Originally Posted by Pulaski

Sorry, I think that might be good generic advice but IMO it is very bad specific advice under the current circumstances. ..... Generally, in the long term, holding dollar funds makes sense, but the likelihood is that the value of the pound will strengthen as the uncertainty of Brevity is eliminated, ..... so the number of pounds you get for your dollars will decline, perhaps quite sharply over the next 2-4 years. In other words, if your goal is to have most of your assets in pounds sterling within 5-10 years IMO there is unlikely to be a better time to make the conversion than within the next 18 months.
Not reallly!
Get your head on straight! As a holder of dollar assets who is planning an exchange to sterling assets, when the pound fell from $1.50 to $1.20 you were handed a 20% windfall - grab a load of that windfall ASAP before the pound recovers!

Originally Posted by geoff52

The advice may be generic but on the other hand nobody can predict the value of the pound in the long term. ....

Originally Posted by Pulaski

40 years of history says that the average value of the pound is $1.60. You'd need a compelling argument to suggest that the pound has permanently lost 25% of its value, when most of the economic data points to an economy as strong or stronger than most countries in Europe.

if it was my money and I was looking at a permanent move back to the UK I would move at least 50%-75% back to the UK now, not least because once you are back in the UK the $/£ rate has very little relevance to day-to-day life in the UK.

Originally Posted by Pulaski

40 years of history says that the average value of the pound is $1.60. You'd need a compelling argument to suggest that the pound has permanently lost 25% of its value, when most of the economic data points to an economy as strong or stronger than most countries in Europe.

if it was my money and I was looking at a permanent move back to the UK I would move at least 50%-75% back to the UK now, not least because once you are back in the UK the $/£ rate has very little relevance to day-to-day life in the UK.

Originally Posted by geoff52

Let the OP decide between our views since we are offering advice on limited information regarding the OP circumstances.

For the last 40 years the UK was also in the EU, which it is leaving.
In the long run UK may prosper after the exit, but in the short run it may be a roller coaster ride for the economy and thus the exchange rate.

Originally Posted by Novocastrian

Stop worrying. Be happy.

I transfered over $Cdn1m from Canada to the UK a couple of years ago. The exchanged rate was rubbish in July 2015 but I don't give a shit. I'm well enough of for my needs anyway.

Originally Posted by austin_d_powers

Will be moving back to the UK after 23 years in the USA.
How do you get your money from a US bank account into the UK, when you don't have a UK account and can not open one from the USA?
I am thinking of using a site like XE to transfer the money, but am worried about a catch22 situation (being in USA cant open uk account, being in UK dont have US address for my US bank account, etc).

Originally Posted by Colin35

There are two banks in the U.K., which shall open bank accounts for people living overseas;
HSBC and Barclays. I opened accounts with both whilst living in the USA and have since ditched HSBC in favor of Barclays. Opening an account with Barclays was relatively painless; application, supporting documentation, phone call interview and voila.
With HSBC, I had to open a US account first and then apply for an international account, supporting paperwork and a visit to an HSBC bank to have the paperwork validated. This part was a pain for me as There are no banks in Texas and I had to take time off work to fly to Washington DC. HSBC process took more than 8 weeks, whereas Barclays was less than a month and I had a debit card, credit card and could easily move money pay bills etc.

Originally Posted by Pulaski

40 years of history says that the average value of the pound is $1.60. You'd need a compelling argument to suggest that the pound has permanently lost 25% of its value, when most of the economic data points to an economy as strong or stronger than most countries in Europe.

Originally Posted by winston_1

At the end of the war the £ was $3.50. Labour devalued and it became $2.80. Late 60s Wilson devalued and it became $2.40. Early 70s the £ was floated but it didn't float it slowly sank, $2.20, $1.60, $1.40, now it is $1.28.
It may fluctuate a bit but long term I see no reason for the trend not to continue.

Originally Posted by Pulaski

Go look at a chart - the last 40 years have seen many ups and downs, but the best fit line is close to horizontal at around $1.60. And anyone who understands anything about either politics or economics can see that the uncertainty over Brevity has depressed sterling significantly below where it would otherwise be.

Originally Posted by winston_1

Why are you looking at the last 40 years? The last 70 years show a downward trend and I see no reason for that not to continue. Every time there has been a big drop, and Brexit is one of many, it has never recovered fully. It ratchets down.

Originally Posted by Pulaski

Why do you think what was happening in the immediate post-war period has anything relevance to what is happening today? The further back you go the less relevant the data and the £/$ rate has been $1.60+ within the past three years, and close to $2 within the past decade or so.

Originally Posted by MidAtlantic

GBP was over $2 several times in 2008. I converted funds then and got over $2 on net proceeds.

Originally Posted by Pulaski

Exactly? So let's extrapolate that, and the $1.60 rate three years ago. So sterling is losing 40c every 3-5 years, which means in about 12 years from now the pound will have zero value.