Opening a Foreign Bank Account

[Mr T]

I was watching a Politician on TV last week talking about the banking crisis and he mentioned the dreaded prospect of the banks running out of funds,i.e. you go to the ATM and there is just no money there !!!
I know that most Banks now days have Government Guarantees covering deposits but the Government is also broke right ? I mean if the sh1t hits the fan and the Banks do fail, 2 million odd people are going run up to the Dail looking for their money back! Now I can run just as fast as anybody else but as I am in Southwest Ireland I dont think that I will be first in the que !!!
This fear got me thinking about opening a foreign bank account and moving some of my savings abroad. I am working and I support a family and have the usual mortgage and 2 cars etc here. I am in my 40's now and dont want to have all my hard earned wiped out by some reckless men in suits.

Does anybody think that this is a good idea?? The sum I would be thinking of is well under the Irish guarantee limit and 100% legit. Is it difficult to open a foreign bank account in another country ?? Can I access my funds electronically?? Which Country should I look to Germany?(the safest??)Switzerland(the nicest to visit!!)UK(the handiest!) Will I get the same deposit rates abroad as here ??

I am sure that this topic has come up before but for the life of me I cant dig up any other threads covering my concerns so hopefully somebody out there has some answers.

All feedback welcome!!

 

[Gervan]

Yes the topic is covered in this forum from several angles.
Key posts
http://www.askaboutmoney.com/showthread.php?t=147599
and
http://www.askaboutmoney.com/showthread.php?t=146747&highlight=open+an+account+in+Germany
for example
I suggest you search further on this site.

Germany is perceived to be the safest, Belgium the easiest.
You will not get the same rates as here, 2.25% in Belgium is "good".
If you start putting your funds into foreign currencies you are risking exchange rate fluctuations, so you have to decide which is most important- preserving as much of your savings as you can or getting a decent interest rate.

 

[Mr T]

Thank you Very much Gervan.

 

[Lamorna]

Rather than deposit monies into an account, you could also invest into 'cash' securities from a foreign country: for example corporate bonds or foreign government debt.
Some British government stocks are even index-linked (i.e. they follow the Retail Price Index), which offers you protection against inflation, unlike most deposits into savings accounts.
The German debt would probably be the safest buy. I would not recommend buying Spanish, Portuguese, or Greek government debt.