# Euros at current exchange rate



## Knightofni (Feb 22, 2016)

Hi all
My family and I are moving to Barcelona later this year. We will be renting a property in Barcelona and initially relying on rental income from the UK to live on. We're concerned about the value of the pound dropping by the time we get there. Does anyone have any suggestions how we can get euros now to use later in Spain? Should/can we open a Spanish bank account from the UK and transfer over? Should we buy Euros now and keep in a UK Euro account?
Any ideas would be really helpful
Many thanks
Steve


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

Knightofni said:


> Hi all
> My family and I are moving to Barcelona later this year. We will be renting a property in Barcelona and initially relying on rental income from the UK to live on. We're concerned about the value of the pound dropping by the time we get there. Does anyone have any suggestions how we can get euros now to use later in Spain? Should/can we open a Spanish bank account from the UK and transfer over? Should we buy Euros now and keep in a UK Euro account?
> Any ideas would be really helpful
> Many thanks
> Steve


I dont think there is a way of protecting your money from the exchange rate. Many expats who live in Spain have their pensions transferred and are at the mercy of the ever changing exchange rate - good and bad. 

When we moved to Spain, it was 1.38 and 9 months later it was parity. But of course it varies and fluctuates, so then there are times when it goes up again - which if you try to buy all of your euros now, you'd miss out on.

Jo xxx


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## Knightofni (Feb 22, 2016)

Thanks Jo

Our main concern is the risk of the £ dropping due to the uk referendum etc which will impact our move later in the year. It seams to make sense to buy euros now at a rate we're happy with. I'm thinking I could open a Spanish bank account and transfer over a lump sum but not sure if that's possible.


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## snikpoh (Nov 19, 2007)

Knightofni said:


> Thanks Jo
> 
> Our main concern is the risk of the £ dropping due to the uk referendum etc which will impact our move later in the year. It seams to make sense to buy euros now at a rate we're happy with. I'm thinking I could open a Spanish bank account and transfer over a lump sum but not sure if that's possible.


It's certainly possible but a lot of people would advise against holding too much capital in a Spanish bank. Have you considered an off-shore Euro account?

Also, many Spanish banks now require that you are there to open your account in person.


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## Knightofni (Feb 22, 2016)

Thanks. Can you or anyone recommend an offshore bank account?


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## captainendeavour (Jan 14, 2016)

"I dont think there is a way of protecting your money from the exchange rate"

Yes there is. Up to a point.

You can either buy now because you believe it will fall more, which in the case of the referendum is very likely, just in the lead-up, never mind an 'OUT' vote. It has already declined from a peak of 1.42 [yup - I was there! Clever-cloggs me] to 1.27. You can leave your euros with the FX trader you bought thru. If the FX trader is fully signed up to all the necc protection measures, your money is safe with them.

Or you forward buy at a rate you choose. Once the rate reaches your chosen level, you have a period of time - some days - to pay for your euros. Of course, the rate you choose may be a long time coming or never arrive. This option is more long term than the first.

But it's true that with regular, relatively low value GBP > Euro exchanges, such as UK pension credits, if they are remitted to your Spanish bank via your FX company at the prevailing rate, you are at the mercy of the Gnomes Of Zurich.


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

Knightofni said:


> Thanks. Can you or anyone recommend an offshore bank account?


Any one of the offshore arms of UK banks is as good as another.
I use Lloyds.
Regulations have changed and you now need to deposit £25k in order to open an account.
There is as others have said no way to protect sterling against depreciation, however you try.
I tend to build up sterling in my offshore account and change via a trader when the rate is good. Then I pay the euros into my offshore euro account and transfer only that needed for utility bills, insurances etc. into my Spanish account.
I bought a fair amount of euros in December at 1.43, enough to last a while.
Wish I had bought more but I thought the rate might improve further.
Well, it didn't. 
And that's life when you move outside the UK and your income is in £ sterling.


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

mrypg9 said:


> And that's life when you move outside the UK and your income is in £ sterling.


And filthy rich like some I could mention. For those us who are poorer, we just have to grin and bear it.


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

baldilocks said:


> And filthy rich like some I could mention. For those us who are poorer, we just have to grin and bear it.



Anyone who is considering moving outside the UK on a fixed income has to take exchange rate fluctuations into account when planning their move. 
We planned on the basis of parity thinking that kind of fall in the value of sterling would never occur but when we moved here in December 2008 that was where it was.
Moving to Spain is like most things in life. Not everyone can afford it.
If you were 'filthy rich' then of course that wouldn't apply. You could soak up a drastic fall in any sterling income.
Most people who move to Spain aren't 'filthy rich'. They are upper - low to middle income people, middling professionals, self-employed or business owners who after decades of work enjoy comfortable retirement in Spain.
The truly rich will be sunning themselves in far more exotic climes than Benidorm, Estepona or even Marbella.
As you always wisely point out, Baldy, anyone thinkng of a life in Spain must plan carefully. The crucial component of your planning has to be affordability and exchange rates play a key role in that. If a sharp or even a minor fall in the value of sterling could seriously affect the quality of your future life in Spain, maybe it's not the best decision for you.
Not everyone can afford a Rolls Royce. I covet a Maserati but have alas a twelve year old battered but serviceable 4x4....


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## Lynn R (Feb 21, 2014)

Having experienced the fall in the value of sterling not very long after we moved here towards the end of 2006 (which we weathered, although it meant we didn't have as much money to spend as we'd thought) I decided when I received my penson lump sum last year that I'd transfer it to Spain, which I did in December. For one thing it meant I wouldn't have to bother with a Modelo 720 declaration for a few more years, but I am glad I did now, given what's happened to the pound since and it may yet get worse, a lot worse, if the UK votes for a Brexit. I should have enough to cover my living expenses heere plus my tax bills for the next 5 years, so the exchange rate is not a worry for me for that long at least, and in the meantime I am saving more than half of the pension income I get in sterling, so as to gradually replenish that lump sum.

The recent fall, however, is making some of the people I know who have their houses on the market and who want to return to the UK feel a bit happier.


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## Williams2 (Sep 15, 2013)

Knightofni said:


> Thanks Jo
> 
> Our main concern is the risk of the £ dropping due to the uk referendum etc which will impact our move later in the year. It seams to make sense to buy euros now at a rate we're happy with. I'm thinking I could open a Spanish bank account and transfer over a lump sum but not sure if that's possible.


You could put things off until shortly after the UK referendum, in the hope that Nigel Farage and Boris Johnson end up with
egg on their faces. In the ( hoped for ) majority win for Britain to remain in the EU.

That way the pound should soar and continue soaring for days and weeks, putting you in a much stronger position with the Euro.
It will also leave you in no doubt about your legal position in Spain.


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## captainendeavour (Jan 14, 2016)

Williams2 said:


> You could put things off until shortly after the UK referendum, in the hope that Nigel Farage and Boris Johnson end up with
> egg on their faces. In the ( hoped for ) majority win for Britain to remain in the EU.
> 
> That way the pound should soar and continue soaring for days and weeks, putting you in a much stronger position with the Euro.
> It will also leave you in no doubt about your legal position in Spain.


Agreed. As far a FX is concerned, it may well get much worse - 'the market' is a twitchy beast, if not downright neurotic. One day in June, we will know the answer. Nothing much to be done on an front till then.


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