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Halls of Shrewd'm / US Policy
No. of Recommendations: 3
As noted previously, for the foreseeable future DW and I (US citizens) are considering spending at least a good chunk of each year in France, most likely renting for 3 to 6 months at a time and perhaps buying a place later on. The rapid rise in the Euro relative to the USD has prompted me to consider something I know virtually nothing about: how to hedge against a long-term weakening dollar relative to the Euro.
I absolutely do not want to get into currency speculation. I want a solution to my (potential) problem that is as simple as possible and will work easily and with low risk for sums in the, say, $10K to $100K range.
Is the solution I'm seeking as simple as purchasing FXE?
Thanks.
No. of Recommendations: 1
if you are just hedging french living expenses ( as I currently am ) I use buying euros in my fido brokerage, and I use moneycorp.com to hold euro , pound sterling , and dollars.
I can exchange opportunistically beyween the currencies I need. This really helped when I was buying my house 2 years ago.
the advantage also is that its a US based account so you dont have to declare it over 10K$ on any one day in the year to IRA.
I did open a french bankaccount (a lengthy process) to direct debit my house bills etcfrom, but have to manage that it doesnt go over 10. though , going forward I may just take on that hassle again. however you can pay all french bills direct from moneycorp in euros. They also have real people at the end of their phone line, which was very helpful when a glitch happened.
hope this is helpful.
PS make sure you have a CC with reimbursed foreign fees. Visa travel rewards is ok, and fido debit. the 2 way banking fees have gotten out of control since covid.
No. of Recommendations: 1
PS there doesnt seem to be any lower / upper limits on moneycorp holdings.. during my house purchase trips , all told, at one point I had over 1 million euros in there. but that was abnormal.
No. of Recommendations: 1
<<I use buying euros in my fido brokerage...>>
What exactly, literally does this mean, please?
No. of Recommendations: 0
I buy euro's in my fidelity brokerage account.
I also buy euros and pound sterling in moneycorp opportunistically.
No. of Recommendations: 0
"I buy euro's in my fidelity brokerage account."
Yes, you said that. What I was asking was, how exactly does one do that? I think I've found the answer to my question (as it pertains to Schwab rather than Fido): I need to open a Schwab Global Account and then transfer funds from my US account into it.
No. of Recommendations: 1
its the same as Buying stocks. you just choose the currency you want to buy ,its on a separate screen in the fidelity app, maybe thats why you have trouble seeing it ?
moneycorp is easier to use. you can open an account online yourself. Its a BofA operation. you can set limits on currency price purchases and exchanges.
I looked into Schwab global. the local office and their central phone line both told me I must bea US domestic customer for 6-12 months before they would allow a conversion. Curious if they have said that to you too.
IBKR is the only truly global operation but the klugey interface and the lack of telephone support makes me nervous....
No. of Recommendations: 0
Mr. fungi, I just went in to my fido account so :
go to Trade
open menu thats headed stocks /ETF's
scroll down to currencies... and there it is.
let me know if I can help further. GLTA
No. of Recommendations: 0
Thank you. I think perhaps you already have the equivalent of a Schwab Global Account with Fido. The only option for currency trading in my Schwab US Account is forex (day) trading, and that's not what I want. So I'm pretty sure that what I need to do is open a Schwab Global Account. I've been with Schwab for more than 30 years, so I don't anticipate a problem in doing that. Thanks again!
No. of Recommendations: 2
hi Mr. Fungi, no I just have a standard Fido brokerage, they all allow currency buy/sell.
good luck with schwab, you should qualify immediately.
you might find moneycorp (similar to wise, but imho better support) a useful adjunct for bill paying...
good luck !!
No. of Recommendations: 1
moneycorp is easier to use. you can open an account online yourself. Its a BofA operation.
I'm a bit confused - Wikipedia claims it's owned by Bridgepoint, a PE fund?
Wanted to compare their FX rates to e.g. Wise but there is no obvious interface for that on their website.
No. of Recommendations: 0
the bank account shows up as Bank of America....on mine .
