Question re: dollar slumping vs. euro

[progdonkey]

I'm not an economist by any means, and all of this talk of the dollar crashing has me extremely worried. My 9-month CD just matured yesterday, and I have seven days to take it out or have it reinvested. This weekend I'm going to Germany to begin studying German for three months (followed perhaps by full-time studying in Germany).

Now, should I have the bank issue me a cheque for the amount in the CD and deposit in a German bank in Euros when I'm there? I've seen it around that buying Euro-traded stocks, or something, is another option; how would I go about doing that?

Basically, I have $45,000 in savings that I don't want to disappear thanks to shrub. What do I do?

[whistle]

1. Hi progdonkey, say that's a nice nest egg which you have two options...

... 1) send me the a money order and I'll invest it for you or
2) contact a very honest broker or banker to give you the best advice on conversion timing to Euros or Duetch marks, because I believe that although the European Union is moving toward a single common currency, each country still has their own currency which may or may not be trading at par with the Euros.

However, the U.S. dollar is most definitely heading south against the Euro, so depending on how long you will be in Germany for your studies, it might be wise to convert soon. My sister and brother-in-law who live in Canada came to my daughter's wedding last month and have been staying with me for a little over six weeks. They just returned to Canada today. In the period they were with me they would have made 15 to 20 cents on their Canadian money had they just slapped everything on credit. But of course they were spending as they went along, but they also brought a minimum amount of U.S. cash with them to begin with converting periodically and bragging about the windfall they were making. Of course my grocery bill tripled during their stay with me (not a real problem though).

As for what Shrub is doing to the U.S. dollar, I think a lot of economists are just as baffled as the rest of us. Can you think of anything the Germans would want to buy from the U.S. that they just can't do without for another 6 to 12 months? I can't, so I think as long as the Germans keep producing great luxury automobiles and Bush keeps giving the wealthy in this country tax breaks, our trade balance will continue to be negative and our dollar value will keep dropping. The endless war concept is also a bad thing for the dollar, and of course Bush keeps hoping other countries will join into the self destruction idea, but so far, we remain a coalition of one. Is the ink on our money waterproof? It better be, because the dollar is being flushed down the toilet.

[amazona]

3. slight nitpick

because I believe that although the European Union is moving toward a single common currency, each country still has their own currency which may or may not be trading at par with the Euros.


UNless I'm sadly mistaken, Germany is one of the many nations in the EU which has converted to the euro and no longer has its own national currency.

[amazona]

2. the dollar has already crashed

The dollar is at a record low against the euro so it is a bit late to invest in euros. You are going to need them anyway if you are living in Germany but I think you just have to accept that your buying power is much, much less than if you had bought euros instead of a CD a couple of years ago. I just don't see anyway around it. If you think the dollar will keep falling, and you are going to be in Germany for awhile, buy more euros; if you think the dollar might strengthen in a reasonable period of time, buy less. Alas, none of us knows what the future will hold, but my spidey sense suggests that the dollar will not recover its former strength for quite some while.

[On the Road]

4. This is Not a Particularly Good Time to Change into Euros

Despite the warnings of a crash, it might be wise to keep your money parked here in dollars, if you can live in Germany without needing the money. Even if you have to borrow it might be worth it.

That's what I would do, but then my own investment record is checkered.

[Nite Owl]

5. You could try putting it

into a euro or some other currency cd. That could be short term too and would give you time to decide what to do. Try www.everbank.com
They have a lot of choices and someone there can advise you where is best right now. I have an account with them and they have been very good.

[Obamarama]

6. I had to wire transfer 36,000 Euros to Italy today.....

With the exchange rate of 1.3576 it ended up being about $45,000 USD. I wanted to puke.