Paid In Euros, Living in US... Hedge? Credit Card?

kwikksilva

Didn't want to hijack "Change to dollars now or wait and see??" thread, but i have basically the same question, except my circumstances are quite different.

I am in the US on long term assignment, just arrived, and I am wondering how to manage my money over here. I am getting paid Euro's monthly into AIB account.

I have 2 AIB credit cards, Click! (8.5 percent) and Platinum (12.5 percent), and a Corporate AMEX (No idea of %), which is in my own name.

I have a Bank of America account, here in US, a Social Security number etc etc all the standard stuff.
Just not 100% sure which card i should/shouldn't use.

Rang 24 hour banking this morning, apparently costs a lot to do monthly international transfers (like €50 maybe more) and it cannot be automated.

So should i just use my credit card over here? and do i need to hedge some cash also (rate looks good today?)

Any advice on best management of Euro wages appreciated....

Thanks

BuffyBot

Not really a travel, or holiday question.

Moving to Abroad, the forum for people living Abroad where you might stand a better chance of finding someone in a situation similar to you and who has experience in this issue

juvenal

kwikksilva wrote: »

Didn't want to hijack "Change to dollars now or wait and see??" thread, but i have basically the same question, except my circumstances are quite different.

I am in the US on long term assignment, just arrived, and I am wondering how to manage my money over here. I am getting paid Euro's monthly into AIB account.

I have 2 AIB credit cards, Click! (8.5 percent) and Platinum (12.5 percent), and a Corporate AMEX (No idea of %), which is in my own name.

I have a Bank of America account, here in US, a Social Security number etc etc all the standard stuff.
Just not 100% sure which card i should/shouldn't use.

Rang 24 hour banking this morning, apparently costs a lot to do monthly international transfers (like €50 maybe more) and it cannot be automated.

So should i just use my credit card over here? and do i need to hedge some cash also (rate looks good today?)

Any advice on best management of Euro wages appreciated....

Thanks

Hey, I've lived in the US, and had several accounts here, and also accounts in Canada and Australia, and always had my account here in Ireland as well.

For starters, transferring money from an Irish account to a non-Eurozone account is a pain, as you mentioned, the fees are exorbitant, and it cannot be automated. I spent a couple of days wading through this exact issue a few weeks ago, and I had to bite the bullet and pay the fees and transfer funds to our foreign account. The best my bank could offer me, was that I'd have to fax a written request for the transfer of funds whenever I wished, or else visit my branch (which isn't an option if you're not in the country!)

Depending on how long you're going to be there, I'd say your best bet is to use the Irish credit card as much as possible. It will cost you next to nothing to use, and you'll be able to pay it off every month with the wages that are being paid into your Irish account.

You can also withdraw a small sum of money every few weeks or month, say a couple of hundred dollars, if you need cash for whatever reason, tips etc. The foreign ATM withdrawl charge on your Irish account will still be considerably cheaper than the SWIFT transfer charge (well over €30 for some banks, and sometimes also an additional charge by the receiving bank), and with the credit card taking care of almost all your day-to-day spending, your banking charges should be small enough.

kwikksilva

@BuffyBot - Thanks, i guess the best place for it!

@Juvenal - Thanks for the info! Nice to find someone who has an idea of the situation, i may tap you for more info if thats alright? What do you think about hedging some cash right now?