Calis Beach and Fethiye Turkey Discussion Forum
Information and Services in Turkey Section => Banks, Interest, Money Transfers, Insurance => Topic started by: BernieTeyze on August 09, 2014, 13:38:34 PM
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When we moved it was lock,stock and barrel. However, all this talk of change after the elections has us a bit jittery. We have decided to move our capitol back to our uk bank and leave just enough to pay the years bills. Most of our money got spent buying this place,so we need to be able to survive if we did have to go back.
The whole headscarf,not laughing in public and fines for not doing housework and cooking isn,t what we came here for. We have 3 year residency, and who knows what will happen at the end of them. We want to make sure we have a choice to move the money,so acting now.
Any thoughts anyone?
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I think moving the money is a bit premature. Afterall, compared to UK rates, you're getting a pretty good return on your capital in Turkey.
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We moved ours back but we also have a place back in the uk. We took a hit but getting it invested over in UK we have made good inroads into that loss. While there was a time when we considered Turkey full time not now, too many risks politically and economically. We will stick with our plan of long stints in each location. We too have a 3 year residency due to end Sep 15 and if necessary we would do the 90/180 visa, as long as that is still available. On a practical level NB they might at your bank have a daily limit on how much you can move, therefore you will incur extra charges as you might need to do it over several days.
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Depending on what the exchange rate was when you invested in Turkey, you will take a hit changing back to sterling - lira sinking still further at the moment. Only consolation is the interest gained on lira savings. I would wait until after the election if I were you rather than a knee jerk reaction, things might settle a bit at least for a while.
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The islamification changes that are and `might` happen in the future here in Turkey both economically and politically are if it happens not really going to affect the average ex pat living here... lets be fair. If you are turkish, with a young family yes, be concerned and I feel for them ...and its frightening for them. Not the ex pats who live here ?
Most ex pats are `knocking on a bit`out here, many in their 60`s and even 70`s... most have private pensions, state pensions, and big money in the banks here at the moment getting nearly 10% interest.. and at the moment enjoying 3.60 tl to all their pounds coming over every month... so tell me ? why is Turkey bad for them, and many want to return to the UK ?? They criticise and moan about Turkey constantly when most of them `have never had it so good` out here.
Sorry .. but the UK isn`t the place it was and its fast going downhill in many ways...uncontrolled immigration for one.. EU another ,
I certainly worry for the future of my kids and grandchildren in the UK.
Take a look around you ex pats... Turkey and your lifestyle and wealth , wining and dining and many of the good things in life out here... you have nowt to worry about for the `not so many` years you have left` if you stay in Turkey. Feel for the young turkish with families in the towns and villages and what the future might hold for them and their young families
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I would seriously leave your money where it is at the moment, you would lose out very heavily by putting it back in uk, and I think your money is far safer in Turkey than UK.
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Hope you weren't laughing when you posted this??
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Hope you weren't laughing when you posted this??
Not at all Barry, and neither would you if you'd had your debit card account emptied.
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Her in doors does that every month!!!
Obviously the " laughing" reference sailed overhead.....
In the many years I have lived in Fethiye I would say that the number of women wearing head scarfs has gone down. Even lots of my neighbours wife's have stopped, they are not young girls.
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It is a worry, but personally I feel safer leaving my money in Turkish account, although rates are now down to 8.5%.
Don't put all your eggs on one basket. Banks will guarantee safety of money up to 100000tl, I think double for joint account.
So make sure it's not over that amount and you'll be ok.
Not sure where UK is but Turkey is 15th biggest economy in the world currently.
The main thing I would say is if possible buy a bolt hole in the UK, even a 1 bedroom flat somewhere.
I guess a lot depends on people's reasoning for moving here, people who want high interest rates and cheap booze are going to find it won't suit them, Erdogan wants zero interest rates and alcohol taxes will continue to rise as the agenda becomes increasingly Islamic, which it definitely will do after tomorrow.
If you want to embrace the culture, enjoy the country for what it is then fine.
I will stay as long as my money allows or until I have to wear a burka!
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I have just watched the debate between Alistair Darling and Alex Salmond and to be honest, I would be far more worried if I lived in Scotlandshire about my money than I am living here in Fethiye. In six weeks time they face the prospect of having a currency controlled by a foreign country. We don't have that prospect here.
Burkas? are you serious? Just look at the reaction from Turkish women following the misguided comments about smiling recently. Look around yourself in Fethiye, can you possibly imagine our beautiful and well educated female population accepting such a move? I can't.
Alcohol? Of course RTE is against the stuff but hey, what the hell, even a child knows that prohibition doesn't work and causes more trouble than it's worth, let him double or quadruple the tax in which case I will decide what is and isn't acceptable. Let him ban it outright and I will laugh in his face as I raise a glass and find ever more ingenious ways of getting around the ban.
Exchange Rates? we are inevitably drawn to the lira v the pound, like many, we will take a serious 'hit' if we now change our lira back to GBP, but I've still got the same amount of lira I expect to see in my banks each month and as I'm not planning to make this currency exchange any time soon, why worry?
Finally, I have to agree with Linda, those of us receiving pensions in the main receive them in sterling, your old age government pension is also there as a back up and if you still retain UK property is a massive bonus but even if you don't, I wouldn't class the situation as a time to panic.
Everyone is of course entitled to their own opinion but I for one find it really sad to have followed the great excitement of people on here making what they regard as their 'dream move' to our little piece of paradise then only to be spooked about Burkas, Alcohol, exchange rates and especially smiling.
Keep calm and get yourself off to the market for your Sunday kebab is what I say.
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Ok, maybe a rethink is in order. Thanks for feedback.
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Very true Rimms, totally agree.
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Politically and economically I am less worried about Burkas and alcohol prices than some of the other political issues gaining traction at the moment in the Middle East. With Western governments desperate to leave war zones that in the past seemed too far away to imagine it would have an impact on our everyday experience in Turkey more recently things have got a lot closer e.g. Kurdish communities being targeted by Isis. Russian sanctions in retaliation for EU sanctions bans the imports from EU countries possibly increasing import opportunities for Turkey. Last time this happened increased food exports to Russia put prices up in Turkey.
Internal changes over residency, health insurance requirements plus other examples mentioned above have not dimmed my enjoyment of what Turkey has to offer but has made me more cautious about my confidence in my own peace of mind there and being over exposed financially. I am fortunate enough to be in receipt of a local government pension paid in sterling and would and could afford to live in Turkey very comfortably. However the OP asked about thoughts on moving money to Uk. My thoughts are very little to do with Burkas and beer more to do with Turkey's overall future which I am not clever enough to predict, all I do know is it makes me nervous, that is enough to make me act cautiously
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It was never about the alcohol,we hardly if ever drink. Our pension is paid in Tl,our being one person, my husband's, p.o. pension. It,s not about our quality of life,we love it and enjoy being here. The reason I asked is because if the election changes anything to alter our physical or financial position will we 'll have the opportunity to move our only savings back.
When you talk about taking a hit to move it back what sort of prices are you talking about.
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It depends how much you have in the bank.
If you changed £1000 and got an exchange rate of say 3.0 then you would have 3000tl.
If you then change that 3000tl when the exchange rate is 3.5 back into sterling you will only have £857
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When we moved it was lock,stock and barrel. However, all this talk of change after the elections has us a bit jittery. We have decided to move our capitol back to our uk bank and leave just enough to pay the years bills.
Personally, I would never have moved "lock stock and barrel" from a financial perspective. Moving some capital out of TL may be a better course if you (quite rightly) feel jittery over the current Turkish economy. Unless you are fully committed to being here for a very long time, I'd be wary of keeping my nest egg in TL - yes I know, you get oddles of interest but the higher inflation rate tends to cancel a lot of that out. Lets face it, the Turks don't keep their main wedge in TL, its either gold or a hard currency such as USD - they've learned the hard way over the years about how volatile the TL can be...
I think your money is far safer in Turkey than UK.
No its not.
Not sure where UK is but Turkey is 15th biggest economy in the world currently.
I think the important word here is "currently". This quote from forbes.com, taken from an article published at the end of May sums things up and is worth reading:
The explosive rise of Turkey’s economy in the past decade is one of the most fascinating growth stories of all time. Since 2002, Turkey’s economy nearly quadrupled in size on the back of an epic boom in consumption and construction that led to the building of countless malls, skyscrapers, and ambitious infrastructure projects. Like many emerging economies in the past decade, Turkey’s economy continued to grow virtually unabated through the Global Financial Crisis, while most Western economies stagnated.
Unfortunately, like most emerging market nations, Turkey’s economic boom has devolved into a dangerous bubble that is similar to the bubbles that caused the downfall of Western economies just six years ago. Though Turkey has received significant attention after its currency and financial markets fell sharply in the past year, there is still very little awareness of the country’s economic bubble itself and its frightening implications.
Source: Why The Worst Is Still Ahead For Turkey's Bubble Economy (http://www.forbes.com/sites/jessecolombo/2014/03/05/why-the-worst-is-still-ahead-for-turkeys-bubble-economy/2/)
JF
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Very sound advice JF
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Thank you john f, I am so glad you posted.
Not sure wether to go isas, savings or premium bonds
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If you go the ISA route (now called NISA = "New ISA"; wonderfully original, our government) remember you can now save £15,000 per year, and you can mix Cash NISAs with Stocks & Shares NISAs in any way you like up to a £15k limit. It is now very easy to invest in Tracker NISAs, which attempt to match Stock Market performance (FTSE, USA, European, Far East - you choose) by buying a wide range of shares shadowing the market index and you can do this without needing to pay a financial advisor or pay the overblown management fees of "experts" who promise to deliver better than market average rates - and usually fail. There is, of course, a risk in investing like this because, as we have seen, stock markets can go down ... and down and down. But interest rates in the UK are currently so low that you might consider it worthwhile to put SOME of your savings at risk hoping to get a better return - I got 8% from FTSE AllShare trackers last year.
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Thanks Colwyn
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Just one problem Colwyn, if you don't have a UK address, you can't open an ISA / NISA etc. I think Slkmrs is in this position. The best you can do is some kind of bond which pays a slightly better rate than normal savings - but only just in my experience.
We continued to have our pensions paid to an off-shore account and can move them to our Nationwide a/c and draw cash on our debit cards in sterling. Or we can transfer money here, which we won't be doing anymore.
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Interesting post John, I was in the UK during what is described as "the downfall of Western economies" which led to massive job cuts, near zero interest rates and austerity measures affecting mainly unemployed on benefits and social service provision.
The direct impact it had on me personally was that my mortgage payments got significantly cheaper each month, I was lucky enough to keep my job, a few libraries closing had little effect on me and neither did the changes to social security benefits. My limited amount of capital in the bank did not get lost or confiscated although of course any interest was lost but this was more than compensated for through my lower mortgage payment.
And so to the serious question, what will be the direct effect I feel if Turkey heads into a serious recession as indicated by the Forbes article? I realise inflation may be a factor but despite what RTE says, governments seem to exhibit very little creativity in tackling inflation than to raise interest rates, which for me would be a big offset to rising inflation.
My capital held here is spread and protected by the bank guarantee scheme, a weakening lira will enhance the lira value of the sterling pension I exchange each month. I own my house so don't need to worry about rising rental rates. At 60 years of age, I've lived through several recessions and one thing I've noticed is that you come out the other end, normally leaner but stronger.
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Just one problem Colwyn, if you don't have a UK address, you can't open an ISA / NISA etc.
A good point LeeGlo and one I hadn't considered. I might have thought that leaving the UK "lock, stock and barrel" might mean "burning your boats" and leaving without a nominal postal address. I imagine there are ways around this but I wouldn't be the person to know what they are.