[Island Moose]

Hello,

Negotiations continue around a job offer from a NZ employer, but I feel confident that I will be booking a plane ticket by August.

I love this forum, very helpful, but I'm hoping there might be a Canuck or two here that can help me with a few questions:

What do I do with my Canadian RSP's?

I recently sold a home and have a reasonable amount of money in a savings account. Should I simply open up a NZ account and transfer it all?

Who do I call to get quotes on a small shipping container/box? I don't have much, but I imagine I have a couple steamer trunks worth of things I can't part with.

Has anyone ever shipped a car from Canada to NZ? In an odd twist, my vehicle was imported to Canada from Japan, so it's right-hand drive.

Thank you for any advice you can provide.

John

[Caniwi]

Hey Island Moose.

I've been looking into this stuff for our impending move. I received a quote from these guys - I basically made something up, just to get an idea as we haven't decided how much to send or sell, especially due to the voltage issue.
http://williamsmoving.com/williamsinternational/
http://www.globalpacknship.com/
Theres nothing to say that you can't keep your RRSPs here in Canada, or a bank account for that matter. With the internet, it is so easy to deal with your money from anywhere. I've kept a bank account in NZ (I'm Kiwi), and when my husband and I return to NZ we will keep something going here. Your car....?? Although it's still right hand drive, there are still a lot of issues surrounding the fact that it will be imported. There's the shipping, (not cheap) the cleaning for MAF, depending on the age, you might still have to pay taxes on it, inspections for it's road-worthiness. Although I'm sure it is, they still have to check it, you have to keep it for a certain period of time after your arrival, too. The only advantage to it being right hand drive is you don't have to convert it to sell it - as soon as you are not the owner, it MUST be converted (if left-hand drive). Also there are many Jap Imports in NZ, so it's likely you may be able to find a comparible vehicle there, minus the hassle (is it a skyline????)

I hope this gives you a place to start.

Caniwi

[stu70]

I would be waiting to see how high the loonie goes. There are folks who believe it is at par with the greenback(make it brokenback)by the end of this year. That will make your transfer worth a lot more than the going rate of 94 cents. Good luck with the move.

[Howie]

If you are no longer a resident of Canada, you are not allowed to touch your RRSP's. Before I left Canada I put all of mine into a super managed fund. I think it's the kind where you tell them when you what to retire and they keep moving things around for you. This way my investments were able to change when the foreign content % changed, without me having to do anything. You can keep them - you just can't move them around.
I'm going to have retirement savings in Canada, USA and NZ and have no idea where I'm going to retire to. I guess I'm really diversified, but some poor accountant is going to have a lot of fun when I do retire and have to figure out what to do with it.
Hope that helps,
susan

[Jenny & Mark]

Hi Island Moose,

Wish I could help, but our RRSP are locked in and we are only taking luggage. We did transfer our funds via XE into an NZ account.

All the best with your adventure.

Mark.

[Island Moose]

Stu70, I hadn't considered the dollar, that's a very good point. If the Canadian dollar climbs another 6 cents and reaches parity with the USD, I make $10400 more in the exchange with NZD.

Perhaps I'll wait until the last possible minute.

BTW, is that your puppy in the avatar...jeez!

My car is a Toyota Landcruiser, nice efficient diesel...but you're right...the headache of shipping it might not be worth the trouble, not with lots of Landcruisers in NZ already.

[stu70]

Hey fellow Canadian Island Moose, No the avatar is how my girl would have looked when she was a pup. Now she is a big 100 pound 12 yr old :) but still she is really very very beautiful. I love all dogs no matter what breed and looks. Anyways, more to the point, I agree with others; it might be best to sell your vehicle here and buy one there. As for the dollar, it is really on a tear. Just watch out for American dollar coming back to life as we head into elections. That is when their currency will get a boost(partly coz no matter who comes in power he/she ain't gonna be the cowboy). But all in all you should do really well. Good luck. I like your name by the way, and moosehead is one of the suds I have always enjoyed :cheers

[suebeenz]

Hi IslandMoose,

I'd suggest actually transferring your loonies over into a Canadian account here in NZ. I know for a fact that they offer US accounts, and met someone that works for National and ANZ banks who said they just started offering Canadian accounts to consumers. The interest rate that you'll get here will probably be better than sitting in Canada, and then will be simpler for you to convert when you need it.

Kiwi dollar quite high at the moment :-(