are my savings safe and will they always be?

cliona8969

i have absolutely no knowledge of finance or banking. however i worked hard for the past few years and managed to save up 5000 euro in Bank of Ireland savings account. I have been reading up about the euro collapsing and people saying money in savings would then be worthless but I can't understand how. Would my 5000 euro simply be wiped away or would it be converted into a new currency? I thought money up to 100,000 in BOI was guaranteed and safe but now I'm worried.
If the euro collapses and we leave the euro, are we still guaranteed our savings? Is there any chance of the banks refusing to pay me my money?
So if the irish banks fail, where do peoples savings go?
I read a thread on here advising people with savings to transfer them to safer currencies. Why do they advise this? As I asked before do the euros just vanish on us if the euro collapses. I'm sorry but I really dont understand how it works.

Can somebody please explain the situation to me and what I should do??

Permabear

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cliona8969

Permabear wrote: »

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Thank you so much for this response Permabear. Are you going on fact or opinion? It sounds like a good answer anyway I appreciate it. I understand a bit better now..

when you say the new punt would be unstable what do you mean? why would it devaluate? would it not be all relative as in, if they convert my euros to new punts would it not be the same because the cost of things would be the same ratio. i mean if i could buy 5 jackets costing €1000 each, i could still buy 5 of the same jackets as obviously the price of the jackets would be converted to the new punt also?? when you say the new currency would be unstable, would i still be guaranteed my savings in the bank? is having them in the bank the best place basically?
hypothetically speaking, what is the highest percent we could lose of our savings with the devaluation?

do you suggest changing my euros to a currency like dollar or leaving them? i need expert advice and you sound like you know what to do...

should i lose all my motivation to save money if i'm just going to be losing a lot of it?

cliona8969

sorry also the previous poster said the part that worries people is the instability of the new currency. what's the worst part about the currency being unstable? if anything happened the new punt currency or the irish government, would we all still be guaranteed our savings?

what i was worried about was the fact that if we were no longer with the eu, would ireland still pay us our money? would they legally be obliged to?

and finally, what do people reckon the percentage chance of a euro collapse are?? when is the final date when we will know that the euro is staying/collapsing?

leeomurchu

I wouldn't be to concerned about the euro collapsing it wouldn't be in any countries best interests to allow that to happen, they may put pressure on a few of the smaller countries to opt out of the euro to stabilise it but we seem to be the pin up boys for hitting targets and budget cuts unfortunatley for Joe public so can't see us entering into a punt nua situation. Just be careful not to let some sheister talk to you into investing your hard earned savings with tales of trebling your money that's usually where people end up gettin stung and pensions end up gettin wiped out :mad: Enjoy your nest egg

NIMAN

If the Euro collapses there is a fair chance there will be turmoil in the financial world, and a lot of currencies will suffer, so putting your savings into another currency is no guarantee of safety.

Permabear

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Maura74

I feel that if Ireland should leave the euro then it is a possibility that we would go back to Sterling like it was in the 70's that would be more beneficial to Ireland and UK

cyclopath2001

NIMAN wrote: »

If the Euro collapses there is a fair chance there will be turmoil in the financial world, and a lot of currencies will suffer, so putting your savings into another currency is no guarantee of safety.

Even if the other currencies hold their own, you'd stung converting both ways. Plus if you exceed exchange controls, you'd probably lose the lot if it's seized.

Your money is worth what the people in power decide.

ressem

You are best served by not jumping on whatever craze or doom and gloom is in the papers/ internet / radio.

Doesn't matter whether you are listening to the goldbugs, silverbugs, the property / stock market shills, the "euro is doomed" UK press.

My dad on the eve of a bypass operation was worrying about whether he should withdraw money and stuff it under the mattress because of this headless chicken nonsense.
(Which could have been a very bad investment, seeing as the post-op meds mess with your bowels)

You've seen the last few years. The government will likely decide to tax you to despair before letting go of the euro or the banks.

I think the usual advice is to keep enough in the bank to cover a few months expenditure, then diversify the rest across a wide range and understand that they will go up and down based on what panic is sweeping the media.

agath

I think a lot if it is media hype. The euro will survive but the countries in the euro may be a bit more uncertain over the coming years. I would say anything under €100k is safe irrespective of external factors. Think all the banks are safe anyway so wouldnt worry about it.

Hotblack Desiato

Maura74 wrote: »

I feel that if Ireland should leave the euro then it is a possibility that we would go back to Sterling like it was in the 70's that would be more beneficial to Ireland and UK

Yeah, that way we can have London set our interest rates instead of Frankfurt :rolleyes:

What makes you think being linked to Sterling would benefit us? It caused us decades of economic strangulation the last time, and the UK economy is in a very poor state.

Tora Bora

cliona8969 wrote: »

i have absolutely no knowledge of finance or banking. however i worked hard for the past few years and managed to save up 5000 euro in Bank of Ireland savings account. I have been reading up about the euro collapsing and people saying money in savings would then be worthless but I can't understand how. Would my 5000 euro simply be wiped away or would it be converted into a new currency? I thought money up to 100,000 in BOI was guaranteed and safe but now I'm worried.
If the euro collapses and we leave the euro, are we still guaranteed our savings? Is there any chance of the banks refusing to pay me my money?
So if the irish banks fail, where do peoples savings go?
I read a thread on here advising people with savings to transfer them to safer currencies. Why do they advise this? As I asked before do the euros just vanish on us if the euro collapses. I'm sorry but I really dont understand how it works.

Cliodhna, do yourself a favour. Don't take any heed of financial advise given by a bunch of nobody, self appointed financial experts, skulking around on boards.
Suppose your local friendly, prunent bank manager is the best stop really :rolleyes:

EUSSR

Transfer your money to a country outside the reach of the EU. I suggest a small island like the Bahamas. Small stable economies is key, not big corporate states.

fat__tony

OP, id convert your savings to US dollars and open a dollr account with BOI.

To believe that an Irish persons savings in a different currency would be safe during a cataclysmic collapse of the Euro is naive to the max. To presume that every other country that isn't Ireland would be coming out of a Euro collapse like nothing happened is also naive to the max.

So convert your money into whatever you feel like, just don't be surprised if you find yourself having difficulties in accessing said money during a European (Global) financial meltdown.

Hotblack Desiato

fat__tony wrote: »

OP, id convert your savings to US dollars and open a dollr account with BOI.

I wouldn't wipe my butt with the US dollar. Bad advice.