moonie2011

Typical, sold our uk house, waited until we could get $2 to £1 and then moved the money over, a week later it goes up to above $2.10 to the £1 and has been there since � ����� ����� ����� ����� ����

Genesis

Bloody annoying eh? I remember cancelling an order for 2.74 back in the day cos I was told reliably that the kiwi would go to 3! It went sub 2!!! Basically I should have had the sense to draw a line in the sand and say if it gets this low I will sell all my pounds to avoid more 'losses'. Alas I didn't..what did they say about the fool and his money? We were!! So will it get to 2.44? I doudt it somehow..but it is a nice thought for those with any pounds.

Genesis

Dollar was 2.12 yesterday, its 2.14 today! It could all crumble tomorrow but the pound just seems to be on a roll and the kiwi is in free fall.

Genesis

RBNZ cut the OCR today and has intimated that there are more drops to come. The kiwi has tanked and has lost 6 cents on the pound in the last few hours.

The BoE has mooted that rates will be hiked in the UK come very early 2016. $2.40 does seem achieveable. I have a bit of GBP left but think I will take the money and run.

I never thought we would see $2.20 (which it is today) ever again in my life time. It was about 1.94 only 4-6 weeks ago.

Those who have yet to change their GBPs will be getting a very welcome boost to their savings!

Mark Smith

Thanks for the heads up.

Genesis

No worries, I know for many that currency is incredibly dull, but like mortgage rates it can be pivotal to one's fiscal welfare!!

Genesis

2.2153 today.

bourbon-biscuit

Anyone else playing chicken* ...







*in the name of transparency, should point out I am only playing with dollars in the triple digits

TommyLuck

Definitely the best tactic so that you can just move on on the basis that you stuck to what you thought was a good deal at the time.


I waited and waited to transfer savings over from the UK and finally did it at the end of January at 2.07-ish.

The same transaction today would have netted me a decent amount more than that - more than the average monthly salary, let's say.

Those exchanged pounds were reinvested however and in time I suppose I'll recoup my 'lost' money - it's the only way to look at it!!

Stgeorge6

You have to remember this is all a very deep cycle the NZ dollar historical average is 2.5, it is only people that have moved to NZ post 2009 in the financial crisis years that have got used to the distauted rate. As the world economies normalise again the rates will find there new norms of which NZ dollar will prob be in the new norm of 2.3 - 2.45 range, but this may not take full effect till 2018 as countries like USA and uk normalise their rates.
Question to ask is what is best to do with sterling,
If your are renting in NZ with money in uk the interest rate on saving will unlikely cover rent and if you could buy out right in nz you would be saving rent money and have capital gain on your nz house, so that might make you take the plunge and move money now.
If not you maybe better rent house in UK and perhaps sell in 2017-18 to hit sweet spot on UK price increases on property and a more normal exchange rate.
Moving a large amount of money is always a bit of a gamble study the markets and get very in tune with them as it can make a huge difference 5 mins before Wheeler announced rate cut for example £300,000 was worth $15,000 less than after the announcement. It is your hard earned money so it has to be right as for some it might be only time they do it.
Last time I moved sterling to NZ I got 2.84 and when moved back to UK got 2.5 , at some point in the future I will move it back, but that is not now.

Cheers

Kev

desmondo84

Yeah, we bought a house a couple of months ago. Painful just thinking about it. OUCH.

sazzle1979

This thread is very helpful - to hear everyone's opinions is great.
Sadly for us the currency gives me nightmares literally, we bought a home here in October and got just very slightly over $2 to the pound and were desperately hoping to go home next year - what a bad move that has turned out to be.

I am dreading to think what the exchange rate will be for us converting back to GBP next year :-(

Snap Shot

I understand your concerns. The exchange rate has been at it's lowest since we arrived in Feb 2011. When I last looked it was 46p for a dollar

It needs to be 50p or more or we would make a loss on the currency exchange.

We got 2.11 NZD for 1GBP back in Feb 2011 which was then as good as it got. Well, turns out I could have held out for 2.15NZD but I had agreed with the currency broker when to buy and that's what happened. In the event the transaction happened overnight when I was fast asleep !

I'm not moving, well, our money at least unless it's the same or better than what it was when we exchanged sterling for NZD.

Currency fluctuations are just that. Currency traders can talk a good game about transactions i.e getting junk bonds out of Lichtenstein and all that malarkey, but I think it's not much more than crystal ball gazing !

Next year's currency values ? Watch this space.

jmh

I have a bid in with xe dot com for 2.3. Not too bothered if it doesn't hit, as I don't need the money right now.

If it hits, I'll put in another bid for 2.5. Always be optimistic, I say.

Genesis

For those changing kiwis back to pounds you need to remember when the pound stayed low it stayed low for about 4 years..really low. Most pundits who are allegedly 'in the know' reckon the kiwi's been over valued for too long and all the indicators are that it will stay that way. The Reserve Bank has mooted more OCR cuts are on the cards and by contrast the UK looks to be raising its OCR come the new year and things are looking much brighter in the UK economy..apparently. Someone once said of the kiwi it goes up in value by the stairs and always uses the express elevator when going down.

The milk solids global auction price drop, Oz's woes and the slow down in China are all part and parcel of what is in the mix..again apparently.

It's all a risk eh? Buy or sell? Thing is whilst your money is in Nz its getting maybe 4-4.5 % in the bank. In the UK the max is around .9% at present. I know the rates are going up..but they won't shoot up. UK house prices are on the rise by the way...apparently 3% rise month on month, whatever that means.