[mme]

For those who have made the transition to living in England...

What has been the best way you have found to transfer funds. I am debating on for how long should I keep my US account open? When I go the UK and open my own account...
should I just wire the funds?
Should I get travelers checks and deposit them?
Should I give the cash to my husband to deposit into his account?

I have a few thousand US dollars so I am trying to find out what would be the best way to get the best exchange rate and limit the amount of fees.

 

[90199]

I use this firm Foreign Money & Currency Exchange Services, Euro Exchange, UK Currency Converter :: SmartCurrencyExchange.com

They have been most helpful to me

 

[mme]

thanks! I will check it out

 

[Bevdeforges]

Think long and hard before you close out your US account(s) completely. If you are planning to go back to the US, even just for visits, it can be very useful to have a US account available - for spending money (without worrying about exchange rates), or for making purchases online denominated in US$.

Once you close out your US accounts it can be very difficult to nearly impossible to open a new account in the US. Same goes for having a US credit card. You can just change your account address to your UK address - and as long as you have Internet access to your account, you can manage it without having the expense and hassle of transferring or exchanging currencies.

If you need access to your US funds on a day to day basis, you can always pay for things in the UK with your US credit card. Normally you get a very good exchange rate on transactions, and pay a small transaction fee (1 or 2%) but for odds and ends, it leaves the balance in the US intact, yet allows you access as you need it.
Cheers,
Bev

 

[mme]

thanks Bev! That makes a lot of sense to me. I have a very close relationship with my one location bank so I'll keep it open for sure.

 

[Yusuf623]

Smart currency exchange ask for Richard and tell him Yusuf referred you- great lad!

 

[sjellyman]

I have a related question...anyone out there pay child support from outside the US to their children living IN the US? How have you found it best to handle that? I owe weekly child support (still in the US at the moment) and will have to set up within my american bank account to auto debit those weekly payments to my children. I am thinking what I should do is leave several hundred dollars in my account and set it to auto draft and not not have any lapse in payment whilst I move, get settled and get a job...then if there are any transfer fees associated with moving money into that account, I am thinking it would be best to send money monthly to bank versus weekly as the child support is paid out? Did I make myself clear enough? :O
thanks in advance!
Sarah

 

[manny.j]

Think long and hard before you close out your US account(s) completely. If you are planning to go back to the US, even just for visits, it can be very useful to have a US account available - for spending money (without worrying about exchange rates), or for making purchases online denominated in US$.

Once you close out your US accounts it can be very difficult to nearly impossible to open a new account in the US. Same goes for having a US credit card. You can just change your account address to your UK address - and as long as you have Internet access to your account, you can manage it without having the expense and hassle of transferring or exchanging currencies.

If you need access to your US funds on a day to day basis, you can always pay for things in the UK with your US credit card. Normally you get a very good exchange rate on transactions, and pay a small transaction fee (1 or 2%) but for odds and ends, it leaves the balance in the US intact, yet allows you access as you need it.
Cheers,
Bev

Bev, you stated above that one can use their US credit cards abroad. Can my wife and I ask our US credit card firms to change our address to the UK without any problems? I would have imagined they may not like to have their customers abroad as they are after all US credit cards and may not work like the banks do?

 

[Bevdeforges]

Bev, you stated above that one can use their US credit cards abroad. Can my wife and I ask our US credit card firms to change our address to the UK without any problems? I would have imagined they may not like to have their customers abroad as they are after all US credit cards and may not work like the banks do?

I've held my US credit card since 1984 (they just thanked me for my "confidence" in them when I had to call in to validate the newest card). Changed the billing address twice at least 4 times to my various "foreign" addresses and never a squawk from the credit card company. (As long as you keep those payments coming.)

It's generally best (as in "easiest") if you keep a US bank account from which to pay the card. That way you can transfer a lump of money to the account rather than making small transfers (which cost far more).

Some online vendors won't sell to you if your credit card billing address is outside the US. Even this can be dealt with (in a variety of ways), but so far I have managed to work around this. Still, having online access to your credit card billing records is a good idea, just in case the mails lose or delay your bills.
Cheers,
Bev

 

[Bevdeforges]

I have a related question...anyone out there pay child support from outside the US to their children living IN the US? How have you found it best to handle that? I owe weekly child support (still in the US at the moment) and will have to set up within my american bank account to auto debit those weekly payments to my children. I am thinking what I should do is leave several hundred dollars in my account and set it to auto draft and not not have any lapse in payment whilst I move, get settled and get a job...then if there are any transfer fees associated with moving money into that account, I am thinking it would be best to send money monthly to bank versus weekly as the child support is paid out? Did I make myself clear enough? :O
thanks in advance!
Sarah

Setting up a regular automatic payment from your bank account is probably the best way to go. That way you just feed the bank account every few months. There is a fee of some sort each time you transfer money between banks (especially if there is an exchange of currencies involved) so fewer transfers will cost you less than making small, regular transfers.
Cheers,
Bev