Money In Bank

[McGinty]

I am not very good at understanding the problems associated with the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers, so here's my situation and I hope somebody can put my mind at rest.

I have 800,000 baht in The Bank of Ayudhya which is for my retirement visa. I have a bit of money tucked away in The Nationwide B.S. in the UK and also my State Pension and Private Pensions are paid into the Nationwide which I use to live on here in Thailand.

I am relatively unconcerned about the Nationwide, but should I be worried about the money in The Bank of Ayudhya? It's not a lot of money to some, I know, but to me it is.

Can any financial wizard out there give me some advice?

Thanks

McGinty

[Tomissan]

I am not very good at understanding the problems associated with the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers, so here's my situation and I hope somebody can put my mind at rest.

I have 800,000 baht in The Bank of Ayudhya which is for my retirement visa. I have a bit of money tucked away in The Nationwide B.S. in the UK and also my State Pension and Private Pensions are paid into the Nationwide which I use to live on here in Thailand.

I am relatively unconcerned about the Nationwide, but should I be worried about the money in The Bank of Ayudhya? It's not a lot of money to some, I know, but to me it is.

Can any financial wizard out there give me some advice?

Thanks

McGinty

I'm no expert, being in a similar situation as you, I withdrew most of my funds and put it in a safe. If the banks lock the doors you can't get to your safe deposit box either. Depending on where you do your visa and if the officers are understanding if the funds haven't been in the account for 3 months due to the present global financial situation.....etc.....

Edited September 18, 2008 by Tomissan

[Penkoprod]

I am not very good at understanding the problems associated with the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers, so here's my situation and I hope somebody can put my mind at rest.

I have 800,000 baht in The Bank of Ayudhya which is for my retirement visa. I have a bit of money tucked away in The Nationwide B.S. in the UK and also my State Pension and Private Pensions are paid into the Nationwide which I use to live on here in Thailand.

I am relatively unconcerned about the Nationwide, but should I be worried about the money in The Bank of Ayudhya? It's not a lot of money to some, I know, but to me it is.

Can any financial wizard out there give me some advice?

Thanks

McGinty

When you think that HBOS was the biggest mortgage lender in the UK, then, to say you are relatively unconcerrned about The Nationwide is a folly IMO.

You would be best advised to make sure you have NO MORE than £35,000 in any one banking umbrella, and hope against hope none will be left to fall. There is a LOT more crap to hit the fan here in UK, so best to minimise any potential loss

Penkoprod

[Penkoprod]

Also, you say you have both State and private pensions, plus any interest from money in The Nationwide BS.

What you need to be asking yourself is why you havent got a letter from the UK embassy confirming your income from those, and using THAT towards your financial requirement for visa purposes. You could then reduce, or even do away with the need to have 800,000TBH in a Thai bank (which is earning you next to nothing interest wise) depending on the figures of said pensions/interest

Also, i cant understand people who live somewhere other than UK, but STILL pay UK tax on any interest. Move savings offshore and go "non domicile" and get 20% more by not paying tax on it. I would also look into getting pensions paid gross as well. You get nothing FROM the UK, so why pay INTO it?

Penkoprod

[McGinty]

Also, you say you have both State and private pensions, plus any interest from money in The Nationwide BS.

What you need to be asking yourself is why you havent got a letter from the UK embassy confirming your income from those, and using THAT towards your financial requirement for visa purposes. You could then reduce, or even do away with the need to have 800,000TBH in a Thai bank (which is earning you next to nothing interest wise) depending on the figures of said pensions/interest

Also, i cant understand people who live somewhere other than UK, but STILL pay UK tax on any interest. Move savings offshore and go "non domicile" and get 20% more by not paying tax on it. I would also look into getting pensions paid gross as well. You get nothing FROM the UK, so why pay INTO it?

Penkoprod

I had the 800,000 baht in the bank long before I became a pensioner and never got round to changing it - I think now is the time to do it. The tax paid on interest earned in the UK I claim back at the end of every tax year.

[simcity]

Perhaps I am wrong but I read in the Bangkok post few weeks ago, Bank‘s deposit in Thailand are secure.

Not sure about the amount but around:

2008 up to 10 millions

2009 up to 5 millions

2010 up to 2 millions

Start to worry after 2010

[Scott]

And there is probably some little rule somewhere that says: "EXCEPT FOR FOREIGNERS" !

[chiang mai]

I am not very good at understanding the problems associated with the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers, so here's my situation and I hope somebody can put my mind at rest.

I have 800,000 baht in The Bank of Ayudhya which is for my retirement visa. I have a bit of money tucked away in The Nationwide B.S. in the UK and also my State Pension and Private Pensions are paid into the Nationwide which I use to live on here in Thailand.

I am relatively unconcerned about the Nationwide, but should I be worried about the money in The Bank of Ayudhya? It's not a lot of money to some, I know, but to me it is.

Can any financial wizard out there give me some advice?

Thanks

McGinty

When you think that HBOS was the biggest mortgage lender in the UK, then, to say you are relatively unconcerrned about The Nationwide is a folly IMO.

You would be best advised to make sure you have NO MORE than £35,000 in any one banking umbrella, and hope against hope none will be left to fall. There is a LOT more crap to hit the fan here in UK, so best to minimise any potential loss

Penkoprod

The advice about putting a maximum of £35k into any single bank is sound in as much as it is the least possible risk option. However, I reckon that there are other options that are only marginally higher risk and that continue to make a lot of sense. Whereas the UK government was not prepared to see HBOS fail and have orchestrated a takeover they would feel similarly obliged in the case of Nationwide were it ever to be put in a similar but hugely unlikely position. Nationwide is not a bank thus its controls and funding requirements are vastly different from banks - it should be noted that two smaller Building Societies, Derbyshire and (the name just went) were taken over by Nationwide last week and that Nationwide has been the recipient of significant inflows of new capital as UK residents seek shelter from the financial turmoil. Much further down the risk scale of options is a decision to invest large sums in smaller less well known banks and financial institutions, in particular those who are advertising there weak positions by offering extremely high returns on savings. Actually, if I wanted to see which banks are candidates for failure I would only have to do a search of savings rates offered by offshore institutions and ring fence the top twenty percent or so - there is just no way that you would want to put more than £35k in any of them. For my part my money is in Northern Rock because it is 100% guaranteed, regardless of the amount and Nationwide because it is a B.S.

As for Bank of Ayudhya, the newly introduced deposit protection scheme should offer adequate protection.

[petejones]

yes these days your money above 35k or so isnt safe.

The best bet is to move it to an offshore haven. They have 90% protection on an uncapped amount. Use an offshore account. Its really not a good idea to have that amount of money idling in an account anyway...

[chiang mai]

yes these days your money above 35k or so isnt safe.

The best bet is to move it to an offshore haven. They have 90% protection on an uncapped amount. Use an offshore account. Its really not a good idea to have that amount of money idling in an account anyway...

I'm not sure which offshore locales you are referring to that might have 90% guarantees but they are not offshore UK. Isle of Man operates a scheme that guarantees about £22k or so and that I think is all there is anywhere, Jersey = none, Guernsey = none (or perhaps a small amount). Some banks used to offer deposit insurance but since Berkshire Hathaway got out of that market I don't know if there is anyone else who offers it.

[churchill]

if your money is invested in a unit trust are you better protected ?

[petejones]

Yes. I have an investment bond in Isle of Man that is 90% protected with no cap. So my money is much safer than in a bank.

Protection:

The Isle of Man is the only offshore finance centre providing compensation schemes in all three of the main areas of finance - namely deposits, funds and life policies.

Policyholder Protection in the Isle of Man is provided under the Life Assurance (Compensation of Policyholders) Regulations 1991, administered by the Isle of Man Government Insurance and Pensions Authority and offering protection broadly along the lines of the UK Policyholders Protection Act 1975. It can be summarised as follows:

• all holders of policies issued after April 5th, 1988 by Isle of Man insurance companies are protected;
  
• up to 90% of benefits under a policy are covered with no ceiling;
  
• potential Policyholders where policy documents have not yet been issued are covered;
  
• the Insurance and Pensions Authority is required to seek out protected Policyholders in the event that a company becomes unable to meet its liabilities and find ways of securing continuance of Policyholders’ benefits.
  

Edited September 18, 2008 by petejones

[churchill]

So if you want to keep your funds in cash - place in a cash unit trust rather than a bank at present .

[chiang mai]

Yes. I have an investment bond in Isle of Man that is 90% protected with no cap. So my money is much safer than in a bank.

Protection:

The Isle of Man is the only offshore finance centre providing compensation schemes in all three of the main areas of finance - namely deposits, funds and life policies.

Policyholder Protection in the Isle of Man is provided under the Life Assurance (Compensation of Policyholders) Regulations 1991, administered by the Isle of Man Government Insurance and Pensions Authority and offering protection broadly along the lines of the UK Policyholders Protection Act 1975. It can be summarised as follows:

• all holders of policies issued after April 5th, 1988 by Isle of Man insurance companies are protected;
  
• up to 90% of benefits under a policy are covered with no ceiling;
  
• potential Policyholders where policy documents have not yet been issued are covered;
  
• the Insurance and Pensions Authority is required to seek out protected Policyholders in the event that a company becomes unable to meet its liabilities and find ways of securing continuance of Policyholders’ benefits.
  

Ah, right! There's a lot of difference between owning cash that is protected under a deposit scheme and an instrument that guarantees return of 90% of the capital invested, not quite (or even remotely) the same thing!

[norrona]

And there is probably some little rule somewhere that says: "EXCEPT FOR FOREIGNERS" !

is there any truth to that does anyone know?

I have some rainy day money left in a Siam Commercial Bank account out there, less than 1 million baht...so am I covered?

Edited September 18, 2008 by norrona

[chiang mai]

And there is probably some little rule somewhere that says: "EXCEPT FOR FOREIGNERS" !

is there any truth to that does anyone know?

I have some rainy day money left in a Siam Commercial Bank account out there, less than 1 million baht...so am I covered?

I don't know but I seriously doubt there is any problem for foreigners - some chance the rules may differ between resident and non-resident accounts? Will check at HSBC Monday and confirm.

[norrona]

And there is probably some little rule somewhere that says: "EXCEPT FOR FOREIGNERS" !

is there any truth to that does anyone know?

I have some rainy day money left in a Siam Commercial Bank account out there, less than 1 million baht...so am I covered?

I don't know but I seriously doubt there is any problem for foreigners - some chance the rules may differ between resident and non-resident accounts? Will check at HSBC Monday and confirm.

many thanks, this money and account was all deposited when I was working in Thailand (legally) and paying taxes, if that counts for anything?

[simcity]

double post

Edited September 21, 2008 by simcity

[simcity]

And there is probably some little rule somewhere that says: "EXCEPT FOR FOREIGNERS" !

well perhaps, but i am not better where it is park from the last news ...

http://www.news.com.au/business/money/stor...5013952,00.html

How safe is your money?

Deposits in Australian banks are currently not guaranteed

[Chaimai]

And there is probably some little rule somewhere that says: "EXCEPT FOR FOREIGNERS" !

is there any truth to that does anyone know?

I have some rainy day money left in a Siam Commercial Bank account out there, less than 1 million baht...so am I covered?

I don't know but I seriously doubt there is any problem for foreigners - some chance the rules may differ between resident and non-resident accounts? Will check at HSBC Monday and confirm.

many thanks, this money and account was all deposited when I was working in Thailand (legally) and paying taxes, if that counts for anything?

The target amount for BoT guarantee cover is 1,000,000 Baht - see http://www.bot.or.th/English/FinancialInst..._Insurance.aspx

[philstone]

Yes. I have an investment bond in Isle of Man that is 90% protected with no cap. So my money is much safer than in a bank.

Protection:

The Isle of Man is the only offshore finance centre providing compensation schemes in all three of the main areas of finance - namely deposits, funds and life policies.

Policyholder Protection in the Isle of Man is provided under the Life Assurance (Compensation of Policyholders) Regulations 1991, administered by the Isle of Man Government Insurance and Pensions Authority and offering protection broadly along the lines of the UK Policyholders Protection Act 1975. It can be summarised as follows:

Now the Isle of Man is trusted. This is worst than any America Bank that has FDIC insurance. Laugh now but just wait when people ask back for their deposits.

• all holders of policies issued after April 5th, 1988 by Isle of Man insurance companies are protected;
  
• up to 90% of benefits under a policy are covered with no ceiling;
  
• potential Policyholders where policy documents have not yet been issued are covered;
  
• the Insurance and Pensions Authority is required to seek out protected Policyholders in the event that a company becomes unable to meet its liabilities and find ways of securing continuance of Policyholders' benefits.