robbo462003

Hello everyone I am just retired and on the cusp of retiring to the Phil.My most recent concern is the decline of the UK pound and USD against the Phil peso which seems to be strengthening.How do expats living in the Phil view this situation and are they worried or not?

Jonnyivy

Hi robbo,...I'm not retired there yet, but i know a few Brits who are getting a bit worried. They are the ones who retired to live off their pension and that was all they had to rely on, no savings.
I go out again in 2 weeks time for a holiday and its always been depressing seeing what meagre amount you get for your pound these days,...it was 102 when I first went out.


Jonny

robbo462003

Hi,
The decline in sterling is worrying me I was in Iloilo for the 3rd time in the month of December 2012 and benefited from this provincial cities lower cost of living.Its my first choice to retire to.The rate I got then was 65pesos to the £.If the UK government continues to print money(QE) I think it will fall further.

tropicofcancer

Yes a very steep drop from a high of P109.5 = £1, down to P64 = £1.
That coupled with a high price inflation isn't good.
A litre of high octane unleaded was P19.60 ten years ago, now it is P53.40 and has been as high as P64. The cost of fuel affects everything.
The cost of food has risen more than 30% in the same period, some foods by more than that.

piero

yes when i first came here it was 50 to the pound and that was just over 23 years ago. but i was on holiday so it was still cheap and i,ve seen 35 to the pound and yes i remember 100 plus..........2009 was 80 now 64 more or less. i still have few years for my state pension, so i,m on private pension plus interest from deposits . its not good but i hope i can stick it out.....I Will

kevray

Can anyone recommend a decent exchange company? I have check a few out and XE Trade seem to offer the best rates, the way the pound is falling is somewhat frightening, usually I get around the same when returning to Chin, but now 10 UKP is only 980 yuan against the usual 1010 yuan I normally get, 30 yuan is two decent dinners here!!!

MRam

Hi there,

May I suggest the best thing to do is shop around for currency transfer quotes and make sure that you are getting the best rate from an FSA authorised foreign exchange provider. Typically, a foreign exchange broker's rate can be up to 4% better than the banks. This doesn't sound a lot but when you're transferring thousands or hundreds of thousands, it really does make a huge difference!

I'm from Halo Financial, a British Expats vendor/advertiser, so if you are interested in finding out how we can help you then send me a private message. Otherwise, just make sure you use a trusted broker with segregated client accounts, that is FSA authorised.

You can find our FX news and emigration forum area HERE

Hope that helps
Mark

kevray

Pound dropping like a brick Worried as I need to exchange Sterling for Yuan here in China, and now 100 pounds is 943 yuan, when you can get a really decent dinner here for less than 25 yuan, you start to wonder, just a few months ago 100 was almost exactly 1000 yuan

Jim Smith

Good to see you got your exchange rate right this time!! (22nd Feb a factor of 10 out!)

kevray

A combination of typo's and not going to specsavers