[nippa&pippa]

I planned to leave one of bank accounts in UK open for us when we come back to UK for holiday and for birthday/christmas presents to buy via internet. We also got two saving accounts for our children that they will never know about it till they are 18-21, depend on how good they are :laugh , what the saving interest in the NZ like? is i am better off to leave children's accounts in UK, under my parents' care or transfer to nz?
sophia

[Smiler]

Sophia

Have a look here and you can compare rates. Raboplus also have an account where you can lock in for 7.5% for terms over 6 months etc. I'm assuming that applies to children too.
http://www.raboplus.co.nz/Landing/0607S/default.aspx?source=savings/?q=savings%20accounts

We kept some UK bank accounts but OH has had so trouble with Abbey. We're just keeping the nationwide Flex account and CC, they have been fine about being in NZ etc.

Some savings accounts we have e.g Portman have been problematic. They won't accept a change of address asking that we 'just pop into a branch with our passport'. When I suggested that might be difficult, they've asked for a certified copy of my pp by mail. I refuse to do that, so the money's coming out.

Sorry thats' all a bit waffley, what I'm saying is check the implications before you leave the UK. I think others on the forum were having probs with Abbey too.

[jubjub]

Yup, you can use Raboplus for kids, we have one for our baby, its in his name, but we have authority for it.

Have a look here too http://www.consumer.org.nz/category.asp?category=Money, and http://www.sorted.org.nz/

We have kept accounts in the UK with Nationwide and the Royal Bank of Scotland, neither have batted an eyelid about our overseas address.

It depends what exchange rate you can get whether its worth bringing the money over for higher interest, or leaving it in UK if you are able to gain access to it from here

[voxel]

what the saving interest in the NZ like? is i am better off to leave children's accounts in UK, under my parents' care or transfer to nz?

The kiwi dollar is quite a volatile currency. Do you need access to this money in the near future? Otherwise buy some high-interest long-term bonds in Euro/GBP... or securities. The kiwi dollar is low now, but it could rise or collapse (due to the massive current account deficit). If you have no plans to return to the UK then move everything into kiwi dollars...

[able]

The kiwi dollar is low now, but it could rise or collapse (due to the massive current account deficit)...

I think a collapse is unlikely. Although the trade deficit and consumer debt are high, the government is running surpluses and has very low debt compared with most western countries. When you average the consumer and government situation out, NZ looks farily normal in terms of debt.

[gotourvisa]

Hi
When we moved we left all our money in an internet account so we could manage it from here. The problems we found were.
1 When I phoned the banks in the U.K. they would not accept an overseas address if you moved.
2 Because we had all our money in the account there was a lot who had a limit of daily withdrawl. The problem with that is if you have a sizeable amount and you want to buy a house there could be problem.
3 I am having a lot of trouble trying to pay for anything in the UK with this type of account. The only payment people seem to like is credit cards we have been trying to arrange a present for our friends silver wedding and we thought of vouchers from the tourist board so they could get away but they would not accept a direct transfer of cash into there bank only a credit card.
I hope this of some help.
Nigel

[voxel]

NZ looks farily normal in terms of debt.

"Normal" western debt is pretty sickly to me. Both Canada and Sweden are phasing out public pensions due to projected underfunding (aging population) - and both those countries have government AND current account surpluses for the past 6+ years while reducing govt debt levels, blah, blah.

NZ will probably be fine if they continue to allow immigration and keep the workforce young.

[Tia Maria]

Jub Jub,

Was it simple to set up your baby's account and linked Raboplus account?

We're thinking of doing it for our 3 boys so they can have access to the better rate.

Does tax get deducted at source or will they have to fill out a tax form?

Any charges?

Cheers

Tia

[jubjub]

Tia, tax deducted monthly at same time as interest paid with both raboplus and ASB Headstart a/c

You need to open the main bank account first, if you wait til school hols, then ASB sometimes do a $10 starter deposit into the a/c :). I have also heard good things about the Westpac kids a/c. http://www.asb.co.nz/section492.asp?

Once you have that a/c up and running, you can print off the raboplus forms, fill them out and send them off. http://www.raboplus.co.nz/newcustomer/default.asp

Oh, and make sure you have IRD no's for the kids or they get taxed at 39 not the lowest rate (19 I think).

No fees either, unless they use the ASB a/c heavily. They refund up to $20 of charges per month.

[nippa&pippa]

I have also heard good things about the Westpac kids a/c



My children got westpac kids a/c as "pocket money" account for them and not had any problem with them, in fact they received goodies..a red pepper seed which they had to learn to look after it as same as you learn look after your account (btw the red pepper trees died soon after we moved as we "forgot" about them left in the garage :o)

I have not yet open separate accounts (the one i mentioned in first question, the secret accounts) because the exchange rates is rubbish at moment, so we are waiting for the rates to pick up before we can transfer from UK.

[Nick88]

I opened Fastsaver accounts for my kids without any problems and they get something like 7.5% gross. No fees and I can transfer money into it from my current account. The ASB said I should open a child's account when I asked but the interest was rubbish, so I ignored her.

It is possible to open a foreign currency account with the ASB, not sure what the interest would be, but it must be less hassle than dealing with UK banks. Then when you are happy with the exchange rate it should only take a phone call to convert to NZ$. Even with tax the interest yield is probably higher than you would get in a UK bank, too. I looked at savings accounts in the UK for the kids so that relatives could put money into that rather than sending a cheque, but the interest was so poor I didn't bother.

[Tia Maria]

Thanks Jub Jub, I'll sort out their accounts once I get the baby's IRD - seems to be taking ages!

Nick88 - if the kids accounts are linked to your account are there any tax complications? After all couldn't you put your money into their account, pay a lower rate of tax and then move it back to yours again?

Or do they simply not care?

Cheers

Tia

[Nick88]

I think I could quite easily. They are all linked with the internet banking, I use it to buy shares in their names too, I set up accounts for that too.

I don't earn enough to have to worry about tax brackets. We run a business so we split our income to stay on the lowest rate.