[madmungo]

Being one of the lucky few to use Windows Vista (!) I have been watching a nifty desktop widget for over a year ticking over the current £/NZ$ exchange rate and tonight it's sitting at 2.72 to the pound.

We're not leaving until Jan '09 but I'm tempted to send some currency 'across' now to bag the good rate in case it drops down to 2.5 again.

Any opinions on this? I have yet to get my head round currency dealers and how to lock in rates but did manage to open a Westpac bank account almost a year ago.

Cheers, Chris

[mylesdw]

General opinion is that it will drop further, I'm holding out for 2.8 or better.

[Tia Maria]

The first year we were here the rate fluctuated between 2.5 and 3.0, the second year we were here the rate fluctuated between 2.5 and 3.0, so based on nothing else other than this I expect it to go between 2.5 and 3.0 this year.

My view is if you need to put your money to work straight away, (to buy a house/car etc), then anything above 2.75 is a reasonable rate. If you can hold in there and time it right, you can normally get nearer 2.9.

The other option is to drip feed the money over, a lump sum at 2.7 in Jan and the another at 2.9 in Oct, will give you a combination of access to some of your money earlier and an overall rate of 2.8. (minus fees).

The other thing to take into account is any interest you may get, minus tax...

Cheers

Tia

[BkyMonster]

I've heard it is supposed to go farther down by December, so if you have time might wait.
I have a widget on my Google desktop :nice1 and am watching the USD/NZD and wondering how far I should hold out...

[Jon&Candy]

Too late! It's dropped by 4c in the last hour and now stands at $2.69 to the £. D'oh!
Hopefully it'll recover again.

[nifta]

gah, this morning i've literally been preparing to transfer some money to NZ. i thought the rate had been stable enough recently to warrant it.. i guess this is the cause:

http://uk.biz.yahoo.com/080813/214/i4tgb.html

the pound has been taking a bit of battering today (not just with the NZD).. hopefully it will recover soon!

[nifta]

d'oh, i think this is the main cause:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2008/08/13/bcnboe213.xml

typical that today i almost set up a transfer for 2.72 but decided to hold off a couple of days.. bah!

oh well, fingers crossed it won't fall too far

[Pooks]

I know I am new around here and all that :uhoh.

Would it not be handy to have the current exchange rate displayed on the site somewhere?

I am sure that there are far better ways of doing it but I threw together one here:-

GBP to NZD Converter (http://www.crcshetland.co.uk/currency.html)

Using this code:-
<div style="position:absolute;top:10px;left:10px;width:1in">
<a href=http://www.gocurrency.com/ id=gocurrencytable>Currency Converter</a><script src=http://gocurrency.com/v2/table_t.php?cur=GBP;NZD&v=1> </script>
</div>

/me looks at all the grey space to the left and right of the forum... ;)

[pipnix]

My partner and I are using Halo Financial services, they will buy NZ$ for you at the best exchange rate that you have pre emted them to and all you do is pay them 10% of the total amount that you want to exchange ie: £40,000 you pay them £4000 then when you have rest of colateral you setle the bill. They keep you informed of the financial market on a daily or weekly email you decide. The director of the company is a kiwi and is very nice and helpful.

[NikT]

My partner and I are using Halo Financial services, they will buy NZ$ for you at the best exchange rate that you have pre emted them to and all you do is pay them 10% of the total amount that you want to exchange ie: £40,000 you pay them £4000 then when you have rest of colateral you setle the bill. They keep you informed of the financial market on a daily or weekly email you decide. The director of the company is a kiwi and is very nice and helpful.

10%?? :wah

Nick.:cheers

[benandclare]

My partner and I are using Halo Financial services, they will buy NZ$ for you at the best exchange rate that you have pre emted them to and all you do is pay them 10% of the total amount that you want to exchange ie: £40,000 you pay them £4000 then when you have rest of colateral you setle the bill. They keep you informed of the financial market on a daily or weekly email you decide. The director of the company is a kiwi and is very nice and helpful.

:eek::eek::eek: we paid £10 to transfer over £160,000 @2.9

[Derv]

My partner and I are using Halo Financial services, they will buy NZ$ for you at the best exchange rate that you have pre emted them to and all you do is pay them 10% of the total amount that you want to exchange ie: £40,000 you pay them £4000 then when you have rest of colateral you setle the bill. They keep you informed of the financial market on a daily or weekly email you decide. The director of the company is a kiwi and is very nice and helpful.

Use HiFx and you don't pay anyone anything, let alone 10% and so you get to keep every penny/cent of your hard-earned money. I'm sure the director is very nice when he earns that %age!

[madmungo]

I'm guessing the 10% is the down payment on locking in a good rate and not the fee?

I have finally sorted out a Westpac account after a visit to the London office and transferred over a massive £500 via Tranzfers.com for £7 just to test the waters, events in Iceland making me nervous about banks in general.

After seeing charts hit $3 I only managed 2.79 due to the delay getting organized and approved but (and I know this sounds stupid) it was still a nice surprise to find my bank balance nudging $1400! :D

[Janey]

use Hifx no charge and they are happy dealing with westpac I transferred a samll amount last week and got 2.83! you can also pre buy for a furture date at an agreed rate or get them to let you know when the rate is x I could bnot fault their service or Westpac!

[Tia Maria]

When we first moved over here and were transferring the funds from our house sale our NZ bank actually beat what HIFX offered as we were offered the 'non tourist rate', for exchanging a large sum.

If you are transferring a large sum, set up with about three different banks/currency brokers then ring round on the day you want to change and go with the best rate.

Its a bit of work but with large amounts it can mean an extra car, holiday or just a month longer to look for a job, so well worth the effort. :nice1

Cheers

Tia