I was hoping to get some information on converting a monthly US pension to euros and if anyone has any experience. I have used Lumon for a straight conversion for large amounts for a house purchase, but I will be receiving a monthly tax-free military pension, and haven’t quite worked out the best way to get this converted to euros on a regular basis. It may be as simple as letting it build in my Lumon account and then waiting for a good rate and dumping it en masse, but I’m curious if anyone else has any better suggestions? Thanks in advance for any insight!
Leave it in a US bank and pay for everything with a Visa or Mastercard. You will get the current bank rate and build miles and points. If you must use cash (why?) then put it into a Schwab account that will give you the current bank rate when you withdraw and will reimburse you for all fees.
Another Wise user here. Wouldn’t dream of using my bank.
Both my UK state pension and Unilever pension, they do the transfer for me as my UK pensions go straight into my French bank account in euros. Would something like that be possible for you?
Yes and I can send money into any currency that I like. I have used it here at home in France too and never had any refusals although one till lady asked me what it was and I explained and she said she was going to apply for one to visit Canada.
This is what we did for some time until I finally got my US Social Security paid in euros directly to my French account. I realize just taking the current (lousy) rate is not really the most advantageous, but at this point we just want to live free and easy. Yes, hoarding dollars and converting at a good rate using Wise is likely the best way
One good US credit card option is Capital One Savor card. It is free and gets you a 3% rebate on all food, groceries and restaurants. Everybody has to eat.
It may be overreacting, but I do not want my SS to be paid into a foreign bank. Stopping, or at minimum interfering with, overseas payments is all too easy for a government to do. Already there have been anecdotal reports of the annual mandatory affirmation documents not being sent or never being received when returned.
I had a London based client who was a foreign exchange trading director, from the US. I once asked him what his approach was to transferring his vast salary + bonus to the UK. He said the first decision is whether you start with an appreciating home currency against your host currency (which was the case at that time with the dollar (home) and sterling (host)). He would then transfer from dollars to sterling at most once or twice a year..He added that if the exchange rate is stable or his home currency is depreciating, then he would transfer monthly..His reasoning is that it was and remains an ideal to match income and outgoings in the same currency, to prevent “ liability exposure” if the currency of the outgoings soars against the other currency.
I initiated this practice before the fascists came to power. I would probably leave it in USD in the US were I to start now, but it’s really hard to change anything now with SSA. They are such a customer service oriented organization (sarcasm).
This does seem to be the idea I was considering. I’ll have plenty to live on in a French bank (or maybe a Wise account, from all the good reviews), and then just transfer en masse when the markets are favorable. Thanks for the response, I appreciate it.