Worried about savings in Euro - should I be?

What is Sterling is so weak? I know the UK is in trouble fiscally but does it warrant a drop from 1.4 to 1.06? Now at 1.11 against a Euro in trouble?

that is actually the strength of sterling that it has the flexibility to move with the british economy and that is the weakness of the euro in that it doesnt have the flexibility to move with the irish or greek economies, that is why there is all this talk about the euro breaking up because it cannot flex, what would have happened to the irish punt in the current situation, it would have fallen by 50% back in 2008 taking the huge strain off the economy and restoring competitiveness. For safety i would recomend putting money into US dollars or sterling even though they may weaken further although i cannot see that happening against the euro with all the troubles it is having, I believe the euro itself will eventually take the strain because it has to, they will monetize the debts and print euros and allow it to fall.
 
Naturally it depends on your own personal circumstances, how much is left on your mortgage, the value of your mortgage etc but I would be slow to use my savings to pay off a chunk of my mortgage.

In the event of a doomsday scenario for the Ireland and we revert to the punt the punt would be dramatically devalued against the euro and other currencies. You would be paid in punts but since your mortgage was taken out in euros, you would probably still have to pay back the euro value of the mortgage. Your euro savings and new earnings could be worth as little as 50-20% of the euro so in effect, your mortgage will have increased by 2-5 fold meaning that you will never be able to pay it off anyway (again depending on your personal circumstances). Looking at it another way, if you had 20 years left to pay in your mortgage, it would be like having to maintain the current level of payments for 40-100 yrs which is impossible.

In my humble opinion, there would be no point in wasting your savings now on a mortgage that in the above scenario, you will never be able to pay. I would just default like the rest of the country would in that situation.

I have about EUR 200k left on the mortgage - surely this would have to convert to punts as well if our deposits were converted to punts??
 
I was listening to Peter Brown MD of Irish Institute of Financial Trading , on Pat Kenny yesterday saying the liklihood of the Euro going belly-up was increasing. He mentioned that switching out of the Euro involved considerable risks due to FX fluctuations.

Is that the guy who's sometimes on vincent browne's show of talking nonsense (albeit sometimes entertaining rubbish)? I know a qualified economist well who thinks he hasnt a clue so dont know how much credibility I've give to his statements...he seems to love the sound of his own voice too if its the same guy and just talks for the sake of it.... I wouldnt mind too much of the stuff talked by so-called experts on Irish tv too many of them have their own agendas....

There's not too much objectivity in the room on the shows.... and VB's show is not really a serious show...its more lie tabloid banter to be honest.... This is just a scare-mongering thread imo maybe unintentionally so though... They're not going to let the euro fail...that would be a disaster they cant contemplate...shame on the governments of countries who created the mess with their dodgy short-sighted...they l policies tho unfortunately of which we are one..self-interest among the public and politicians of these countries have created a problem something will be done to kick the Greeks...and us into line to sort it out I'm sure.... They're not going to let anything bring the euro down imo
 
Thanks very much for the replies folks. I dont know enough about stocks and shares to invest wisely and have seen many people lose everything in stocks and shares.

I understand that putting all my eggs in one basket doesnt sound like a good idea, however, of all the currencies, it would appear that the Canadian Dollar has been the soundest over the past number of years. boring from an investment perspective but good for someone who wants some bit of stability in a chaotic economy.

Relax for Gods sake...are you listening to some Joe Duffy style moan or scare-athon or what? Re the Canadian dollar I have no idea if its more stable if anything I would thought the euro was the most stable but currencies are always changing in value... Re stocks and shares they say you should have at least 30 grand starting off but its always risky and obviously you should diversify a bit. I wont go near shares myself bc I'm totally risk averse....I have all my money in euro savings a/cs too :D
 
Maybe short-term. But I'd rather have my money in owning part of a company than solely owning a risky currency. If the Euro fails, good companies will survive and recover in whatever currency they operate in.

Yeah exactly but what if you happen to pick a bad company or a company that turns bad....say for example you invested some money in a mobile phone company and they God forbid found out the mobile radiation risk was very high after all...company would be wiped out.....
 
Quote: "You would be paid in punts but since your mortgage was taken out in euros, you would probably still have to pay back the euro value of the mortgage" - NEWERA

Surely the savings AND the mortgage would be in Punts???

Any comments?
 
queenlex I luv ya. No way is the Euro going down. Day by day it gains ground. Peter Brown is another self serving prophet of doom. In the Sindo he predicted that the Government will grab 300K off people who have €1M on deposit in Ireland. Come to Peter for salvation. Please spare me.:(
 
Peter Brown is spot on about Greece.They will default.That's a 100% certainty.
The whole EU project is doomed imo.
 
that is actually the strength of sterling that it has the flexibility to move with the british economy and that is the weakness of the euro in that it doesnt have the flexibility to move with the irish or greek economies, that is why there is all this talk about the euro breaking up because it cannot flex, what would have happened to the irish punt in the current situation, it would have fallen by 50% back in 2008 taking the huge strain off the economy and restoring competitiveness. For safety i would recomend putting money into US dollars or sterling even though they may weaken further although i cannot see that happening against the euro with all the troubles it is having, I believe the euro itself will eventually take the strain because it has to, they will monetize the debts and print euros and allow it to fall.
Thi sis a very common misconception, and one that especially politicians love, because they can blame someone or something else. Take the UK where both Wales and NI have significantly weaker economies than the majority of England. This line of argumentation would suggest that Wales and NI are being held back by an unnecessarily strong sterling which suits England. You can argue the same for the US, where Wyoming has a very weak economy when compared to California. But they still have the same currency and exchange rate.
Currency flexibility has nothing to do with the problem of the Euro. The problem with the Euro is that over a ten year period the ECB massively inflated base money supply by 260% while at the same time not having a system in place that would deal with debt defaults of member countries.
A currencies value is dependent on the underlying monetary policy and the economy, not the other way around.

They're not going to let the euro fail...that would be a disaster they cant contemplate
The only thing they can do to stop the Euro from failing is quantitative and qualitative easing, which in itself will ultimately cause the currency to fail. I don't understand how people can argue that it is going to be a situation of letting a currency fail, when the levels of debt we are talking about indicate that there simply will be no other option.

Yeah exactly but what if you happen to pick a bad company or a company that turns bad....say for example you invested some money in a mobile phone company and they God forbid found out the mobile radiation risk was very high after all...company would be wiped out.....
Happens to many investors, but this is only a problem if you have a large portion of your assets in one company or industry, which is always a bad idea.

No way is the Euro going down. Day by day it gains ground. (
Gaining ground against what? Other weak currencies like Sterling and USD. But if you measure against CHF or AUD or more importantly gold you see how much it is weakening.
 
Gaining ground against what? Other weak currencies like Sterling and USD. But if you measure against CHF or AUD or more importantly gold you see how much it is weakening.
At the moment I am in the market for a new car and so the price of new cars is my current benchmark. Down 20% in Euro terms since a few years ago.:)
 
Yeah exactly but what if you happen to pick a bad company or a company that turns bad....say for example you invested some money in a mobile phone company and they God forbid found out the mobile radiation risk was very high after all...company would be wiped out.....


or blue chip irish banking shares 3 years ago
 
Any opinions is converting Euro savings into the Danish Krona? If I read correctly it is pegged against the Euro within a 2.5% band width - so would this not prevent a large degree of exchange risk?
 
‎"Those €87bn of deposits might become very attractive to a government which is running out of options with closing the deficit;"
"And with the precedent of imposing a levy established with the pension levy to fund the Jobs Initiative and with a further wealth tax to be introduced (the property tax), then sizing up deposits for a contribution might become feasible as well as attractive, "

http://namawinelake.wordpress.com/2...ces-new-statistics-on-mortgages-and-deposits/
 
At the moment I am in the market for a new car and so the price of new cars is my current benchmark. Down 20% in Euro terms since a few years ago.:)

Yes indeed, cars are cheaper than a few years ago, but that is mainly because of less taxation rather than an increase in the value of the Euro, which of course is very welcome.
 
We are three years into argueing about default, the euro and whether the govt. are going to help themselves to our deposits, and guess what all of the above have not happened yet. But keep argueing the point lads, you have got to be right some day. Stop the guess work and get behind the country and lets all try to build a more stable economy. Deposit rates are good and although I dislike Kenny a lot I have to admire his tackling of the vat rate, the bonus culture etc. We have got to stop talking the country down. It's time to play our part and keep our money at home, It's as safe here as anywhere else.,
 
We are three years into argueing about default, the euro and whether the govt. are going to help themselves to our deposits, and guess what all of the above have not happened yet. But keep argueing the point lads, you have got to be right some day. Stop the guess work and get behind the country and lets all try to build a more stable economy. Deposit rates are good and although I dislike Kenny a lot I have to admire his tackling of the vat rate, the bonus culture etc. We have got to stop talking the country down. It's time to play our part and keep our money at home, It's as safe here as anywhere else.,

gussy, I believe you are correct.. The prophets of doom have been influencing others to put their dosh into far flung places - Timbuktu hasn't been mentioned yet, but it's only a matter of time. It's not altogether clear if deposits are much safer in some of the institutions in these countries (and the interest rates are lousy). On Saturday night, Eddie Hobbs stated that the Euro, in his opinion, will not collapse. And he is also of the opinion that the economy is beginning to turn in the right direction. However, this positive shift can be helped if people allow the normal circular flow of the econmy to work: spend some money on goods and services and save some money HERE.
 
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