advice on transferring SGD to AUD

[need financial help]

Just needing some advice please......

I have a sum of money in Singapore that I want to transfer back to Australia.  I've been waiting for a few months, however it seems the strength of the AUD isn't waivering......  Therefore, do I just send the money back now or should I wait to see what happends with the AUD...........  The rate as it stands doesn't seem to be in my favour with transferring the money, however if is foreseen to stay like this for sometime then perhaps I should just do it....

I do not work in the Financial Sector so I'm fairly clueless really.  Any advice would be grately appreciated....

[TT to oz]

Just needing some advice please......

I have a sum of money in Singapore that I want to transfer back to Australia.  I've been waiting for a few months, however it seems the strength of the AUD isn't waivering......  Therefore, do I just send the money back now or should I wait to see what happends with the AUD...........  The rate as it stands doesn't seem to be in my favour with transferring the money, however if is foreseen to stay like this for sometime then perhaps I should just do it....

I do not work in the Financial Sector so I'm fairly clueless really.  Any advice would be grately appreciated....

Go to your local bank and ask them about telegraphic transfer. The counter staff should be able to guide you, usually takes 3-4 days and the cost is normally maybe 50-100 dollars.

[boy boy]

Please don't feel bad about being clueless. Vulcanl is also clueless and he is in the financial industry.

[Same boat]

Just needing some advice please......

I have a sum of money in Singapore that I want to transfer back to Australia.  I've been waiting for a few months, however it seems the strength of the AUD isn't waivering......  Therefore, do I just send the money back now or should I wait to see what happends with the AUD...........  The rate as it stands doesn't seem to be in my favour with transferring the money, however if is foreseen to stay like this for sometime then perhaps I should just do it....

I do not work in the Financial Sector so I'm fairly clueless really.  Any advice would be grately appreciated....

I'm in exactly the same position as you. Missed the boat when it was 1.14 a few months back. At present I'm holding out, based on MAS' recently announced policy to allow the SGD to gradually appreciate. 

I'd really like to hear Kubes' take on this.

[Kubes.SG]

Well, actions speak louder than words.  I have been shifting AU$9,990 back to AU every 3-4 days since August.  Can now do it online, so don't need to wait 1 hr in the damn bank.   Any transactions at or above AU$10k need to be reported to the Dept of Finance/Aust Tax Office by the Financial Institutions.

My rational is that I canget 6% interest in Aust now, or offset against some investment debt we have there.  AUD is now at parity with the USD for the first time since 1983.  Some experts areforecasting AUD could rise to USD1:20 over the next 6 months if the current economic fundamentals don't change.   

My view is that the AUD should rise against the SGD over the coming few quarters at least.  SGD traditionally trades in the range of !.20-1.30 AUD, so we are in the high side of that range now.   What could change that is China hitting the wall (possible),   Singapore raising interest rates to >5% (should be done, but they don't have the balls to do it).

Your decision comes down to how much AUD you have, and how urgently you need it in Australia, and why.  Only you can know what is most important for you.

[TheWrathOfGrapes]

Well, actions speak louder than words.  I have been shifting AU$9,990 back to AU every 3-4 days since August.  Can now do it online, so don't need to wait 1 hr in the damn bank.   Any transactions at or above AU$10k need to be reported to the Dept of Finance/Aust Tax Office by the Financial Institutions.

Just the sort of tactics those who need laundry services would employ. I am pretty sure that every $ that you earn off (not "from") Singapore is clean and legit, but the fact that you have frequent and numerous transactions just below 10k would raise red flags. If I were an officer in the AU bank in charge of AML or in DoF/ATO, your transactions will definitely merit STRs.

[OP]

Thanks for your responses everyone.  They are helpful and I appreciate them.  Any other views welcome

[Agent007]

Singapore should not and will not rise interest rates to >5%

[Kubes.SG]

Just the sort of tactics those who need laundry services would employ. I am pretty sure that every $ that you earn off (not "from") Singapore is clean and legit, but the fact that you have frequent and numerous transactions just below 10k would raise red flags. If I were an officer in the AU bank in charge of AML or in DoF/ATO, your transactions will definitely merit STRs.

Grapes, great to see you scheming hard, desperately looking for any chance of funny business.  There is none, unfortunately for you.  Trouble is AU now has a socialist Govt, that has grossly overspent on unrequired stimulus funding and are now looking to steal every cent they can.  July last year they enacted double taxation laws (like the US's) targeting AU expats who have been out of AU for less than 2 years.  No discussion, no consultation, no warning.  I have been out of AU for a long time, but I don't trust these bastards to not target all AU expats and make it retrospective.  So I am not going to do anything illegal, but I am certainly not going to leave any trails either.  Nor should any sensible, honest Aussie working outside of AU.

Regarding the source of my income, about 0.1% of it comes from tiny little Singapore.  We base our HQ here, but our revenues are from across Asia.  So again, no ripping off of the locals by the Kubes household.

[Kubes.SG]

This might help explain desperation and silliness in the US.  No mention of the SGD, but it has strong links to the USD.


US economic fix: print money

US AUTHORITIES are boosting the Australian dollar by turning to the "disastrous" economic tactics deployed by Zimbabwean dictator Robert Mugabe, a finance expert says.
Mr Mugabe has printed so much money over such a long period that its national currency has become almost worthless, with hyper-inflation leading to a loaf of bread costing billions of Zimbabwean dollars.

The US Federal Reserve, the equivalent to the Reserve Bank, hinted last weekend it would pursue another round of "quantitative easing", effectively printing more money, in an effort to stimulate its economy and reduce the likelihood of deflation, said Peter Swan, a finance professor from the Australian School of Business, University of New South Wales.
 
The hints by the US Fed that it would print more money, together with the strength of the Australian economy, has led to an unprecedented rise in the Australian dollar this year.
Last week, the dollar briefly touched parity with the greenback, for the first time since the currency was floated in 1983. At midday (AEDT) today, the dollar was trading at US98.75c, down from Friday's close of US99.28c.

Since the Global Financial Crisis, the US has failed to boost its economy using the traditional tools of monetary and fiscal policy, Professor Swan said.

"The US Federal Reserve has lowered interest rates to close to zero again, as it did in the lead up to the Sub-Prime Crisis (forerunner of GFC)," he said.

"(And) the US Government has tried to use stimulus spending to boost the economy.
"This transferred bad debts from the private to the public sector and has led to the US Government's record $US1.3 trillion budget deficit.

"But this stimulus didn't work and US unemployment still rose to a very high rates of about 10 per cent and there is still the prospect of a double-dip recession there."

Plan C: print money

And with nowhere to go on interest rates to spur a recovery, the US Federal Reserve is now looking to another round of quantitative easing, where the central bank buys up US treasuries, or government debt, to increase the supply of money in the economy.
"Basically they want to stimulate their economy by driving down the value of the US dollar," Professor Swan said.

"This will make American exports cheaper and their imports dearer. The hope of this very misguided policy is to create more jobs.

"One way to do this is to reduce the purchasing power of money, to essentially print a lot more money and make the US dollar much less valuable.

"One consequence of doing this, and one desired consequence of doing this, is to make investors around the world want to hold fewer US dollars."

"They want to do a mild version of what (Mr) Mugabe did."

Other countries, such as Japan and the UK are also trying similar ploys.

"I think this is a disastrous policy," Professor Swan said.

"Regulators have been trying for 80 years, since we went off the gold standard, to maintain the purchasing power of the US dollar and avoid high inflation by acting responsibly to protect the currency.

"They can't lower interest rates much more, but they can flood the market with US dollars.
"One economy such as Australia which was never really seriously affected by the GFC is a beneficiary of these very strange policies as it is putting downward pressure on prices of imports and hence inflation."

Read more: http://www.news.com.au/business/us-economic-fix-print-money/story-e6frfm1i-1225940206587#ixzz12igohwUj

[Vulcanl]

Kubes,

Good to see you are finally getting some wisdom as to what's going on with the USD.  As you know I have been on top of this for ages now:

http://www.expatsingapore.com/forum/index.php/topic,7396.60.html

Next time just ASK 

[TheWrathOfGrapes]

Just the sort of tactics those who need laundry services would employ. I am pretty sure that every $ that you earn off (not "from") Singapore is clean and legit, but the fact that you have frequent and numerous transactions just below 10k would raise red flags. If I were an officer in the AU bank in charge of AML or in DoF/ATO, your transactions will definitely merit STRs.

Grapes, great to see you scheming hard, desperately looking for any chance of funny business.  There is none, unfortunately for you. 

Kubes, as usual, your grade school English fails you. Read what I wrote.  Which part of

I am pretty sure that every $ that you earn off (not "from") Singapore is clean and legit

do you not understand?

[Kubes.SG]

Grapes.  I know what you wrote.  Just pointing out that even though I am squeaky clean as you understand (even though you would be suspicious if a Govt official), I don't trust AU's socialist Govt to not try and steal my legitimate and after tax earnings, so I am not going to tempt them by waving it in their faces.  Also wanted to point out that virtually non of our income derives from activities in SG.

[TheWrathOfGrapes]

Kubes, I am looking at this from an AML/CFT angle. Those with loads of dirty cash will do exactly as what you have done - break it down into chunks just below the reportable threshold. And I am saying that the guy sitting at the AU bank or DoF/ATO is either dumb or not doing his/her job, but following strictly by the book. Below $10k cash - okay. Above $10k cash - report. He should also look at the frequencies of such transaction.  If, like you, someone banks in $9990 every 3-4 days, that would be $80k or $90k cash a month. If I am in charge of AML in that AU bank, I will raise the red flag.

[Agent007]

Kubes. 6%. WTF. Just shows how effing dumb you are.