MrCro

it is very very hard!

Looking at what happened is very easy as hindsight is a wonderful thing but when you try trade real time its basically like tossing a coin!

I traded £ to go up at 1.96 thinking it would bottom there, today back into 1.92's and i'd be £thousands down if sold now. So risky business!

i will hold on tho as markets up and down!

Beachband

Cheers for that guys,
I was just wondering, cos when I check EURO/AUD daily there is a nice amount of movement in the PIP department times 1 thousand.
Also how the hell then do the brokers make their money it they don't charge for any transaction over 3k?

MartinLuther

The spread between the buying price and selling price. If the rate is 1.93 then they will sell pounds (i.e. customer buys pounds) for 1.94 and sell dollars for 1.92. (For example)

MrCro

they make profit on the spread.

that's the difference in pips between rate you get from them and actual rate they interbank at.

eg: you may be offered 1.9200 a$ to £ today but they change at 1.9250

the 0.0050 x number of £'s exchanged is their profit.

Beachband

Nice one guys, so again I will ask...can you do this competently yourself?
Have access to the live markets and become your own broker?

iamthecreaturefromuranus

I wonder how many retirement plans are being changed because of these rates?. Those already here on a UK pension will be watching it go down while at the same time the value of their Australian assets will be rising against the UK pound. If rates stay at anything like these levels in the medium term then selling up and moving back to the UK must be looking more attractive.

Stu Ward

What about the fact that you would be moving back to a country on its economic knees ?


Stu

iamthecreaturefromuranus

You would be moving back as a retiree, so employment is hardly an issue is it?

Amazulu

I hear what you are saying. We have no plans to move but had a look at what we could buy in Europe if we sold our house here at the current exchange rate - we also have no mortgage. For the UK, I was pleasantly surprised with what we could get, start looking at France, Spain, Italy, Portugal etc and the choices are unbelievable. We could get much more in all of those countries than we could 5 years ago.

Definitely food for thought.

danjones1

Why would anyone move back just to make a few quid!

Are you not happy in OZ?

iamthecreaturefromuranus

Just to make a few quid?!

We are talking about people who most likely would be on fairly fixed incomes wondering if it would be a smart move to return to Europe and improve the value of that fixed income enormously.. if you don't think that's something to consider then you are probably a long way from retirement.

Stu Ward

Move back to the UK as a retiree.
Make a few quid, live back in the dull, dark, long winters.
As a retiree, living off investments at 0.5% interest rates.

Leaving behind all the things you came to Aus for and going back to all the things you left for

Just for a few quid


Stu

renth

On Sunday some friends told us that their parents who live in Mandurah are going back to the UK because they are on a UK pension and can't afford to live here any more. It's a real shame.

iamthecreaturefromuranus

My point exactly. Long term pensioners here in Oz are seeing the value of payments from the UK slashed. Even if I remain here until I retire, the bulk of my pension contributions, in years at least, will be coming from the UK and the value of that will be an issue at retirement.
If, say over the next decade, the Oz dollar and UK pound move closer and closer to parity I would be a bloody fool to stay here in Oz.

renth

True, if it was the choice of scraping a meagre living in a caravan with bogan neighbours on a frozen UK pension or living in a nice villa in Spain with a pension that is indexed I'd go to Spain any day