The more I read, the more I like international finance.
With departure time drawing near, I renewed my interest in finding low-cost currency exchange and banking fentures. I dropped off about a week or two ago after my american bank seemed to be clueless about any transfers other than wire-transfers ($30 USD per). Also, I have no idea how to deposit this money into an Irish bank account that is yet to exist. However, one more call to Custom House allayed my fears. Apparently, there is a whole new system of banking of which I was unaware. Automated Clearing House (ACH) transfers -- ACH explained.
With that nugget under my belt, I started looking for requirements to set up an Irish bank account. Turns out, the standard proof of some residency is about all I need. And just buy chance, I stumbled across the fact that their interest rates were like 5%. Surely that's a mistake. Currently, Wachovia is offering .25-.35% (up to 3.5% if you have an assload of money -- way beyond FDIC insurance limits). Hmm... This gets me thinking...
So the Euro has been consistenly gaining ground on the dollar, the European governments aren't allowed to set values of the Euro (because it applies to several countries), and they're not allowed to drastically change their monitary policy due to stability agreements. Why not couple that with a controlling body that is majorly inflation-phobic in an area with massive unemployment... oh wait.
I'd need to do a little more research before I actually committed to this, but it seems like I would be very well served to shove most of my money in high-yeild savings accounts in Europe and use this exetremely low cost transfer service to push and pull money as I need it. I get the benefits of higher interest rates as well as generating some wealth from the continued disseverance of the Euro from the Dollar.
Am I the only person my age that thinks about this stuff?
With that nugget under my belt, I started looking for requirements to set up an Irish bank account. Turns out, the standard proof of some residency is about all I need. And just buy chance, I stumbled across the fact that their interest rates were like 5%. Surely that's a mistake. Currently, Wachovia is offering .25-.35% (up to 3.5% if you have an assload of money -- way beyond FDIC insurance limits). Hmm... This gets me thinking...
So the Euro has been consistenly gaining ground on the dollar, the European governments aren't allowed to set values of the Euro (because it applies to several countries), and they're not allowed to drastically change their monitary policy due to stability agreements. Why not couple that with a controlling body that is majorly inflation-phobic in an area with massive unemployment... oh wait.
I'd need to do a little more research before I actually committed to this, but it seems like I would be very well served to shove most of my money in high-yeild savings accounts in Europe and use this exetremely low cost transfer service to push and pull money as I need it. I get the benefits of higher interest rates as well as generating some wealth from the continued disseverance of the Euro from the Dollar.
Am I the only person my age that thinks about this stuff?
