Mister176

Hello! Hope everyone is ready for Autumn

I am heading back to London for 2 weeks of holiday in May, just wondering if anyone here can kindly share their advice on exchanging AUD$ to sterling for travel money? This will be my first time.

I used FC Exchange (FX broker) when I moved over last year and got pretty decent rates, but not sure if they are also competitive the other way round? Any other good dealers out there?

Also, what's the story with our PAYE/NI in the UK? If we were to make Oz our permanent home, can we claim back all the national insurance etc paid? Or can we expect pension from the UK (however miniscule) when we retire?

Pollyana

I just take my ATM cards and withdraw cash in the UK. Another alternative is www.tranzfers.com which will move smaller amounts of money than some Forex companies, thats assuming you have a UK account still to move it to. If its only for 2 weeks presumably you aren't moving huge amounts.

Your NI stays in the UK and you can claim a UK State Pension to be paid here when you retire - there's a thread running here at present about that -
http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=785012

OzTennis

ATM cards are fine for small amounts and obviously convenient but due to the poorer exchange rate, you are better exchanging with an FX dealer (not a bank) for significant amounts to get a better rate. Tranzfers is the part of Oz/UKForex which deals with smaller amounts/travel money and is worth giving a try - if you would have more than the odd ATM withdrawal.

Wol

They also have a cash card which you load up and can use for foreign cash and purchases. I don't know how the fees compare with other institutions thought.

Mister176

Thanks for your replies guys.

I am going on a shopping spree in those 2 weeks, will splash out at least $5,000, so using Oz card can proven costly I think.

I'm thinking about exchanging via a FX broker into my NatWest account and use my UK debit card for all UK purchases.

As to UK state pension, can I withdraw it based on my 'permanent' move overseas and put it into a more investment grade vehicle?

Wol

>>I'm thinking about exchange via a FX broker into my NatWest account and use my UK debit card for all UK purchases. <<

That would be the best plan, providing you don't leave too much in the account when you leave, earning zilch.

Mister176

Yup, way to go, any good advice on brokers? Anyone?

louie

No, there's nothing to withdraw. You don't have your own pot of money, like a UK personal pension into which you had contributed or Aussie Super. "Your" state pension is simply money allocated to you by the UK Government at the point of payment, if they choose to do so. There's nothing (legal) stopping them changing the rules before you retire (and you are young enough that there's every chance they will).

In fact, depending on how long you worked in the UK/when you emigrated, you may not qualify for a UK state pension under the new rules coming in 2016 at all - "Anyone who has not paid NI for at least seven, or possibly even 10, years in total in their working life will not qualify for the new single-tier state pension at all".

Pollyana

Check what cost they impose - Tranzfers only charge $15 per transaction, which is usually reckoned to be pretty cheap.

astera

For significant amounts I'd use HSBC and their GetRate feature. You'll have a very hard time beating that.

OzTennis

Just out of interest, banks usually give poorer rates than FX dealers such as OzForex, HIFX etc. Is HSBC GetRate competitive with FX and do you have to be a customer with an account?

astera

Yes, banks usually give very poor exchange rates. The exception to this has generally been banks that offer personalised services to their clients by offering some sort of premium banking option. So if you have X amount of money with them then they give you a personal account manager, who in turn can get you much better rates over the phone.

HSCB has gone a step further and their GetRate feature offers superb rates for their clients without the need to call anyone up, etc. You just need an HSBC multi-currency account for instance and then all transactions above a certain level (I cannot remember how many k it was, 5... 7... 10k perhaps?) will go through the GetRate feature. A while back I did a check for 10k Euro >>> AUD and the following was offered:

At the same time (literally click here and click there)...
XE mid-rate: $12,702.56
HSBC GetRate: $12,661.10

So very, very tight spreads.