Finance + Brexit: bad news arrives

I’ve just had an email from iDealing, with which I have some funds left in an ISA.

Basically, it looks to me as if anyone living in the EU with funds in the UK is likely to be given three months to exit.

It’s the first such communication I’ve seen so far. I have a nasty feeling there will be others.

"The progress and clarity of the Brexit talks with respect to market access for financial services has been poor, and the likelihood of a “no-deal” scenario with respect to financial services is increasing. We are, of course, disappointed with the current state of affairs and would prefer to know now what we will be allowed to provide and to whom. In the event of a no-deal scenario we are advised that we will not be able to continue providing services to continental european retail clients without difficulty, and are making appropriate contingency plans.

We expect to take a final decision by September and will communicate this by that time."

Anyone else had similar issues?

No, but I wish I had transferred all my UK savings to France 17 years ago!

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Since the referendum in 2016 many accounts and financial services have stopped accepting non-resident clients. The concern about passporting has been there since then. My bank, that I have been with since I was 16, have told me they can no longer provide any advice. A savings account told me to move. My OH was due to get an annuity in 2017, and of the 25 or more annuity providers only 3 would deal with a non-resident and offered hugely worse rates.

It happens…

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What are ‘savings’? :grinning:

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For those of us who are old enough, it is money that is put aside for a “rainy day”.
These days, it is what the state takes for our care in the old folks home!

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I have precisely £0.34 savings in the UK, not changed for 10 years or so as, although it earns interest, it is too small to credit. But we do have a sizeable chunk of pensions in the bank there waiting for a decent rate to transfer it.

Perhaps I should have done it at 1.11 a few days ago. now 1.10 I think. I’ll make a decision on Monday.

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I hadn’t seen it happening yet at banks that were not on the list as regularly being ‘difficult’ from long before Brexit. Your experience suggests I’ve just been lucky.

Boy, I’m glad I shifted my pension money over here.

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Or here in France what our children have to pay for our care in the old folks home.
It might be cheaper to have a live in carer and a daily help.

I may have said this before but, in some respects, having fuck-all makes Life,comparitively, stress free

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At least transfer 50% and hedge yourself David.

The Brexit blog pointed me to this article this week… another example of why Brexit makes absolutely no sense and nobody in Government can point to one benefit for the average punter.

I think Bojo, IDS, Gove etc. should be horsewhipped (and I’m not using that term figuratively).

https://www.ft.com/content/a1c4a5dc-f627-4689-97ae-909d4aaf6162

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I can’t sing either :grin:

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Might be a good idea, John, as I say, I’ll have a look Monday and decide.

@Andrea. Not sure what you mean, but if you mean you have all your UK pensions paid directly in France, won’t that still come up against any new measures down the line? I changed from that system a long time ago to avoid being at the mercy of the exchange rate.

@Jane_Williamson. Be nice to have room for a live in carer, she’s already got one and he takes up all of the rest of the space :wink: :roll_eyes:

of Iain Dunkin Donut…

BTW, today’s interesting fact (courtesy of James O’Brien last week) Iain Duncan Smith uses the name «Duncan Smith» to make him look «posh». Duncan is actually one of his middle names and he is, just, a plain old «Smith» hence no hyphenation :wink:

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I took my entire pension as cash. French tax system made that easy to do. It’s now invested in SCPI (French property funds) giving me around 5% income, and unlike annuities, I retain control of the funds.

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Look at the different ways of transferring money, as if you are exchanging a chunk (ie £5k +) a small difference in rates can add up. Some people here use transferwise, we have opened accounts with a couple of foreign exchange traders (bothersome to do, but once in I can now change money at press of button when rates suit me). Others have a revolut account.

From the 12th August, Revolut will charge a fee for transfers above £1k (to a currency other than your base currency in the account) in a rolling 30 day period. It used to be £6k.
We have addressed this by having 2 Revolut accounts - one each, effectively doubling the limit to £2k between us :wink:
Our State pensions are paid direct in Euro to our French bank.

I don’t know how that works, how do you calculate how long you are going to live, and thus what the total amount would be by the time you depart? If it is a guestimate could you not lose out in the long run?

@JaneJones. I use Worldwide, have done for years, I speak to the same man each time, he gives me a rate, used to be 2p below the rate but now is better, we agree a settlement date and the deal is done. No charges.

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August is the worst time to transfer money. There is always a dip every year.