€ v GBP

23POSTS

11 years ago

Hi Guys, I've received job offer in Malta I currently live reside in UK . Question is I've been offered my salary to be paid in either £GBP or €Euro. What currency would you opt for to have your monthly salary paid by? I will if I accept the job relocate to Malta to take up the position.

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Wanderlust1 Member

23POSTS

11 years ago

Sorry I think I mean from the angle of the £GBP being a more stable currency than the Euro & so the pound is worth more generally.

scubaboy Serial expat

872POSTS

11 years ago

Hi,

Obviously living in Malta you will need euro, the issue here is what rate they will use on Gbp/euro.

Now you can hedge this on a forward rate so that you can ensure that the euros you need in Malta will be a a rate your happy with.

I presume from your request that you will be sending money back to the uk anyway.

Pm me and I can give you more details, it's my job

Julian

2 members reacted to this post

tearnet ViP

2179POSTS

11 years ago

If the job is in Malta you will have to pay tax on it all in Euros.

Moving it more than once between countries could, I think loose you money.

Terry

New Horizonz Serial expat

327POSTS

11 years ago

If get paid in € and spend it all here, then the exchange rate and currency stability are irrelevant.

If you get paid a lot more than you spend (twice or more), then get £ and exchange into € what you need. (less risk and less costs).

In your situation, I would opt for £ because:
a. £ is getting stronger hence you get more € when you exchange
b. Maltese national average income is equivalent of £11000. Salaries and cost of living in the UK are higher so you get a better salary (with the UK mindset).

scubaboy Serial expat

872POSTS

11 years ago

Currency fluctuation is exactly that, fluctuation, in the last 12 months Gbp has strengthened by approximately 8% with the issues over the Grexit (Greek exit of the euro) large on the market at the moment. The euro has held strong, you have the problems coming up of the uk elections, last election the Gbp fell by over 9%. As mentioned if you want to discuss then pm me and I will give you some advise that you can then choose from, I have help others on here that I am sure are happy with how I can help

Julian

tuojge Guest

0POSTS

11 years ago

Could I PM with a current query, Julian?
Re Aussie dollar transfer...best times etc.

scubaboy Serial expat

872POSTS

11 years ago

Yes sure just pm me

scubaboy Serial expat

872POSTS

11 years ago

#10

This is a very interesting topic especially when it come a to expats, their pensions, transfer of funds to buy property, car purchases and more. You have a lot of different options but unless you understand all you can lose money.

Wanderlust1 Member

23POSTS

11 years ago

#11

The salary is in the region of £50k per year & it'll only be myself & partner (who won't have to go to work) moving to Malta as we have no children to bleed us dry 😊. I'm hoping we'll have lots of disposable income if I accept the role. We are both homebodies so apart from renting a luxury type apartment in Sliema area + buying a decent car these will be the only real outgoings.

In these circumstances do you all think asking for salary in GBP is the way to go?

1 member reacted to this post

scubaboy Serial expat

872POSTS

11 years ago

#12

You should have a lot of disposable income based on that. In my humble opinion based upon markets at the moment the Gbp model works better for your if you intend to go back to the UK. Be careful of futures issues cover yourself with a hedge based on what you will need over the months in Malta and then the risk is smaller. The Gbp is at a 7 year high over the euro, you could certainly be on a win win with this.

Wanderlust1 Member

23POSTS

11 years ago

#13

Hi Scubaboy, the company that I currently work for want me to go to Malta. I will still own property in the UK. I see Malta as "working out of a different office" rather than me choosing to live in Malta as a lifestyle choice. I'm happy living in UK but this is a step up the career ladder but I see this move re: career advancement only for say 2-5yrs & then return to UK .

The Euro to me just seems too volatile & I want to make sure I'm not penalised financially.

scubaboy Serial expat

872POSTS

11 years ago

#14

In my opinion I would stick to the Gbp, hedge your funds and enjoy the lifestyle here. Pm me and we can chat

Julian

Toon Cyprus Expert

10240POSTS

11 years ago

#15

for me = = GBP all the way

1 member reacted to this post

redders_61 Serial expat

366POSTS

11 years ago

#16

this is just my opinion ....the election in 2010 in uk was different as it produced uncertainty in UK without a euro crisis to worry about.. Now the money markets are rising as the opinion polls show no overall majority for anyone. the thing that would spook the markets most is a referendum. so no Tory majority is a good thing in this context (politics aside). The other thing the markets wont want to see is any SNP involvement if the price is an "end to austerity".

on the subject of the euro not only is Greece an ongoing problem but the Spanish election looms on the horizon with the prospect of an anti austerity govt being elected.

In my opinion the GBP should go from strength to strength and is currently not far below the 1.44 I got on holiday in 2005

g4jnw Active member

93POSTS

11 years ago

#17

yes its set to break the 1.40 barrier soon, if you are in the UK you will know that its a bit of a false high for the pound, with the whole political hype driving the pound up as we near the UK election.
My prediction, for what its worth is that the pound will fall slightly after the election, who ever wins, as people realise, actually they are no better off than before.
In the real world there are still lots of issues that will take decades to solve.
My personal issue is that I'm struggling to get anyone to view our house thats for sale.
When asked, people are still uncertain about taking on mortgages.
Confidence needs to move into the psyche yet before the economy grows properly - we are in a false growth situation at the moment.
Thats my 2 pence worth anyway.

As for taking the job pound v euro - well whatever you do the markets will swing, my advise take the pound and watch the markets, play the markets to move to euro as and when its high. DONT keep everything in Euro as the pound, although swings, is a steady economy.

tearnet ViP

2179POSTS

11 years ago

#18

g4jnw wrote:
yes its set to break the 1.40 barrier soon, if you are in the UK you will know that its a bit of a false high for the pound, with the whole political hype driving the pound up as we near the UK election.
My prediction, for what its worth is that the pound will fall slightly after the election, who ever wins, as people realise, actually they are no better off than before.
In the real world there are still lots of issues that will take decades to solve.
My personal issue is that I'm struggling to get anyone to view our house thats for sale.
When asked, people are still uncertain about taking on mortgages.
Confidence needs to move into the psyche yet before the economy grows properly - we are in a false growth situation at the moment.
Thats my 2 pence worth anyway.

As for taking the job pound v euro - well whatever you do the markets will swing, my advise take the pound and watch the markets, play the markets to move to euro as and when its high. DONT keep everything in Euro as the pound, although swings, is a steady economy.

If you are struggling to get people to view your house it generally means that the price is too high for the area / type of property.
Its easy to get sucked in by estate agents who price the house unrealistically high ( they make more money like that).

While you wait for that extra few thousand pounds life and your dream is slipping by!

Just my opinion,

Terry

g4jnw Active member

93POSTS

11 years ago

#19

tearnet wrote:
g4jnw wrote:
yes its set to break the 1.40 barrier soon, if you are in the UK you will know that its a bit of a false high for the pound, with the whole political hype driving the pound up as we near the UK election.
My prediction, for what its worth is that the pound will fall slightly after the election, who ever wins, as people realise, actually they are no better off than before.
In the real world there are still lots of issues that will take decades to solve.
My personal issue is that I'm struggling to get anyone to view our house thats for sale.
When asked, people are still uncertain about taking on mortgages.
Confidence needs to move into the psyche yet before the economy grows properly - we are in a false growth situation at the moment.
Thats my 2 pence worth anyway.

As for taking the job pound v euro - well whatever you do the markets will swing, my advise take the pound and watch the markets, play the markets to move to euro as and when its high. DONT keep everything in Euro as the pound, although swings, is a steady economy.

If you are struggling to get people to view your house it generally means that the price is too high for the area / type of property.
Its easy to get sucked in by estate agents who price the house unrealistically high ( they make more money like that).

While you wait for that extra few thousand pounds life and your dream is slipping by!

Just my opinion,

Terry

Not so Terry, eg: we had it up for 130k which is what it was valued at by an independent valuer from our bank, had it with an agent for 5 months at that and then dropped it and moved agent to 120k - have told them will take 115k minimum but they have said there are 3 properties nearby who haven't sold and they have dropped to 89k as they are desperate, but ours has a large conservatory and solar panels. They have also told us the market is still flat in the North West - as you know i do research, so have contacted a couple more agents and they are all willing to take the property on BUT they say the market is flat - they all advise sticking as we are as the market should pick up later in the year.

We are at the minimum now and at that would end up with 45-50k left after paying the mortgage off, yes we thought of renting it BUT we have watched a friend do that and she had a major problem when the tenant moved out, she was left with 2 mortgages to pay!!

Im happy sitting here another 12 months, i can still visit Gozo and get a good feeling of where we want to be, not happy but life is like that!!

As for the agent making money, they won't if they don't sell, as its a no sale no fee agreement and fastened it down to a 1% agreement on sale plus i can walk away at any time, its a family business who have a lot of respect - were in a semi rural area, Carlisle, the big town from us (16 miles away) is picking up so it will eventually roll out to us - fingers crossed.

1 member reacted to this post

tearnet ViP

2179POSTS

11 years ago

#20

We were in the same position when we live din France, fantastic house but a flat market. Everyone advised us to "hang on and the market will pick up"
We advertised it at a bargain price, despite "its worth more than that" from friends, sold within weeks and moved on.
Those that "hung on" are still their !!

Its your decision but remember that you only get one life!
All the money in world will not help if you cannot enjoy it because of illness caused by delay.

Our mantra has always been "you can't take it with you when you go"

GOOD LUCK,

Terry

2 members reacted to this post

g4jnw Active member

93POSTS

11 years ago

#21

tearnet wrote:
We were in the same position when we live din France, fantastic house but a flat market. Everyone advised us to "hang on and the market will pick up"
We advertised it at a bargain price, despite "its worth more than that" from friends, sold within weeks and moved on.
Those that "hung on" are still their !!

Its your decision but remember that you only get one life!
All the money in world will not help if you cannot enjoy it because of illness caused by delay.

Our mantra has always been "you can't take it with you when you go"

GOOD LUCK,

Terry

Thanks Terry, would normally agree, however I don't reach state retirement age till 2017 so need some dosh to live on till then, have a small pension but it would only pay our rental, have told them at work that I intend to take early retirement next year (2016) so thats what we are aiming for at the moment plus trying to save what we can. It's frustrating but on the positive side i have made quite a few friends on Gozo and Malta and can continue to build on that and look forward to living on Gozo, my mantra is "research, research, research" lol

1 member reacted to this post

New Horizonz Serial expat

327POSTS

11 years ago

#22

I think 1.41 €/GBP exchange rate isn't so much GBP strengthening, rather € weakening against all major currencies including GBP, due to uncertainties over Greece: debt, exist, current account deficit, loan restructuring, default, etc.
Greek economy is relatively small within the EU but the implications of euro collapse or implosion as a result of Grexit is the main cause of uncertainty and downward pressure on € at the moment.
Worth remembering that GBP has lost over 12% against USD in recent months.

The influence of forthcoming UK general election will come into play in a few weeks and would normally cause uncertainty prior to the election day hence softening of GBP as trader opt for safer securities such as gold. Immediately after the election it may gain or loose further depending on election outcome and what market reads into future policies to follow.
A possible future uncertainty over the UK exit from the EU club hasn't been factored in yet as that seems too distant or unlikely at this moment. They have other and bigger fish to fry before that scenario comes to fore, if at all.

redders_61 Serial expat

366POSTS

11 years ago

#23

the opinion polls for the forthcoming election clearly indicate a hung parliament and therefore no Tory majority and no Referendum. that is a reason the GBP is strengthening against the euro and the Hungarian and Polish currencies plus back up to nearly 2 aussie dollars to the pound and not far off 2 Canadian dollars too. so citing the US dollar in isolation isn't helpful. Money markets factored in the uk election due to fixed term parliaments. if there was any hint of a Tory win it would slide against the euro due to referendum uncertainty.

My main point was in 2010 a hung parliament was damaging but in 2015 its a positive as far as currency strength is concerned. I agree with what was said about Greece as I said in my earlier comment, which is helpful to the exch rate.

New Horizonz Serial expat

327POSTS

11 years ago

#24

Thank you for your comments redder_61

1. David Cameron knew very well a long time ago that Tories won't be in outright majority after the election. So he, as a politician, made a vague future promise (that he knew he wasn't going to have to honour) to make immediate politician gains against UKIP.
It's easy to see that in a 3-horse race, it's highly unlikely to gain 50+% of the seats especially as a fourth horse is on the horizon. The general economic worries, employments, coalition government track record and infighting amongst Tories all play their part to ensure that Tories won't have majority and therefore we will not be voting on UK membership of the EU club in 2016.

2. Both the Hungarian and Polish currencies are gearing up to be pegged to Euro (perhaps this year) hence it's also clear that as Euro weakens so do they.
I don't follow Aussie or Canadian currency movements so cannot comment on those. I have enough trouble keeping up to date with the currencies that I do follow.

3. I agree there is no market uncertainty as to the DATE of the UK election, but there are no certainties as to the RESULTS hence the future policy directions subsequent to the May general elections.
I acknowledged that the referendum on EU membership is a very unlikely scenario hence not a cause for market concern.

I guess we will have to wait a month or two to see if the exchange rate hikes will continue or they're short lived and exchange rates soon go south.

1 member reacted to this post

redders_61 Serial expat

366POSTS

11 years ago

#25

New Horizonz wrote:
Thank you for your comments redder_61

1. David Cameron knew very well a long time ago that Tories won't be in outright majority after the election. So he, as a politician, made a vague future promise (that he knew he wasn't going to have to honour) to make immediate politician gains against UKIP.
It's easy to see that in a 3-horse race, it's highly unlikely to gain 50+% of the seats especially as a fourth horse is on the horizon. The general economic worries, employments, coalition government track record and infighting amongst Tories all play their part to ensure that Tories won't have majority and therefore we will not be voting on UK membership of the EU club in 2016.

2. Both the Hungarian and Polish currencies are gearing up to be pegged to Euro (perhaps this year) hence it's also clear that as Euro weakens so do they.
I don't follow Aussie or Canadian currency movements so cannot comment on those. I have enough trouble keeping up to date with the currencies that I do follow.

3. I agree there is no market uncertainty as to the DATE of the UK election, but there are no certainties as to the RESULTS hence the future policy directions subsequent to the May general elections.
I acknowledged that the referendum on EU membership is a very unlikely scenario hence not a cause for market concern.

I guess we will have to wait a month or two to see if the exchange rate hikes will continue or they're short lived and exchange rates soon go south.

yes I use the XE currency app. Totally agree about the wait but I think the ECB v Greece is a bigger effect and of course as I said earlier the Spanish election looms large too.

redders_61 Serial expat

366POSTS

11 years ago

#26

I meant to say the point about aussie dollar is because in 2006 when they whitewashed us in the ashes in Australia the barmy army sang "we get 2 dollars to the pound" a lot to upset the colonials. so in effect the GBP has returned to pre crisis levels.

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New Horizonz Serial expat

327POSTS

11 years ago

#27

For a long time (years and years) I have been trying to master forex trading and learn how to make money from it without burning myself. The attraction for me is that it's immediate: they call this "over the counter trading". I have come to realise a long time ago, trying to predict the market hence make big gains from forex is much riskier and very time consuming as you need to follow politics as well as economics/financial/corporate news and trends....

Over the years I have disciplined myself to follow a simple set of rules. I'm not trying to predict the market, rather follow it. I now make a little and often from forex, have little risks, without debt and without gearing. It's not so exciting, but it is making me some money as long as there is movements in the market up or down and as you well know, forex is never static or quiet. In a day there are many mini peaks and troughs all provide a chance to make a little.

There is a guy here on this forum saying he is some kind of hotshot or expert. He offered to help me improve my method but when I PM'ed him: no reply. When I emailed him on the email I got from him: no reply.
Well, I know my simple system works. I know it won't make me rich overnight and it won't expose me to risks. I cannot be sure he knows better or his methods deliver a higher return without exposing to much higher risks. He trades other people's money but I use my own hard earned cash.
Maybe I could charge hm a fee and show him how to make own money from forex? or maybe 4 trillion USD daily forex market is big enough for all to have own methods

What does your XE currency app do?

redders_61 Serial expat

366POSTS

11 years ago

#28

lol only expert I am aware of is George Sorros (sp ck) he made billions out of currency but you have to spend big, big risk to make big money,

the app just gives you up to the minute exch rates and you can add any currency you like to the list for bang up to date exch rates.

my landlord is thinking of becoming a trader with forex too funnily enough, we had a chat about it last week.

yes of course you have to follow politics etc but way I see it the GBP is going up as the ECB has finally introduced QE. our QE is on hold but the ECB will increase. The reason the USD has risen is because the FED indicated and end to QE a while back. but then again I am not an economist or a trader. its just my forward budgeting and guessing direction

yeah I saw a post about being an expert and chortled lol

New Horizonz Serial expat

327POSTS

11 years ago

#29

George Sorros isn't on this forum, is he?

Perhaps we can ask him the question: € v GBP

redders_61 Serial expat

366POSTS

11 years ago

#30

ha I doubt it lol don't forget the Budget is next week. the markets will be watching for projected growth and fully costed measures with no hint of easing up on austerity

scubaboy Serial expat

872POSTS

11 years ago

#31

Guys, add the bloomberg app as well, this not only give you the markets but also the latest news from all markets not just currency.

scubaboy Serial expat

872POSTS

11 years ago

#32

be good to start a different thread on Currency Trading, would be interesting to see what people use and the platforms.

redders_61 Serial expat

366POSTS

11 years ago

#33

ha you make me sound like a nasty banker lol bit of a fright today back down to 1.39 for a bit but on way up again. did hit dizzy heights of 1.42 over the weekend but not for too long.

redders_61 Serial expat

366POSTS

11 years ago

#34

now I know why the pound dropped from 1.39 to 1.37 yesterday. some idiot said interest rates in UK might be CUT not go up ffs. oh and btw if you missed it some economists and entrepreneurs were debating prior to the budget yesterday on sky news. apparently any Labour led govt will intervene in the markets to weaken the pound. Thought I would let you know in case you missed it

1 member reacted to this post

redders_61 Serial expat

366POSTS

11 years ago

#35

I messaged Mr Cameron and Mr Milliband on twitter, pointing out that if either of them promises to NOT interfere in the markets to devalue the pound...there is a million or so EXPAT votes to be gained

On An Island Serial expat

226POSTS

11 years ago

#36

scubaboy wrote:
be good to start a different thread on Currency Trading, would be interesting to see what people use and the platforms.

I feel like a bloody idiot. I've been using my bank to transfer money into euros for years. And getting absolutely ripped off!!

I decided to do a bit of research on it and there are some great alternatives out there now. I did a test this morning on transferring €4000 down here. My bank quoted me a price of £3015, I saw an advert for a foreign exchange company on Bloomberg, so I registered with them and they quoted me £2982. Slightly better. I then tried one of these new peer-to-peer transfer companies, and got quoted £2918. Almost 100 quid cheaper than the Bank Of Scotland, who I have been getting screwed by for years. I don't even want to think about how much money they have done me out of in the last 5 or 10 years. Needless to say I won't be using them again.

P2P seems to be the way forward. Thank you Sir Richard Branson. DYOR.

redders_61 Serial expat

366POSTS

11 years ago

#37

in march euro hit 1.42 then some idiot said that UK interest rates next move may be downward and wham it dropped to 1.37. today it has hit 1.4 I wonder how long till some idiot ruins that.

markets have obviously priced in a hung parliament which, hopefully, will not result in an EU in out referendum nor a deliberate weakening of the currency from the other side

not long till we find out

redders_61 Serial expat

366POSTS

11 years ago

#38

in march the euro hit 1.42 then some idiot said the UK interest rates next move may be downwards..and wham dropped back to 1.37. today it has hit 1.4 I wonder how long till some idiot ruins that.

markets have obviously priced in a hung parliament and (for purposes of this topic) no majority either way is a good thing.

not long till we find out