Author Topic: Investing Money in Different Countries  (Read 1837 times)

kiwichick

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Investing Money in Different Countries
« on: March 24, 2014, 10:47:29 PM »
Hi all,

In a couple of years (possibly sooner) I intend move from New Zealand to the UK on the Youth Mobility Visa (allows a person aged 30 or under to work in the UK for up to 2 years). This is something I've always wanted to do and I'll be reaching 30 in a little over 2 years, so the clock's ticking! While the housing market here is doing well right now, thanks to a shortage of houses after the Christchurch earthquakes (and other nation-wide factors), I'm not convinced it will continue and I intend to give Uni a go in a different city when I come back. So I intend to sell it.

I would like to invest the proceeds of my house sale in a mixture of term deposits, direct shares and ETFs. Here in New Zealand we only have the Smartshares ETFs which have pretty poor returns and high fees. They don't look like a great investment. Managed funds have relatively high fees (1%). I can buy into the Vanguard Australia shares directly on the share-market, but to avoid excessive brokerage fees this would have to be in quite large parcels - I couldn't drip-feed money into it like you can in Australia/UK/USA etc.

So, I'm wondering if it makes sense to open up an Australian savings account, with a decent interest rate, to use for investing in Vanguard through BPay (it's like their internet banking I think? Investing a small amount every month. Dollar cost averaging is my goal). So while my money is sitting there, it should earn a decent rate in the savings account, and gradually get invested into Vanguard funds for a hopefully higher overall return. I would also leave some in savings or bonds in New Zealand as well as invest some directly in New Zealand companies listed on the NZX.

Does anybody have any experience in investing in different countries? Obviously a big risk factor is the exchange rate, however I would only transfer maybe 1/4 of my savings/house proceeds to the Australian account for investment and wouldn't intend to withdraw it for many years (retirement).  I'm also hoping to earn enough in the UK to cover both travel and further investment, but as I'll only be there a limited time, I'm not sure yet where I'll invest. Will probably just send the money home or to the Australia account. It's also possible that I could be studying or working in Australia in the future (New Zealanders can freely work in Aussie without any special permissions).

So all this is a while away yet, but just keen to hear any opinions or others' experiences investing in other countries and if the exchange rate factored into your decision to invest or not.

innerscorecard

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Re: Investing Money in Different Countries
« Reply #1 on: March 24, 2014, 10:57:14 PM »
How much will doing this complicate your taxes?

kiwichick

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Re: Investing Money in Different Countries
« Reply #2 on: March 25, 2014, 01:26:25 AM »
Good question. I hadn't thought about taxes and will have to look into it. Thanks!

 

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