# Safe Banks



## satwa sam (Sep 11, 2012)

Hi all
In view of the chaos currently syurrounding the Cyprus Banking system and the talk of the crisis possibly spreading to other EU countries where is the safest way to secure your hard earned expat money ? I know the EU banks guarantee the first 100K Euro but for those of you luck enough to have higher savings where do you put the cash ?


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## Byja (Mar 3, 2013)

Multiple accounts in different banks?


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## Stevesolar (Dec 21, 2012)

satwa sam said:


> Hi all
> In view of the chaos currently syurrounding the Cyprus Banking system and the talk of the crisis possibly spreading to other EU countries where is the safest way to secure your hard earned expat money ? I know the EU banks guarantee the first 100K Euro but for those of you luck enough to have higher savings where do you put the cash ?


Very good question!

It seems that other EU countries might also levy bank accounts according to the news today.

In UK there is protection for the first £85,000 per UK regulated institution - but you have to be careful if banks merge or have common ownership - as the total amount protected is then same amount spread over all accounts with same bank owners.

Joint accounts are protected to £170,000 per institution.

In this day and age, I think it is prudent to spread assets over a number of different things including UK bank accounts, pension funds, property and lastly gold.

I believe gold prices will go up significantly and at the end of the day you can always sell gold and turn it into cash at that day's rate!

For the really adventurous you could always invest in Classic cars, Dubai property etc!!

Cheers

Steve


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## Bostin (Jan 21, 2013)

There isn't a simply answer to your question as there are many factors that will influence where/want you invest in, such as:

Your appetite for risk; need for liquidity; growth or income; ability to absorb loses and reaction to loses - to name but a few!

Simple rule of thumb is that the higher the return the greater the risk (stress simplistic view).

If you've over €100,000 in cash you can probably afford professional advice, which would be based on factors above. 
Diversification, across multiple asset classes and multiple currencies.

For off-shore accounts offered by the banks, you need to read the small print as the £85k / €100 protection might not exist!


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## nikkisizer (Aug 20, 2011)

satwa sam said:


> In view of the chaos currently syurrounding the Cyprus Banking system and the talk of the crisis possibly spreading to other EU countries where is the safest way to secure your hard earned expat money ?


Under your bed


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## vantage (May 10, 2012)

nikkisizer said:


> Under your bed


you read it here first!
Professional financial advice!

I was going to put all my money into gold, but now i think i'll invest in unobtanium.


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## Canuck_Sens (Nov 16, 2010)

Steve is right on is his advice. If you are concerned that you hard earned money may vanish should a bank collapse, the best way is to split your savings in multiple bank accounts because of the insurance on deposits guaranteed by the law.

Or you can hold your assets in other forms: Real Estate, precious metal and etc.


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## Bostin (Jan 21, 2013)

If you're thinking of splitting cash across different banks to the max £85k / €100k protection limit be careful about which individual banks as the protection is based on a per account holder basis, per banking license (in the UK at least).
For example if you put £50,000 with RBS in the UK and £50,000 with Nat West in the UK you would only receive £85k as part of the protection as RBS owns Nat West and they operate under the same banking license.


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## saraswat (Apr 28, 2012)

I'm pretty sure you aren't looking into local banks (uae) , but in case you were, any bank with Abu Dhabi in its name is closest to the safest you can get ... those guys are secured with near limitless capital ....


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