Baht Continues to Weaken

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Re: Baht Continues to Weaken

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"In the land of the blind the one eyed man is king"
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Re: Baht Continues to Weaken

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Thank you Undaunted. I never thought I'd live to see the day. If this continues it is entirely possible that the US dollar exchange rate could actually pass the UK pound rate. We're practically on par now as it is.

What's going on with the pound anyway? Why is it plunging like this? Are the exchange rates going to cause any of you from the UK to cancel plans to travel to Thailand?

I remember when the US dollar exchange was still in the 40s and started to drop. Geezer and I were having dinner and he was bitterly complaining about it and saying he doesn't know how we can live with this. Now looking at it from the other perspective, it is definitely nice to see this kind of rate finally returning.

It all depends on your point of view. When I first started going to Thailand, the exchange rate was about 25 baht to the US dollar.
Jun

Re: Baht Continues to Weaken

Post by Jun »

Gaybutton wrote: Wed Sep 28, 2022 1:26 am What's going on with the pound anyway? Why is it plunging like this? Are the exchange rates going to cause any of you from the UK to cancel plans to travel to Thailand?
Factors influencing the Pound include:
1 Dollar strength as the Fed has been raising US interest rates more quickly than other countries
2 The European energy crises. Generally attempting to rely on a combination of unreliable wind power and unreliable Russian gas.
3 An idiotic chancellor who announced loads of tax cuts and spending increases. Therefore increasing the borrowing requirement.

I'm still going to Thailand.

I've always tried to make sure what money I do have is invested internationally, so I'm not just tied to one currency.
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Re: Baht Continues to Weaken

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Jun wrote: Wed Sep 28, 2022 2:41 amwhat money I do have is invested internationally, so I'm not just tied to one currency.
Which currencies are doing well these days?
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Re: Baht Continues to Weaken

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At the time of this post the exchange rate on Wise has reached 38. 38.065

The UK pound shows 40.575

The Euro shows 36.18625


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Re: Baht Continues to Weaken

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"In the land of the blind the one eyed man is king"
Jun

Re: Baht Continues to Weaken

Post by Jun »

Gaybutton wrote: Wed Sep 28, 2022 3:59 am Which currencies are doing well these days?
Good question. We all know the USD is doing well. Primarily because the Fed are tightening much faster than other large economies ? At present.

Generally, I don't just invest in currencies, but I do stocks instead as I need some kind of underlying return. I need something that stands a chance of keeping up with inflation over a couple of decades, hopefully longer. So I look for investment opportunities, not currencies.

I've put almost nothing in the US stock market as it's been resembling a bubble in recent years. However, some of my cash has been in a US short term treasury etf, which I figured would behave roughly like holding USD. That's an obvious way of holding USD cash (equivalent) in a tax advantaged ISA.

I also have some cash in SGD.

Most of it is in Investment Trusts, including quite a lot in the Asia region. That's getting more difficult, as I want something well managed, but without too large an exposure to China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. Too much geopolitical risk there.
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Re: Baht Continues to Weaken

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Inflation in the U.S.will have a very positive affect for those Americans receiving social security, unlike British expats all those that receive social security living in the U.S.or abroad will get a cost of living adjustment in January which is estimated to be 8-9 percent.
I took full advantage of the establishment of I.R.A.’s and had the option of keeping my stock portfolio as an annuity for life so the monthly payout remains the same regardless of the ups or downs in the market however, the cash balance does fluctuate but not the monthly payout as that is set for life.
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Re: Baht Continues to Weaken

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Right on target.

It's like Christmas,
Jun

Re: Baht Continues to Weaken

Post by Jun »

Undaunted wrote: Wed Sep 28, 2022 6:18 pmI took full advantage of the establishment of I.R.A.’s and had the option of keeping my stock portfolio as an annuity for life so the monthly payout remains the same regardless of the ups or downs in the market however, the cash balance does fluctuate but not the monthly payout as that is set for life.
Is the annuity inflation indexed and indexed without a cap ?

In the UK, annuities have tended to be poor value and the inflation indexed ones are particularly poor value.
That's typically inflation indexed with a 3% cap, which is a fat lot of good when inflation is about 10%. If I took out an annuity @ 55 years old, escalating by 3% per year, that would only pay £3088 for every £100,000 of capital at the moment. A few years of high inflation really damages this.

The other thing is if I buy an annuity, that's typically going to be paying out in one currency.
So I would have a product that's poor value, not going to keep up with high inflation and ties me into an income in one currency.

I hope you had the opportunity to buy something far better. Which is quite possible if you bought during a period of high interest rates.

I had no plans at all of buying an annuity, but a friend who contributes on one of the boards pointed out that eventually people may reach a stage in their life where they are incapable of managing their finances. That's a good point.
So I may eventually buy one, but not until I'm close to an age where elderly relatives started to lose it.
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