Moving & Saving Money outside the Rand!

Mortymoose

Mortymoose

Honorary Master
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In the Namibian desert...
The Rand, she busy going lappa side....

I watch in amazement how the rand is losing value against 1st world currencies at a rapid rate....

Thinking to meself, at this rate, the rand will be at R15 to a yankee dollar in about 18 months or so...

Can I open a bank account in yon first world country?

What would be the best way to transfer my ill gotten gains into this account...


In essence I just want to have a lump sum sitting on the outside, knowing that if it all goes south like a mini Zim or Angola did back in the day, that I would not be dumping my lorry in a lorry and leaving with only a suitcase in my hand....
 
If you're in Namibia, why is this government/Rand affecting you? (serious question, don't know much about Namibia)
 
envo said:
If you're in Namibia, why is this government/Rand affecting you? (serious question, don't know much about Namibia)
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Please correct me if I'm wrong, but as far as I know the Namibian dollar is linked to the South African rand in a 1:1 ratio. Therefore the instability in the rand causes instability in the Namibian dollar.
 
AntennaMan said:
Please correct me if I'm wrong, but as far as I know the Namibian dollar is linked to the South African rand in a 1:1 ratio. Therefore the instability in the rand causes instability in the Namibian dollar.
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The Common Monetary Area (CMA) links South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland into a monetary union. It is allied to the Southern African Customs Union (SACU). Namibia automatically became a member upon independence, but withdrew with the introduction of the Namibia dollar in 1993. Namibia has chosen not to pursue its own flexible exchange rate policy, and the Namibia dollar is at par with the South African rand and there is no immediate prospect of change. The same is true with the lilangeni of Swaziland and the loti of Lesotho. The rand continues to circulate freely in these countries. Foreign exchange regulations and monetary policy throughout the CMA continue to reflect the influence of the South African Reserve Bank.
Of the SACU members, only Botswana is currently out of the CMA, having replaced the rand with the pula in 1976.
The CMA, enacted in July 1986,[1] originated from the Rand Monetary Area (RMA), which was established in December 1974;[2] the signatories of the latter were South Africa, Lesotho, and Swaziland.[3] The CMA has since been replaced by the present Multilateral Monetary Area (MMA) as of February 1992, when Namibia formally joined the monetary union.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_Monetary_Area
 
You can check MCB currency account (minimum 1000$ I think) or Standard Bank offshore (minimum 4000$). Both also have accounts in USD and pounds.

You also have Lloyds TSB and Barclays but they ask higher thresholds if I remember well.

The account opening in done by DHL and takes less than 10 days.

If you take SBOFF, send me a MP, I can sponsor you and we both get 50 pounds.

http://international.standardbank.com/personal/optimum/
http://www.mcb.mu/en/individual/everyday-banking/foreign-currency-account
 
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Thanks for all the advice, The NamDollar is linked to the Zuma Rand at 1:1 , in fact we use both currencies as legal tender up here.

I am one of the few chipmunks up here advocating for breaking away from the ZAR once we are self sufficient in our energy needs.

Pardon my ignorance in banking matters, but if things went for a loop in South Africa and my money was in a Standard bank offshore account, how would I be able to access my money when I arrive in Glasgow with a suitcase in my hand? Surely you would want your Offshore bank to have no links with the burning motherland....

"Oh! Sorry sir, we cannot give you your money, as Standard Bank Head Office in downtown Johannesburg has just been burnt to the ground by raging mobs of red beret nationalists......"

:confused:
 
Mortymoose said:
Pardon my ignorance in banking matters, but if things went for a loop in South Africa and my money was in a Standard bank offshore account, how would I be able to access my money when I arrive in Glasgow with a suitcase in my hand? Surely you would want your Offshore bank to have no links with the burning motherland....

"Oh! Sorry sir, we cannot give you your money, as Standard Bank Head Office in downtown Johannesburg has just been burnt to the ground by raging mobs of red beret nationalists......"

:confused:
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They are technically a different bank with an Isle of Man banking licence, so your assets are covered by the Isle of Man's Depositors’ Compensation Scheme guarantees and not by SA's one. The accounts between the SA and the UK and Isle of Man branches are separated and protected by different government protection schemes.

They just belong to a South African holding, as Nedbank belongs to Old Mutual for example. This does not presume of the guarantees behind which are different for each country of operation.

You are covered up to (http://www.gov.im/fsc/dcsguidance.xml#5):
Deposits in the name of individuals?
The maximum cover is £50,000 per person per bank, for claims against banks declared in default from 23 October 2010. If you hold less than £50,000 on deposit you are protected to the amount you have on deposit. Explanations of how the limits and compensation work are shown below for different scenarios. Further information is also provided in the section on eligibility.
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And SB is indeed licensed as a local bank http://www.gov.im/fsc/licenceholder...text=&selection=Deposit+Taking&submit1=Submit
 
donner but the account fees are eye watering. just to confirm if you keep over the minimum, there are no quarterly charges?
 
How about investing in a foreign currency offshore funds?
That way you can hedge against a devaluing local currency while still having your money growing in an investment.
Just need to watch out for the fees ...
 
I wanted to do this but was in no mood for all the paperwork. I trade on various platforms abroad, so I just do a mock purchase into one of my accounts and leave the cash in there - ie, on my statements it shows as a purchase, but all I really did was move money offshore.

Should I need access to that money I just request it and it appears as a refund on my statement.
 
akescpt said:
donner but the account fees are eye watering. just to confirm if you keep over the minimum, there are no quarterly charges?
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Exact, if you keep the minimum balance in the account, there's 0 fee.

Also, they're incredibly efficient compared to SA banks, when I lost my card, I got a new one within the week by DHL for free.
 
MCB is really cheap on the other side (10$ + VAT per year). The disadvantage is that it's pure savings and they have no debit cards in currency.
 
I invest locally with Allan Gray and am now looking at ORBIS GLOBAL EQUITY FUND with them. Basically to get some offshore exposure but also as a hedge against the rand. Is see you deposit inot City Bank in NY. The question I have is should you want to with draw funds later can you with draw into a different bank account you own say in UK or Aus? Its no use to me if you are forced to bring the money back to SA and the rand has really bombed..........
 
YingYang said:
I wanted to do this but was in no mood for all the paperwork. I trade on various platforms abroad, so I just do a mock purchase into one of my accounts and leave the cash in there - ie, on my statements it shows as a purchase, but all I really did was move money offshore.

Should I need access to that money I just request it and it appears as a refund on my statement.
Click to expand...

dude we need to chat sometime...
 
Buy Krugerrands. Not with your bank or whatever clever option you are offered. Buy a Krugerrand and keep it with you. They are easy to conceal
 
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