Posted by Scott on November 2, 2009, 2:23 pm, in reply to "Re: Banking in Ireland"
159.134.204.140
My advice is to keep your checking account from your non-Irish bank for a while.
First, I just sent out a newsletter warning that you should have savings in some non-Irish bank if possible because the possibility is real of a run on the Irish banks. Unlikely at this point, but still definitely a possibility and the best strategy is simply NOT to put all your eggs in one basket.
Second, you will probably find that you need to make a few payments in the country you just left. It's easy to just write a personal check without the hassle of converting to euros, reconverting to dollars or yen and paying bank fees on every step.
Third, you've got a ready built hedge against a fall in the Euro. If you think the dollar or yen will get stronger, then without fancy brokers, you've already got a play. I'm no money man, but we moved to Ireland when the dollar was very, very low and the Irish pound (back then) was very, very high. We knew the punt would fall, which it did spectacularly along with the overpriced English pound back in 1992. We had brought in only enough money to get by and we held off on bringing over the rest till after the dust had settled.
Fourth, your credit card is probably still set up in the old currency and it's so much easier to pay it in the same currency without having to worry about commissions, rate changes and whether you'll get stung for a big card fee because the exchange rate was off by a few cents on the day you paid the bill. That is, you think you're paying the thing off and you come up 50 cents short and thereby become eligible for finance charges.
Scott
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: We've been here 4+ yrs and I've been asked
: THREE times and I've always had it up to
: date.
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