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Emigrating Brits risk losing up to £10,000

20th April 2007 Print
In response to ONS stats released yesterday that over five hundred Brits are leaving the UK every day in search of a life in the sun and work abroad, currency specialists HiFX warns émigrés to consider their finances in order to make their dreams of a life abroad a reality.

Mark Bodega, Marketing Director for HiFX, the currency specialists comments: “Australia, New Zealand and Canada, all of which feature in the top ten places for Brits to emigrate to, are popular destinations as bang of buck you appear to achieve a better quality of life.”

HiFX has analyzed the performance of the pound against the currencies across the main emigrations destinations most favoured by Brits and found that the Sterling has appreciated in value across all of the top ten.

This means that people who are planning to move abroad whether in the next six months, or in two years time and who will be transferring all their UK wealth in the process, should consider taking out a ‘forward contract’. In essence this means people can lock into the excellent exchange rates that are available at the moment, buy their currency now, but pay for it later (once they have sold their UK house for example). By doing this consumers are completely protected from exchange rate movements as they have ‘locked in’ the exchange rate at the time of setting the contract.

On average, a UK family emigrates abroad with assets of £250,000 from the sale of a house, car and some savings. While they carefully plan their new lives in minute detail, what many overlook is the potential cost of leaving their currency exchange in the wrong hands. By transferring their worldly goods to their new country via a high street bank, the average family risks losing up to a staggering £10,000 of their assets. According to research from HiFX, banks typically charge 4% more than currency specialists in unfavourable exchange rates.

Bodega continues, “Making thedecision to move to a new country is a big undertaking, both emotionally and financially. The last thing that any family taking the leap would want to do is unnecessarily lose as much as £10,000 in the process. Unfortunately though, this is exactly the case for the many people who entrust the transfer of their assets from old to new country to their regular high street bank. This huge loss could be avoided simply by people being aware of the alternatives and making sure they get the best rate for their money, early on in the process.”

Mark Bodega added: “The earlier you begin thinking about your currency requirements, the more likely you will be able to start your new life with as much money as possible. The majority of people emigrating from the UK are not millionaires jetting off to a luxury island, but everyday people who are likely to be most affected by banks charging over the odds for currency exchange and losses through currency fluctuation when transferring their worldly goods overseas.”

For Brits who live overseas or go abroad for long periods of time, HiFX has a regular payments plan allowing them to manage regular currency payments such as pensions, salary and mortgage transfers and because HiFX do not charge to send money overseas and have eliminated all receiving charges, they save their customers up to £300 each year.