OMG!!!! How crap is the pound!!!
 

Just looked and i can't believe it. you're now only getting $1.56 cad to the £1.00. This is a joke!!!. how much lower will it go??

Gav.

Re: OMG!!!! How crap is the pound!!!
 

Unbelievable - I have no knowledge of financial markets but surely the only way is up?! Makes houses etc seem cheap here.

Re: OMG!!!! How crap is the pound!!!
 

Here is the forecast against the $US. According to this, it would seem that the GBP is around the bottom. Merv. King and Gordon Brown have been wanting a low pound for ages so maybe they are trying to give the economy a boost before the election:

http://forecasts.org/pound.htm

Re: OMG!!!! How crap is the pound!!!
 

I still wouldn't mind having 20,000,000 of them

Re: OMG!!!! How crap is the pound!!!
 

Perfect for those visiting the UK from Canada.

Re: OMG!!!! How crap is the pound!!!
 

The Canadian dollar rate is bewilderingly low, and the Euro is 1.10 to the pound - there goes my dream Spanish villa idea! :p

Re: OMG!!!! How crap is the pound!!!
 

Yes indeedy. We're going back in July so I might buy some currency in advance.

Re: OMG!!!! How crap is the pound!!!
 

Thats brill, I have a bill to pay back there, (thanks to a fu***** ex member of the family)

Re: OMG!!!! How crap is the pound!!!
 

We've been saying that since it slumped to around $1.90.

Then again at $1.80...$1.70....:(

Re: OMG!!!! How crap is the pound!!!
 

It's low because of worries about the UK financial situation and the fact that it's becoming more and more of a possibility that we have a hung parliament at the next election.

The likelihood is it's not going to get better for quite awhile.

Re: OMG!!!! How crap is the pound!!!
 

Long may it stay low. I'm loving visiting the UK and being able to afford things. Converting my salary also makes me feel rather good. Actually, having just done it online, change that to very good :)

Re: OMG!!!! How crap is the pound!!!
 

You may think a dollar is worth a lot here in Canada, but no one tells you about the taxes on everything. It seems like the government takes 0.40 off every dollar.

Now that's a rip off.

Jess

Re: OMG!!!! How crap is the pound!!!
 

I filed my income taxes last week, so perhaps unlike you I know what the real tax rates are like after deductions etc.

Want to guess what the REAL rate was? As a married man with kids and lots of home reno bills, in total the government took 17% of my distinctly average level income, so please, if you are going to post here, stick to what you know to be true:sneaky:

And if its sales tax you are refering to, 13% GST + PST is still less than the UK VAT rate.

Re: OMG!!!! How crap is the pound!!!
 

I'm afraid I dont know the answer to your question but I did do some research into the historical exchange rates once and I believe the lowest was 1.45 in 1985. So I think it would probably be wrong to assume it couldnt go lower. If its done it before it can do it again.

If you've got funds to move over then the exchange rate being as low as it is is a big concern - no question. But I also think you have to balance that with the relative strength of the Canadian economy versus the UK economy (which is largely why the exchange rate is as it is anyway). Salaries in Canada are now (at the current exchange rate) comparatively high versus the UK. Also job prospects are good and the economy is growing very quickly - over 5% in Q4 last year. In contrast the UK government's efforts to "stimulate" the economy have left it saddled with enormous debt that it will take a decade to recover from. This is going to make it harder and harder to provide basic public services such as healthcare and policing that people rely on for a decent quality of life. So if you take a long-term view I think there is no question that you will be better off in Canada.

Re: OMG!!!! How crap is the pound!!!
 

How relevant is that comparison once you're actually earning CAD$ though? Surely the cost of living is more relevant, and I don't see that there's a great deal of difference there. If you've had to exchange during this low rate, then getting established here is going to be much tougher than a few years ago, despite comparative salary/exchange rate figures.

Re: OMG!!!! How crap is the pound!!!
 

True, it is quite fun to compare though. Obviously, doing the same conversion with the mortgage quickly eliminates any real sense of euphoria. Just need to go to the UK more to spend it :)

Re: OMG!!!! How crap is the pound!!!
 

Exchange rates are affected by a countries inflation, its called Purchasing Power parity. If a country has a relatively high inflation rate then we should see the value of its currency decline.

It will be interesting to see what happens in the future between these two exchange rates

Re: OMG!!!! How crap is the pound!!!
 

The UK has the second highest salaries in the World:

http://www.fairsalaries.com/salary-r...t-type=country

Go to any source and you will find this to be the case. Exchange rates are irrelevant if you are earning pounds and spending pounds.

If you go back to the early 1990s, Canada's debt was also spiralling out of control but these things can be turned around with prudent fiscal policies.

As for job prospects, it depends on what field you are in. Come and look at manufacturing in Ontario. Maybe as an immigration consultant, this would be bad for business?

Re: OMG!!!! How crap is the pound!!!
 

One way of feeling you're getting a pay rise I suppose

Re: OMG!!!! How crap is the pound!!!
 

I just got the maturity value of my endowment policy. Over 10 years, it is worth 240GBP more than I paid into it - and the exchange rate kills it even further. Aargh! I was expecting more, even in today's economy but I guess I should be happy that I am at least getting my money back!

Re: OMG!!!! How crap is the pound!!!
 

Thanks for that. You're not the first person to imply that just because I practice in the immigration field that I'm inclined to mercilessly try to trick everyone into moving to Canada just for my own gain but I can promise you that isnt the case - the demand is higher now than it has been for years regardless of what I say. Surely you realise that this forum is made up of people that have already made the move, are waiting for visas, or have largely made their minds up to move to Canada anyway? There's really nothing to be gained by trying to "sell" Canada on here; I'm just expressing my own opinion based on personal experience as much as anything else.

The "fairsalaries" table makes for very interesting reading but it doesn't say where the data was collected from or when. Plus its obviously complete and utter rubbish because, according to this table, the average salary in the UK is USD$136,836. Which at today's exchange rate equals GBP91,419! So that's what you're trying to tell me the average UK salary is? Even though the Office of National Statistics data for December 2009 puts the average total earnings (including bonuses) in the UK at just over GBP23k (see: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/pdfdir/lmsuk0210.pdf)? Even a salary of GBP45k in the UK puts you in the top 10% of earners and over GBP90k probably in the top 2% of earners!

Re: OMG!!!! How crap is the pound!!!
 

Two years ago I would have agreed with you. Now I disagree. Your argument about the stimulus applies equally (if not more) to the US. Canada (and asia for a few more years) needs the US consumer and the US consumer is maxed out.

I have two issues with GDP measures:
- Inflation is under-reported in the G7. GDP figures will look good when this happens.
- Whilst stimulus measures are in place, GDP figures are contain an element of the extra debt the government is accumulating. This is work we have to do in the future, not work we have done now - in effect we are adding a bit of tomorrows GDP to todays.

Re: OMG!!!! How crap is the pound!!!
 

what a bunch of crap. 136,000 USD - bollocks. try more like 30,000 quid.

Re: OMG!!!! How crap is the pound!!!
 

UK avge salary is £90,000? :rofl:

Re: OMG!!!! How crap is the pound!!!
 

That's it. I'm moving back.;)

Re: OMG!!!! How crap is the pound!!!
 

And less than GBP900 per year in Italy according to that chart - makes you wonder how they afford all those designer clothes doesn't it? :rofl:

Re: OMG!!!! How crap is the pound!!!
 

1.56 CAD is astonishingly low. When I moved in 2000 it was around 2.10 CAD to the Pound. Back then, most people regarded Canadian dollars as little more than monopoly money....how times have changed.

Re: OMG!!!! How crap is the pound!!!
 

It's just paper - it is all little more than monopoly money.

Re: OMG!!!! How crap is the pound!!!
 

We are due in Vancouver at the end of March and I was hopefully waiting for the situation to get a little better before exchanging our money..

Not sure we will be that lucky although it is possible that after the Olympics the rate may get a little better.

Re: OMG!!!! How crap is the pound!!!
 

Why?

Re: OMG!!!! How crap is the pound!!!
 

It was explained to me that the CAD is very strong due to the Olympics and all the people requiring the currency.. Value of the CAD is due to supply and demand

That is of course the simple view and there is a lot more too it..

£ is also low due to election wobbles etc.

It's just an opinion

Re: OMG!!!! How crap is the pound!!!
 

Whoever explained that to you doesn't have the faintest clue what they are talking about. CAD is strong due to the relative strength of our resource based economy vs. UK. Election jitters and fear of a hung parliament also factor. The Olympics? Not so much.

Re: OMG!!!! How crap is the pound!!!
 

I agree. Most attending the Games would be paying with a credit card. I can't believe the small amounts most attending would require in cash would have any real effect on the exchange rate.

Re: OMG!!!! How crap is the pound!!!
 

It is more of a factor for a currency that has a lower trading volume like the CAD than something like USD, GBP, EURO or Yen. But it would not account for more than few c for sure and this would even out.

The relative strength of a currency is not good for a resource based economy, which exports that resource. I've also heard that there may be interest rate hikes in Canada before June making the CAD look stronger.

Re: OMG!!!! How crap is the pound!!!
 

"fairsalaries" Should read 'fantasysalaries':rofl:

Just came across this!

Tuesday 2nd March 2010 'Daily Mail' (page 4)

"The average Briton, who works full-time, earns £25,412 a year".:(

Re: OMG!!!! How crap is the pound!!!
 

Thats more like it, and lets not forget average doesnt mean the majority, there are a hell of a lot of people earning below that figure.

Re: OMG!!!! How crap is the pound!!!
 

Thanks for that, made my day. Although I had to explain to the OH why I'd just snorted beer from my nostrils all over the laptop screen.

Re: OMG!!!! How crap is the pound!!!
 

I hear from many of my family back in the UK that most jobs these days seem to be advertised as less than 30 hours a week, which means people still have to rely on the government to prop up their income with Tax Credits. Whatever happened to a fair working wage and full-time employment?

Re: OMG!!!! How crap is the pound!!!
 

Maybe George Soros was visiting and wanted some walking around money.

Re: OMG!!!! How crap is the pound!!!
 

~Glad it made your day....:thumbsup: