Is this a sensible strategy: deposits with EBS, PTSB, KBC & UB?

celebtastic said:
What do you base that estimate on?

Do you really think that Irish people should keep their life savings in Irish banks risking them being wiped out if the eurozone unravels, or move them to a more secure offshore environment?
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celeb, I said I 'suspect', I don't have any figure, estimate or otherwise. Now, my suspicion is based on the phenomenon I mentioned in my previous post. If the eurozone unravels it's not at all clear what will happen to funds based anywhere, including your sterling accounts.
 
cashier said:
What is your agenda here OP?? You have recently come on to this website and have been continually harping on to people to get their deposits out of Ireland and into an offshore nationwide account.
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Having gone back and review all the posts by the OP it is clear that he is one of these people who does not let the facts interfere with his opinion... As far as I can figure he has concluded:

- Countries can be kicked out of the EU/Eurozone without any reference to the establishment treaties
- Banks with low T1 ratios are safer than ones with high ratios
- There are different shades of the Euro
- Putting your money anywhere other than Ireland is the safe option

Luck will play an important part in the outcome for him....

My last comment on this discussion!
 
cashier said:
Maybe most people are quite happy to keep their deposits in Ireland. Also most posters on here are shall we say quite saavy when it comes to their finances and the economy and they smart enough to make up their own minds.
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along those lines being an older person in the second half of my 60's I would like to add my own 'halfpenny' worth - even though most people wouldn't listen to me or give me the time of day.

When you live in a country such as Ireland as a regular normal (not rich or super rich individual) and is fortunate enough to have a small amount of money - it is always best IMO to keep the money as close to your chest as possible and not always about chasing the extra point of interest.

I like to put mine under the mattress, that way I know where it is at all times.

From this old head if it has to be a bank, I'd be putting my money somewhere that I know I can walk in and see it, that you can call the funds at anytime with minimum cost, minimum risk and without having to deal with FX rates.

Internet, electronic offshore banking would not let me sleep well at night. No different to me than stock market investing wondering will it go, up, down or disappear.

When it is in the currency where you live, shop and go about your daily life - life is so much easier without worrying about is my money safe or if the Euro is going to crash.

Going offshore to foreign entities may appear all well and good - just for the extra interest points, forget it - but at the end of the day, can you sleep well at night knowing some foreign owned bank or institution can go tits up, change its name or leave you with zero money in your account without warning.

For anyone spreading around their cash into different currencies or thinking about hedging the euro - can you be sure you will always be right investing in Sterling, Dollars or Swiss Francs or one of the Asian currencies?

Reading the thread it reminds me of folks that sell up and move to Spain or Greece or some other foreign country because it is supposedly cheaper. And in the end everyone knows or has read what can happen.

Putting money offshore or in other currencies has it risks - if you think you know what you are doing and don't mind the risks and you can sleep well at night - then go for it.

IMO, low interest accounts in a bank that has been around since the dark ages, has its purpose ... think about it - and they will likely still be there when you are long gone.

For what its worth
 
penury. I understand where you are coming from. And I believe (without having any figures to support it) that most personal depositors behave in a similar way. But one point worth making is that those who do put their money off-shore do so in the belief that it's going to be secure, not for higher interest rates. In many cases interest rates are lower elsewhere.
 
I wonder how many people in those foreign countries think the same way about banking outside of the country that they live in.

I'm not sure offshore is safer or that getting a small amount of interest is always better

IMO, I like to keep my money where I know I can get it quickly - and I'll agree - safer is better
 
kdoc said:
But one point worth making is that those who do put their money off-shore do so in the belief that it's going to be secure, not for higher interest rates. In many cases interest rates are lower elsewhere.
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... but their money is far less secure than it would be if it was kept offshore.

Well worth reading Brendan's advice on how to protect your savings from the increasingly likely chance of a eurozone breakup:

Key Post: Protecting your savings against a euro breakup
 
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celeb, Brendan also wrote this:

"This is a very clear explanation of why people are moving their deposits to Germany.

To my surprise, I have heard that one of the major foreign banks have issued research to their clients suggesting that the punt nua would rise in relation to the German euro. I don't understand this, but there is a risk that this will happen, so moving deposits to Germany is not risk-free, as I had thought.

I remember when we broke the link with sterling - was it 1981? - the punt was expected to devalue and actually rose in value against sterling."
 
Penury, No one believes they have the perfect option so they are spreading their risk.
If you just moved to Europe I don’t believe you would put money in an Irish,Spanish, Greek or Portuguese bank.
I don’t think it is a good enough reason to put all your money in an Irish bank just because you are near to your money. They have big doors that close too.
 
yenom said:
I don’t think it is a good enough reason to put all your money in an Irish bank just because you are near to your money. They have big doors that close too.
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Very true.

And if / when Ireland gets ejected from the euro, those doors will slam very quickly too.
 
celebtastic said:
Very true.

And if / when Ireland gets ejected from the euro, those doors will slam very quickly too.
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This to me is a very sweeping, and frankly dangerous statement with nothing to back it up.

As other posters have said, it smacks of someone with an ulterior motive or agenda and any advice given should be taken with a large pinch of salt.
 
No ulterior motive here. An aggressive attack like that is quite unnecessary.

Simply dont want to see Irish people losing their savings in the event that Ireland is ejected from the euro.

Fully in line with Brendan's excellent post on protecting your savings in the event of a euro breakup:
http://www.askaboutmoney.com/showthread.php?t=163133
 
Brendan's post is indeed very good and informative. He does not recommend any particular option or give a view on what is the most likely outcome of any particular scenario.

You are advocating a course of action and making predictions without any reasoning or back up.
 
And celeb chose not to respond to Brendan's other 'excellent' points that moving deposits to Germany is not risk free and when we broke the link with Sterling the punt rose in value against that currency.
 


Wow ! I really had expected a less emotional and more informed response than that.

Let me turn the question back on you: how should Irish investors protect themselves against the very real prospect of a euro breakup? Should we just sit back and hope for the best, and risk losing everything?
 
kdoc said:
And celeb chose not to respond to Brendan's other 'excellent' points that moving deposits to Germany is not risk free and when we broke the link with Sterling the punt rose in value against that currency.
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Why all these ad hominem attacks? They really are all out today!

Nothing is risk free. If you want a low risk option, holding euros in cash, rather than keeping them in an Irish bank is probably the way to go.


Corrected that for you.
 
Celeb it seems to me that you are advocating putting your money in euro accounts abroad.

It seems to me that this simply avoids the risk of Irish / EU banks going under AND their respective govts and the EU not guaranteeing their deposits, or at least being able to honour the guarantee.

Having the money in foreign accounts denominated in euro DOES NOT seem to protect you from a euro collapse / devaluation. If this happens your deposits will take a similar hammering in their equivalent value whether they are in a bank inside or outside the eurozone.

You might protect yourself from the funds being mandatorily converted to punt nuas, but that prospect seems remote and further down the line at the moment anyway.

But if the euro itself goes under you mightn't be in a great spot with a foreign euro account, particularly if same isn't guaranteed by the EU or an EU govt.

Incidently, can anyone tell me if there is any prospect that countries like Greece, Portugal, Spain and Italy leaving the Euro would strengthen its value? As in, would it become a stronger currency if only held by countries with strong economies and balanced budgets? Or is it a simple corolary of those countries leaving that they would default on massive debts owed to the EU / ECB / banks in those countries?
 
Personally, I wouldn't feel comfortable keeping much money in the euro at all. If the euro collapses, there is no way of knowing which currency your savings would convert to.

I live in England, but my Irish friends and family (those few with savings!) have been keeping their money offshore in a range of foreign currency accounts, including the euro, to reduce risk of being exposed too heavily to open specific currency.

It seems a lot easier to open an account offshore, than to open one in Germany.

List of best-buy offshore accounts here:
http://moneyfacts.co.uk/compare/offshore/best-sellers-savings/

Most of these, you can open on-line or through the post.

Avoid the Irish and Spanish owned operations.
 
8611 said:
...
Incidently, can anyone tell me if there is any prospect that countries like Greece, Portugal, Spain and Italy leaving the Euro would strengthen its value? ..
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That is a possbility, but it really depends on the strength of the firewall that the ECB and others can put in place to stop the euro dismantling completely.

What countries do you see left within this strong euro? I don't think Merkel would be too welcoming to the Dutch or the French anymore.

In reality, once Greece or another country is forced out, the irrevocable monetary union will be shown to be a falsehood and the whole euro will eventually disintegrate. Currencies like an punt nua will sink like a stone.
 
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