Monday, May 17, 2010

Currency exchange

With the Euro taking a big plunge against the SGD recently, we decided to convert a fraction of our meagre savings as a sort of investment for the future. Not that we're likely to see a grand windfall, but at least we're hoping to get back a little better than bank interest rates which are pathetic at the moment.

Went with a DBS foreign currency chequing account. No interest earned, but we can cash out any time it's favourable to do so. If anything, we'll earn a bit from the exchange rate when things get better for the Europeans, or should we suddenly want to go and see Europe we'll have currency on hand that we bought at a good rate.

Note that to withdraw funds in SGD, current exchange rates apply; but to withdraw funds in Euro, the bank charges 1.5% commission, so the Euro has to pick up significantly before it's worth withdrawing anything. If it's going to be a waiting game, I can wait... but still...

here's to a return to good times for the Euro!

2 comments:

MoB said...

you can consider putting aside a tiny sum each month into unit trust investment as well. Now i'm feeling the heat of making my savings grow too!

xmac2006 said...

Hmm... lost money on the last unit trust that I invested in. Now I don't find them so trustworthy any more. Thanks for the advice, though. Maybe now that the economy's picking up again. I'll consider it.