How to reduce risk and save on your currency transfer when you’re moving overseas in 2020

Using a specialist foreign exchange broker and strategies such fixing your exchange rate could save you thousands in the volatile market

One of our expats’ top tips in a recent blog post, was to ‘save more in preparation for your move’ to give you a contingency fund when you have moved overseas. One easy step that could save you a small fortune when looking at your finances, is to consider and plan ahead when it comes to exchanging your funds from Pounds sterling, to the currency of your soon to be adopted home.

Even if you are waiting on the sale of a UK property before you have most of your funds available, it is worth knowing that you can fix and thereby guarantee your exchange rate up to two years before your move, by using a reputable foreign exchange specialist such as A Place in the Sun Currency.

 Exchange rates have been particularly volatile in 2019, with Brexit weighing heavy on the Pound, a General Election to contend with, and economic data constantly being released too. In fact, the difference between the highest and lowest rates in 2019, is as much as 13%, meaning a typical £300,000 budget would have resulted in a huge difference in available funds overseas, depending on the timing of the currency conversion.

 

Currency	High	Low	Low to High	Difference for £300,000
Euro	1.2017	1.0646	13%	€ 41,500
Australian Dollar	1.9513	1.7689	10%	AUD 53,000
Canadian Dollar	1.7754	1.5891	12%	CAD 57,200
New Zealand Dollar	2.0391	1.8380	11%	NZD 60,700
South African Rand	19.573	17.262	13%	ZAR 673,000
US Dollar	1.3492	1.2022	12%	$ 43,300

 

2020 looks to be another year of uncertainty in the UK, with the new government insisting that a trade deal with the EU can be reached by December 31^st. The Pound’s fortunes may largely depend on whether or not this is borne out to be true. On January 1^st 2021 it is very likely that the UK will have left the EU, with or without a free trade deal, and sterling will almost certainly be extremely sensitive to the perceived economic prospects for UK trade once the process has been concluded.

Of course, nobody can predict exactly what will happen with exchange rates in the future. But if you leave the exchange and transfer of your funds until the day before you step on the plane, you are at the mercy of wherever the currency markets are sitting at that particular moment – or if rates are poor, you could end up leaving your money in the UK awaiting an improvement for the Pound, which may ultimately never come.

This is a stressful and potentially expensive situation that can be avoided. The experts at A Place in the Sun Currency deal exclusively with people buying or moving overseas, so the team can talk you through all your options, and usually it’s better to have a chat with them early on in your process so that they can keep you in touch with what’s happening in the markets. A dedicated, personal account manager will get to know you and your plans – and will look out for your best interests.

As well as providing some guidance, and some options around fixed exchange rates that you might not have known about, A Place in the Sun Currency also offer much more competitive rates than are typically available from high street banks on any given day. A saving of 2-4% is not uncommon, so that is another few thousand Euros, Dollars or Rand that are better ending up in your pocket when you make the move – using a high street bank to exchange and transfer large volumes of currency is usually much more expensive, not to mention more stressful, than using a specialist broker.

From the same people as the A Place in the Sun TV programme, magazine, website and exhibitions, your money is also in safe hands with A Place in the Sun Currency – the firm is FCA regulated, all staff and banking are based in the UK, and the team is only ever a phone call away. You can see independently verified reviews from recent clients who have made the move and bought their own place in the sun, here too.

For more information, visit our page on the A Place in the Sun Currency website, where you can register for the service, without any cost or obligation.

The post How to reduce risk and save on your currency transfer when you’re moving overseas in 2020 appeared first on PSS Removals Blog.