Genesis

Are they safe? We have funds in the Nationwide. I wonder how safe our money is there? One wonders if we should just get it out irrespective of the crappy forex rate. Does anyone have any confidence keeping their money in UK banks/Societies? The UK bank guarantee scheme does not in anyway give me confidence

Tranmere Rover

Is there something going on that makes you think it's not safe there?

Grayling

Probably a lot safer than NZ ones

Tranmere Rover

Why?

Grayling

Because the UK banks are still covered by the UK bank Guarantee scheme.

I thought the NZ government scrapped their guarantee


....and the UK is still a vastly bigger economy than NZ

luvwelly

What Grayling said...

Genesis

They have..no more gtee scheme here NZ, you are correct. I ask as I wonder about 'contaigon' from what is happening in Cyprus and the same snaking its way to theUK.

jmh

I have money in the UK, and I think it's probably safer there because of the Govt guarantee. I'm well below the guarantee level but if I was over it I would spread my deposits around different banks.

It's probably not a big deal, but since I don't need it right now, I figure I don't need to take a hit on the exchange rate unnecessarily. If you have significant spare money it might be worth investing in property. According to Zoopla, after a two year stagnation by house had increased in value quite a bit recently.

I think given your history Genesis, spread your risk.

M_and_M

I haven't seen any banking crisis alarm bells here in the UK, why wouldn't it be safe?

The only sensible thing the UK govt have done in recent years is NOT joining the euro!

downunderpom

The important lesson to learn from the Cyprus debacle is this: banks WILL help themselves to depositors money, if it will stop the bank from failing. Cyprus also has deposit guarantees, and those guarantees are not worth the paper they're written on.

I started the NZ thread because the gov't is putting laws in place which will allow them to bail a bank out, using depositors money, if it is necessary. I don't think it will get to that in NZ, but I also won't be leaving large chunks of money dangling there like bait on a hook. These banksters are addicts - they can't resist grabbing!

The bottom line is this: you get interest on your deposits because the banks loan that money out to other people and charge them (more) interest. The banks consider themselves to be acting as your agent, and taking a slice of the pie for their efforts. If the loans turn toxic, the banks consider your money to have been risked, by you, purely by the fact of your depositing it into an interest account, expecting a return, and will expect you to swallow the loss.

You also have to remember that the UK has been deliberately devaluing the GBP for quite a while, trying to make the UK more 'competitive' for exports. (Althought what the hell the UK 'exports' these days is beyond me!)

The only one who will guard your money is YOU.

Genesis

Wish I could but alas once you have left the Uk for good you cannot open a UK bank acct. I wonder if it is the same for a building society acct in the UK..didn't think of that. Don't want an offshore one as I have been advised these are the least safe in terms of their risk and lesser bank gtee scheme.

Assanah

The guarantees will only work as long as there is no systematic failure. One bank failing is OK but the failure of the whole banking system is not. In Cyprus the whole banking system was failing and of course then no deposit is save. If the money is gone you can't pay any guarantees even if the laws require you to. However, I believe that there were warning signs before the Cyprus tumult. Same will probably true for the UK. Gotta be watching and if need be gotta be quick to pull out your money.

jmh

Genesis, if you've got less than GBP 85,000 in the account leave it where it is. If more, maybe consider an offshore account for the amount higher than that. You were correctly advised about risk but I came across this from Skipton: http://www.skiptoninternational.com/

They fall under the Guernsey Deposit Guarantee scheme which protects deposits up to GBP 50,000. I haven't studied it in detail, so read it and do some checking before you apply. Report back if you do as I am interested to hear if it is as good as it looks.

There are no guarantees in life (apart from death and taxes). Given your past losses I think that minimising risk is probably a good strategy. I'm a pretty conservative investor, so I don't make huge gains, but I haven't had any losses either. Depends I guess on how exciting you want your life to be.

Robbie2010

Genesis, for f***s sake spend your money ... otherwise your going to get ulcers with all your worrying!

M_and_M

Hahahahaha ha! I gotta say I wish I had enough cash to worry about it!