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Jazzmusicman
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I have question for you. My Social Security is sent to a Direct Deposit Account here in Bangkok. I try to leave that money there to save some.
I was talking to another American guy yesterday and he told me that he is afraid that with all the government problems here in Thailand that if things get worse, they could de-value the baht, so what he does is take most of his savings out of the bank and he buys American Express Travelers Checks. That way his money is already converted into U.S. Dollars and also not in the bank. If the baht gets devalued, he doesn’t lose his money.
Does that sound like a good idea to you?
I would appreciate your feedback and comments.
Thanks,
Jazz
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Bangkok Girls : Meet Attractive Thai Girls
Posted on: 8:33 pm on Jan. 18, 2010
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Buttman 007
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Don't keep all your cash in the US dollar. And not in the Baht, either.
Despite a little bump upwards this past month, it is highly likely that the US dollar will continue its downward trajectory. And there is a growing crowd of dollar skeptics that think it will devalue so severely over the next two years that it will be the next global catastrophe. The government of the United States is "solving" all of its economic/banking/insolvency problems by expanding the supply of money and increasing the Fed's balance sheet by incomprehensible, cosmic proportions. Without a doubt, the dollar is going down, but not without a few corrections here and there.
Everything seems so f***ed up right now. While the prospects of the US dollar are grim, there are many currencies that are worse. Look at Venezuela, and the idiot in charge there. Look at the UAE. Look at Greece--prices on their credit default swaps are suggesting that they might actually default like Dubai did recently. Portugal, Iceland, and the Eastern European nations suck, too. And now they say that China is in a bubble. It all sucks. The Euro sucks. The Yen sucks. Many of those currencies are being sold and exchanged for the US dollar, despite the grim prospects of the US dollar.
In short, if I were you, I'd hold 25% of your cash in US dollars, 25% in Australian dollars, 25% in Canadian dollars, and 25% in the Norwegian Krone. The Swiss Franc isn't too bad either. All of these currencies are readily exchangeable on Sukhumvit.
If/When the US dollar goes down, commodity prices will go up, since they are pegged to the US dollar. That will provide a boom to commodity-rich nations like Australia, Canada and Norway. All of those countries that I mentioned are relatively healthy, and there is little fear that their governments will devalue their currencies to prop up their economies. In such a f***ed up world, those little corners seem to be doing well, and their currencies should, too.
Hope that gives you some stuff to think about....
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Thai Girls : Meet Sexy Thai Girls
Posted on: 12:16 am on Jan. 19, 2010
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Jazzmusicman
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Great info and suggestions. I will think about what you said and look into my options.
thank you so much for your help.
Jazz
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Bangkok Girls : Meet Sexy Bangkok Girls
Posted on: 1:00 am on Jan. 19, 2010
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Valetta
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While it is likely the$US will continue to depreciate against commodity currencies,at least while the FED keeps interest rates at the present very low levels,I think it very unlikely there will be anything like a sudden severe collapse in its value.
The big difference between the US,and say Russia and Argentina,both of which suffered economic collapse in the nineties,and early this century, because they could not repay loans borrowed from other countries is that the US`s debts are all owed in $US i.e. its own currency.
Thus all the US has to do to meet its loan obligations is to issue more US Treasury notes.While in theory this should result in a depreciation of the$US,any depreciation is likely to be smaller than the economic fundamentals indicate it should be,because it is not in the financial interest of large holders of US Treasury notes,such as China,to see their value decline.
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Bangkok Girls : Meet Attractive Thai Girls
Posted on: 5:10 am on Jan. 19, 2010
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SidWenes
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Quote: from Buttman 007 on 1:16 pm on Jan. 19, 2010
In short, if I were you, I'd hold 25% of your cash in US dollars, 25% in Australian dollars, 25% in Canadian dollars, and 25% in the Norwegian Krone. The Swiss Franc isn't too bad either. All of these currencies are readily exchangeable on Sukhumvit.
Are you recommending several shoe boxes filled with currency kept in the apartment? Is there a financial institution that allows that kind of versatility, participates in international ATMs and direct deposit, and offers low transaction costs for a "4 or 5 figures" account?
[Insert topical joke about participating in ATM and direct deposit]
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Bangkok Women : Meet Beautiful Thai Girls
Posted on: 12:41 pm on Jan. 19, 2010
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juniper
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Quote: from SidWenes on 8:41 pm on Jan. 19, 2010
Are you recommending several shoe boxes filled with currency kept in the apartment? Is there a financial institution that allows that kind of versatility, participates in international ATMs and direct deposit, and offers low transaction costs for a "4 or 5 figures" account?
Most banks in HK and Singapore will have global currency account, such as HSBC, Citibank, UOB etc... So you can have choice of your account in USD, Yen, Euro, RMB, AUD etc...
I have account in all three and never had any problem in moving the money in and out of the country. ( Just be careful about RMB account as I do hear story of problem transfer money out of china from RMB account) Not sure about the wire/transaction fees, as they never charge me.
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Bangkok Girls : Meet Attractive Thai Girls
Posted on: 1:23 pm on Jan. 19, 2010
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Ballsburstin
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There is considerable concern Stateside about the US dollar facing a crisis if the Feds continue to print more and more money. Read an interesting article the other day that stated that inflation is not defined as the rise in prices, which is a side-effect, but rather the rise in the amount of dollars made available relative to the available goods. They were recommending stashing assets in non-paper tangibles, including certain commodities, energy sectors, and of course, precious metals which cannot be devalued by the US Fed's desire to continue to print more and more dollar bills. This cannot end well... Buttman has some good points about not putting all your eggs into the US money basket.
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Posted on: 1:47 pm on Jan. 19, 2010
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Wanderingsam
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I think it is most likely the dollar will continue to depreciate against the baht in the near term. We could get back to the long held value of 25 to 1. The current value of the dollar and indeed, up to 40 to 1 is a recent condition and flucutations are likely to continue. Having said that, remember I am saying near term. In the longer term I expect the dollar will appreciate again as the economy improves. If I am wrong the value of your social security check won't be worth a damn anyway. Having said all that, I think the idea of a currency basket makes the most sense. Keep some in dollars, some in baht maybe Euro's and perhaps gold. Honestly, if it was me in BKK with your situation, I would probably keep my money split between dollars and baht just because complicated currency holding schemes need constant attention but I don't know your situation and how much currency loss you can afford before you are in trouble.
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Posted on: 5:35 pm on Jan. 19, 2010
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Buttman 007
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Sidewenes--
I think most people would find a safety deposit box at a bank a better solution than keeping boxes of cash under the mattress.
The original poster said that he gets Social Security deposits in Thailand and just "leaves the money there." If the money is just left in an account and not used, then I would suggest storing it in a currency other than the Baht, which was the focus of his question. And unless you're talking about millions of dollars, this can easily be done in a safety deposit box.
If the money is deposited from his Social Security account and then immediately used to pay expenses, and/or withdrawn from ATM machines, then there would be no point to diversifying, and no point to his original question.
But that was not his question (I think). It seemed as though the money is just sitting there, unused and untouched, and susceptible to possible long-term currency fluctuations.
Over time, the currencies I mentioned will--most likely--store wealth better than the Baht. Until then, those currencies could be easily parked in a safety deposit box if the notion of having international accounts at a bank is too daunting.
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Bangkok Girls : Meet Attractive Thai Girls
Posted on: 9:49 pm on Jan. 19, 2010
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