Foreign currency deposits in the United States

[PDXTabs]

I might be in a slightly atypical situation. I have a job in the Portland, OR area grossing $120K/yr writing software. I also have three kids and an ex-wife that does not make much money so I pay $$$$/mo in child support (and will until at least 2026).

Long term I would like to own property and live in Europe. I am a UK citizen from birth but I have not lived in the UK since I was a toddler. Because I am not currently living in the UK none of the UK banks will give me a normal account. Also, I can make more money in the US so the longer I stay here the more money I will have.

So, I have two questions:

1. I think that the US currency is strong right now compared to the Euro and the GBP. Since long term (3.5-13 years) I would like to move to Europe, I am thinking about turning some US dollars into Euros and GBPs every month. Does anyone agree? Long term they would be used to buy flats in the UK and mainland Europe, perhaps before I actually move.
2. Does anyone have an opinion of Everbank? They are by far the lowest bar to entry for foreign currency deposit accounts in the US.

PS - This is in addition to maxing out my 401(k) in stocks and saving US dollars for the next housing crash.

[Hargrove]

We really don't know what shape triggering (and resolving) Article 50 is going to leave the UK in. It's hard (and not advisable) to time the market, but I don't see the value in paying fees to get cash in another currency that will also depreciate for an unknown period. If you can get a Euro account somewhere and invest with it, that would be fine, but you would be losing a ton of money to pay an exchange fee and have money sitting for 3.5-13 years.

[PDXTabs]

We really don't know what shape triggering (and resolving) Article 50 is going to leave the UK in. It's hard (and not advisable) to time the market, but I don't see the value in paying fees to get cash in another currency that will also depreciate for an unknown period.

I don't engage in market timing with my 401k investments, but I think that some amount of market timing is reasonable. Do you invest in real estate when it is cheap or expensive? This never time the market thing seems overblown on MMM.

If you can get a Euro account somewhere and invest with it, that would be fine, but you would be losing a ton of money to pay an exchange fee and have money sitting for 3.5-13 years.

Well, I would probably put $100-600 per month in until I had enough for a down payment on a flat. I wouldn't just leave my money in a savings account for the hell of it, but I also wouldn't invest my down payment money in the stock market.

[Hargrove]

I don't engage in market timing with my 401k investments, but I think that some amount of market timing is reasonable. Do you invest in real estate when it is cheap or expensive? This never time the market thing seems overblown on MMM.

Huh? I said timing the market is hard and not advisable BUT I would not want to invest in the UK near Article 50. Avoiding risk in that way is a little bit timing. Which is the opposite of "overblowing not timing the market." If housing is just obvious to you when it's cheap and when it's expensive, have at. Rates here, generally, are going up. Not sure what's going on in the UK.

Well, I would probably put $100-600 per month in until I had enough for a down payment on a flat. I wouldn't just leave my money in a savings account for the hell of it, but I also wouldn't invest my down payment money in the stock market.

Well, you asked. Currency fees to change money in the first place, then to hold those depreciating assets for an indefinite time horizon (doubly guaranteed losses) while eyeing a market with an especially muddy future is not something I would do. Bonds, at least.

[PDXTabs]

Well, you asked. Currency fees to change money in the first place, then to hold those depreciating assets for an indefinite time horizon (doubly guaranteed losses) while eyeing a market with an especially muddy future is not something I would do. Bonds, at least.

Absolutely, I did ask. Another option would be to leave all my assets in equities and US backed investments and just hope that changing them in the future isn't a big deal. And in the other quote I was actually agreeing with you, but I guess I failed to convey that.

[Hargrove]

Ah, gotcha. Well, nobody seems to think that Britain will be a runaway export success on account of leaving the EU - most "for" seem to think it will "be ok." Shortly after May invokes and shortly after separation is done there will probably be very large dips in GBP. That info would be much more useful if anything at all were clear about what Trump would do to the dollar in the meantime (so far it's a stock market party, though) - if those are good entry points for you on GBP, you might do it then. If you're fine holding US investments in the meantime, that's what I would do, but it's less liquid if something could make you want to move more quickly (I'm not sure what governs your time horizon, but that's the only advantage to having it in the other currency early).

[daverobev]

If you have money, I'd go with Interactive Brokers - you can do all sorts of virtually free foreign exchange stuff with them. And just hold the cash there. You're not going to get much of a return on cash anywhere.

Alternatively, try HSBC Premier. They will open bank accounts in multiple currencies if you have enough invested with them.

There are offshore bank accounts in GBP and EUR but usually they have fees.