building Regs. The solicitor she used, rec. by the building society was a Swedish feminist who didn't do the checks she should have done with Building Regs. as the apartment was in a conservation area. In fact these shysters which is what 90% of solicitors are don't do the checks themselves they send office juniors. The senior B/R officer I knew well from my work and I was able to stop him putting a closing order on the apartment. I put things right and in the process turned it form a one bedroom to a two bedroomed apartment which complied with all the Regs. In her professional life Angela was superb with the highest pass rate in her School of Nursing. In her private life she hadn't got a clue. Had I met her before she bought this apartment I would have stopped her. It's deliberate policy in most countries not to do what any school should - to educate. All kids at 13/4 years should be taught all about money/debt/mortgages/investments - if they were a lot of parasites would be looking for cardboard boxes to sleep in. I spent 2 years in pensions etc. what an eye opener it was. It's heaving with scammers. Just before I left the company was sold and a new manager came in. He had worked in the States and the old timers didn't like him at all. We had a pensions expert - a senior consultant aka he got the highest commission payments. The best type of pension to buy was a 'single premium policy' maximum commission 3% BUT if you bought a 'monthly premium policy' aka continuing payments year on year the commission earned by a senior consultant was 97% of the first years premiums. There are so many charges loaded onto pensions in the UK that the only type that is worth a damn is a SIPPS - self invested pension policy. Even then you have to use an insurance company. This new manager explained all about mortgages and explained them in ways that really taught you how most people are ripped off. His sound advice has been impossible to implement since 2008/9 when that creep Brown baled out the bankers and sold the lie about how pensions would be crippled if he didn't. The vast majority of the population would have had their savings covered by the government guarantee. If Brown had let the banks go bust the only real losers would have been the top bankers and the ultra rich - look at what happened when Credit Suisse went bust - the bond holders lost everything and the bankers all lost their bonuses and got sacked. Pensions would soon have recovered and the whole cost of living would be a fraction of what it is today. Money tied up in property is money not invested in production. Millions of mortgages are on the brink, people with good jobs cannot afford to buy or rent. Any financial shock internally or externally needing % rate rises to protect Sterling will crash the property market and it will not work and Sterling will crash with it - that's the scenario that people need to deal with. For that reason I will not tie any money up. Take a look at what it costs to pay off a 10 year mortgage (the norm in Germany at one time) and a 30 year mortgage, the numbers should shock you. Once upon a time (pre Thatcher) if you removed consumerism from your life and stripped it down to essentials it was possible to pay off a mortgage in 10 years. When Tony the Liar and Gordon Ghekko in 1997 had an overwhelming majority they could have reversed the BTL tax advantages, brought in rent controls, turned freeholds into commonholds as in France. The UK average price of a house then was £59K. If you sell mortgages would you rather have someone (the mug punter) take out a mortgage for £50K or £500K ?. Once mortgage rates went to virtually zero only one thing could happen - asset bubbles. Bubbles always burst, not sometimes, always. The only financial institution that I can find that is capable of withstanding a crash is Wise because - it has no loan or mortgage book, you can hold various currencies or earn % in Blackrock money market funds with 'real' rates of %. and most importantly switch at a moments notice. We have a contract with Bouygues, phone/i/net/TV apart from the brilliant media channels Intermezzo and Stingray Brava we get CNBC money programme which is the best financial programme by far. It's fascinating to listen to Powell, the Fed chairman speaking and watching the currencies fluctuating by the moment as he speaks because that is how fast values change today. It isn't only the UK that has insane property prices in Oz the price of an average house in the cities is AU$1 million, same goes for NZ. When something look to good to be true - it is. I intend to open an account with a French brokerage (I can't in the UK) I need to find one that has options trading as well (futures are great for the young - unlimited gains/unlimited losses). It's often better to back up a share price situation with an option cover. There are people who have retired to France and Spain on the basic UK State pension not something that I would ever have contemplated. Linda - I see you have opened a Wise account - how has that worked out - you say day to day. Does that mean you have a Wise debit card - do you use it for direct/ds ie. electric/water/gas etc. If so I think the forum could use a thread on how this has worked out for you. You seem like a very sensible woman - good for you.
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Post by lindalovely on Apr 9, 2024 15:11:04 GMT 1
I keep a small amount of starling in a Wise account. I have a credit card (real and virtual) and have used it with no problems online and in shops in France. I get interest each month on the balance which I will have to declare on my French tax form..however, as the actual bank is based in Belgium, tax on interest is deducted at source. OH keeps a lot more in his Wise account than I do.
My view on property is that people always need somewhere to live. Of course you have to do due diligence about what you are buying and where, and I have always worked on the principal that I am creating a home for someone to live in, not necessarily something to make loads of money on. My house brings in 500 euros a month, which is a nice addition to my pension for very little extra work (although doing it up did take a lot of work). I could probably put the rent up.. I have rented it out for 5 years now..but I choose not to as the tenant is reliable and pays the rent on time. The actual value of the property has probably increased a little but not as much as it would in other countries..but's that's okay..at least it feels sustainable.
My generation is lucky. I live mortgage free in a nice house because I bought a one bed shitty flat in London in the 90s..lived in it for 12 years, sold it and bought a house by the sea with the profit and then sold the house to move here. Pure luck really and I'm not sorry about it..but I don't think it is a way to invest for the future for any country.
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Post by iolar on Apr 21, 2024 12:03:38 GMT 1
I keep a small amount of starling in a Wise account. I have a credit card (real and virtual) and have used it with no problems online and in shops in France. I get interest each month on the balance which I will have to declare on my French tax form..however, as the actual bank is based in Belgium, tax on interest is deducted at source. OH keeps a lot more in his Wise account than I do. My view on property is that people always need somewhere to live. Of course you have to do due diligence about what you are buying and where, and I have always worked on the principal that I am creating a home for someone to live in, not necessarily something to make loads of money on. My house brings in 500 euros a month, which is a nice addition to my pension for very little extra work (although doing it up did take a lot of work). I could probably put the rent up.. I have rented it out for 5 years now..but I choose not to as the tenant is reliable and pays the rent on time. The actual value of the property has probably increased a little but not as much as it would in other countries..but's that's okay..at least it feels sustainable. My generation is lucky. I live mortgage free in a nice house because I bought a one bed shitty flat in London in the 90s..lived in it for 12 years, sold it and bought a house by the sea with the profit and then sold the house to move here. Pure luck really and I'm not sorry about it..but I don't think it is a way to invest for the future for any country. Good rational and human post. I didn't want Angela to sell her apartment in 2001, caution told me it was better to keep a foothold in the UK until we were certain we had made the right move. She was forced to go for an extention on the lease, I could have sold the apartment on day one myself but for the life left on the lease which she got at reasonable price but the freeholder was a --------. It would now sell for 3 x the price she sold at in 2001 and the rents over 23 years even allowing for agents fees and tax would have been considerable - that's life. After the crash of property and the secondary banks in 74 and in the early 90s were the best times to buy property. I could have bought a house for cash in 75 but I wanted to go travelling. In the end I did neither - life got in the way and I only ended up moving to the Netherlands for 2 years. Worse move was coming back to the UK. Linda - Wise, yes the debit card is good and keeping a balance in Euros makes sense. I did some research on Wise as the young people they employ havn't got a clue and there is a lack of important info. The % you get in the Blackrock accounts is very good but be aware that yes you can close a particular currency account but 'when' that account is closed, you get only vague answers (not good where money is concerned) and you have to wait 2 days before that money appears in your account. For anyone holding significant money this can be very important. I like very much the rates they offer, they are excellent. Macawber isn't part of my name. Many might not agree or would rather not think about it, fine that's their choice but I see a very flaky world where things can kick off at a moment's notice. At least with First Direct I could move from one currency to another in a moment - you cannot do that with the Blackrock currency accounts. As of now I havn't seen a single French bank where I can hold different currencies, earn reasonable % or switch at a moments notice. I've missed not being 'in the markets' and if I get confirmation about investment taxes on my visit to the tax office I shall look for the best French execution only firm and jump back in when the next correction happens.
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Post by elsie on Apr 21, 2024 12:47:37 GMT 1
As of now I havn't seen a single French bank where I can hold different currencies, earn reasonable % or switch at a moments notice. Try searching for "compte en devise pour particulier" and you will find plenty where you can hold different currencies A good summary exiap.fr/guides/meilleurs-comptes-multidevises-en-france
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