To all the Aussies - AUD predicted to go even higher

[justginger]

I find it all very interesting too, AJ, as this year has been the first I''ve really researched investing. Wish I would have just jumped on something (ANYTHING) in about March, but such is life. You always miss the bottom. I also hadn''t heard of what Phoenix mentioned -- if I weren''t returning to the US this week, it would be something I would seriously look into. As it is, I plan on transferring a bulk amount of money to my mom''s US account, use some for expenses while there, and either a) use the rest for a down payment on a rental property or b) bring the rest back in USD and wait for the exchange rate to become favorable again.

With the AUD as it is, I think I''ll need a third suitcase to bring back! I already planned on having two for me

, but now everyone here is ordering stuff from Amazon and the like, and taking advantage of the "free Ginger shipping"!

 

[arjunajane]

Date: 10/18/2009 7:06:57 PM
Author: diamond girl 63
I bank with the ANZ & they provide the option of registering for international banking on-line, so that you can use this for pay anyone. Don''t know if your bank has something similar. Also I recently checked all options for an international purchase & found the draft cheaper than paypal, but ended up going with paypal for the convenience factor.


Good luck

thanks diamond girl!

 

[arjunajane]

Date: 10/18/2009 10:14:18 PM
Author: justginger
I find it all very interesting too, AJ, as this year has been the first I''ve really researched investing. Wish I would have just jumped on something (ANYTHING) in about March, but such is life. You always miss the bottom. I also hadn''t heard of what Phoenix mentioned -- if I weren''t returning to the US this week, it would be something I would seriously look into. As it is, I plan on transferring a bulk amount of money to my mom''s US account, use some for expenses while there, and either a) use the rest for a down payment on a rental property or b) bring the rest back in USD and wait for the exchange rate to become favorable again.


With the AUD as it is, I think I''ll need a third suitcase to bring back! I already planned on having two for me

, but now everyone here is ordering stuff from Amazon and the like, and taking advantage of the ''free Ginger shipping''!

Hey JG,
thanks for also sharing your investment plans/thoughts. Lol at your friends and their o/s shopping requests - you should charge a fee, ha!

So I signed up with Ozforex btw - their service is very good, I had my "designated dealer" emailing and calling me next day after signing up, and she is very efficient.
She has adjusted it to allow me to do transactions below $1500USD, so I can use it for pretty much whatever now.
(I just thought I would post that update, in case anyone else was put off by that info before.)

Unfortunately, the rate is looking pretty volatile - I think once/if it goes back to 92c or above, I will finalize my transaction.
Wouldn''t want to wake up and see it at 80c! lol..

I also like how Ozforex send you emails on currency forecasts etc - it''s a useful service, thankyou for recommending it!

 

[katebar]

I signed up today too AJ

 

[arjunajane]

Date: 10/19/2009 4:23:24 AM
Author: katebar
I signed up today too AJ

cool!
Look out though, more excuse to buy stuff now - as if we needed it, lol!

 

[Phoenix]

AJ,

Yes, you've got it perfectly right there!

It's so funny because since Nick Leeson and Barings, a lot of/ most (?) people seem to think that all derivatives are risky. But the fact is, they're not *all* risky. You can actually use them to hedge your investments to make yr porfolio as a whole less risky and/ or make modest gains (as mentioned, the options Iv'e been planning to buy - the most I could lose is the money spent on buying the options, no more. The risk is not unlimited). Because of the common perception that derivatives are all risky, it's quite hard to buy options - even those relatively straight forward ones like the calls and puts I've mentioned - esp. in Singapore since the financial environment there is strictly regulated by MAS).

Yes, you're also right that you can buy calls and puts on stocks as well as on currencies. I'm also planning to do this with some stocks too, as the gains (though modest in dollar terms) are dis-proportionately higher than the amt spent to purchase the options. And you don't need to spend a huge amount of money like you would with straight forward stocks in order to make fairly decent gains.

However, these are not without some risks. We only buy options with money that we could "afford" (for lack of a better word) to lose, ie. not emergency fund money, not money set aside to buy a property for instance.

I also agree that properties are safer, in the LT. After all, you can't lose all of your money completely, as you would with stocks or options, because the properties will always be there. A house or an aprt can't disappear! Unfortunately, at the moment, in SG, HK and China though, as you may already know, prices are just ridiculous!! They're also very volatile, so are not recommended for the faint-hearted. For eg., a 4-bedroom condo, about 3,500 sqft, in an older complex in the area that our house is in, was sold in May for SD3.2m and we enquired abt it last week (as we're looking to buy another ppt there). You know how much they're asking for such a place? SD4.9m!!! And there was already an offer for SD4.3m which was rejected!!

Lucky we bought our house much earlier. I don't think we could get into this market now.

The lure of bling is HUGE, but at the end of the day, I'd prefer have more money the bank. As much as I love my bling (and you know I do

), I'd rather that we have a nice comfortable retirement than spend all our spare cash on bling!! Wow, I can't believe I've just said that, LOL!!

 

[Dancing Fire]

Date: 10/19/2009 4:50:40 AM
Author: Phoenix

I also agree that properties are safer, in the LT. After all, you can''t lose all of your money completely, as you would with stocks or options, because the properties will always be there. A house or an aprt can''t disappear! Unfortunately, at the moment, in SG, HK and China though, as you may already know, prices are just ridiculous!! They''re also very volatile, so are not recommended for the faint-hearted. For eg., a 4-bedroom condo, about 3,500 sqft, in an older complex in the area that our house is in, was sold in May for SD3.2m and we enquired abt it last week (as we''re looking to buy another ppt there). You know how much they''re asking for such a place? SD4.9m!!! And there was already an offer for SD4.3m which was rejected!!

Lucky we bought our house much earlier. I don''t think we could get into this market now.

The lure of bling is HUGE, but at the end of the day, I''d prefer have more money the bank. As much as I love my bling (and you know I do

), I''d rather that we have a nice comfortable retirement than spend all our spare cash on bling!! Wow, I can''t believe I''ve just said that, LOL!!

true,but it can be worth 50% less too compared to the peak of the housing bubble 4 yrs ago here in parts of Ca. soooo...all depends on when you get in.

 

[justginger]

92.8 right now, AJ.

I love waking up in the morning to a higher exchange rate.

Sick, I know.

 

[Phoenix]

Date: 10/19/2009 2:53:47 PM
Author: Dancing Fire

Date: 10/19/2009 4:50:40 AM
Author: Phoenix

I also agree that properties are safer, in the LT. After all, you can't lose all of your money completely, as you would with stocks or options, because the properties will always be there. A house or an aprt can't disappear! Unfortunately, at the moment, in SG, HK and China though, as you may already know, prices are just ridiculous!! They're also very volatile, so are not recommended for the faint-hearted. For eg., a 4-bedroom condo, about 3,500 sqft, in an older complex in the area that our house is in, was sold in May for SD3.2m and we enquired abt it last week (as we're looking to buy another ppt there). You know how much they're asking for such a place? SD4.9m!!! And there was already an offer for SD4.3m which was rejected!!

Lucky we bought our house much earlier. I don't think we could get into this market now.

The lure of bling is HUGE, but at the end of the day, I'd prefer have more money the bank. As much as I love my bling (and you know I do

), I'd rather that we have a nice comfortable retirement than spend all our spare cash on bling!! Wow, I can't believe I've just said that, LOL!!

true,but it can be worth 50% less too compared to the peak of the housing bubble 4 yrs ago here in parts of Ca. soooo...all depends on when you get in.

Agreed, DF. I stated in JG's investment thread the importance of getting in at the right time ("right" is defined as close to the low's as possible) and I should have stated so here too. However, the point I was trying to make above is the relative riskiness of these different types of investments. I've yet to see properties sinking to almost zero (some shares) or actually to zero (options for instance that can expire worthless). But of course, you can lose all of your downpayment/ deposit and end up owing the bank money too if you're unfortunate/ foolish enough (whichever view you take) to buy a property during a bubble, as indeed has been the case for so many property owners in the US and other parts of the world during the recent recession.

 

[Dancing Fire]

Phoenix
there were two big opportunity to buy cheap properties in HK...

#1-back in the mid 80''s when China first announced HK will soon be under their control property owners got so nervous they started to dump properties at fire sale prices fearing a communist take over.

#2-and when SARS hit HK in 2005.

 

[arjunajane]

Date: 10/19/2009 4:50:40 AM
Author: Phoenix
AJ,

Yes, you''ve got it perfectly right there!

It''s so funny because since Nick Leeson and Barings, a lot of/ most (?) people seem to think that all derivatives are risky. But the fact is, they''re not *all* risky. You can actually use them to hedge your investments to make yr porfolio as a whole less risky and/ or make modest gains (as mentioned, the options Iv''e been planning to buy - the most I could lose is the money spent on buying the options, no more. The risk is not unlimited). Because of the common perception that derivatives are all risky, it''s quite hard to buy options - even those relatively straight forward ones like the calls and puts I''ve mentioned - esp. in Singapore since the financial environment there is strictly regulated by MAS).

Yes, you''re also right that you can buy calls and puts on stocks as well as on currencies. I''m also planning to do this with some stocks too, as the gains (though modest in dollar terms) are dis-proportionately higher than the amt spent to purchase the options. And you don''t need to spend a huge amount of money like you would with straight forward stocks in order to make fairly decent gains.

However, these are not without some risks. We only buy options with money that we could ''afford'' (for lack of a better word) to lose, ie. not emergency fund money, not money set aside to buy a property for instance.

I also agree that properties are safer, in the LT. After all, you can''t lose all of your money completely, as you would with stocks or options, because the properties will always be there. A house or an aprt can''t disappear! Unfortunately, at the moment, in SG, HK and China though, as you may already know, prices are just ridiculous!! They''re also very volatile, so are not recommended for the faint-hearted. For eg., a 4-bedroom condo, about 3,500 sqft, in an older complex in the area that our house is in, was sold in May for SD3.2m and we enquired abt it last week (as we''re looking to buy another ppt there). You know how much they''re asking for such a place? SD4.9m!!! And there was already an offer for SD4.3m which was rejected!!

Lucky we bought our house much earlier. I don''t think we could get into this market now.

The lure of bling is HUGE, but at the end of the day, I''d prefer have more money the bank. As much as I love my bling (and you know I do

), I''d rather that we have a nice comfortable retirement than spend all our spare cash on bling!! Wow, I can''t believe I''ve just said that, LOL!!

Hi again Phoenix,
again, great advice and insight thankyou. It''s easier I find speaking to people like yourself and learning from your real life ups and downs, than speaking to an FP - and there''s also not as much use of jargon that goes over my head, ha!

I can relate to the crazy property pricing thing - Just Ginger and I live in the same city. And although the bubble has kinda burst now, the prices were just *stupid* for both buying and renting for a couple years there.
This is driven by the resources boom that periodically boosts our state, so all of the cashed up young people (say like 22 year olds earning 150k a year working on the mines), drive our property rates up exponentially, as they all come in from other parts of the country and often more money than they know what to do with

Luckily, Fi and I have been in our own place for around 4-5 years now so it didn''t effect us. But it did make the idea of buying an investment property prohibitively expensive

Thanks for the chat, I will continue following JG''s thread and keep all of this is mind