What Is Happening With The Usd? Should I Start To Ask To Be Paid In Eur?

[nikkoid66]

Oups title wrong: read: "Should I start to ask to be paid in EUR"

USD is plunging again, lost about %10 of my income just because of that.... Should I switch business to be paid in EUR?

Edited April 10, 2011 by Lite Beer
Topic Title Edited.

[lovelomsak]

If you are in Thailand ask for Thai baht instead of american. If you would have been paid in Thaibaht a year ago think of how much you would have made in exchange rate of either american or euro.

[flying]

agree with lovelomsak

IMO

If you live in Thailand & your expenses are in THB then request that as pay

As for the USD yes not looking great now that it has found the trap door @ 75

But really does the Euro look much better? What do they have to look forward to?

[el jefe]

I agree with the above posters, but the question is why are you asking now? The dollar is still above its Sept/Oct/Nov lows.

If your expenses are all in Baht why would you want to get paid in dollars instead of pesos?

1 year chart

Edited April 10, 2011 by el jefe

[gregb]

I'll assume if the OP is being paid in USD right now, that means he is being paid/doing business offshore. It may be difficult in these circumstances to request payment in THB. I don't think many offshore companies hold THB accounts, or do any kind of hedging against the baht, and they may be loathe to agree to payment in those terms.

Although I do agree with everyone above that THB will probably hold its value better than either USD of EUR. As fiat currencies go, it is actually a pretty good one. Thailand's backwards banking culture has actually worked in favor of stability this time, as these "innovations" which are propelling the West to ruin at lightspeed are not present in Thailand. Inefficiency is actually a good thing during times of crisis. It allows room for improvement while everything else is in chaos.

The THB will eventually follow the rest down to its inherent value of zero, but I expect it to be a straggler rather than a trendsetter.

If you only have a choice of EUR vs. USD, then I would say its a crapshoot. They're both in a race to the bottom. Flip a coin. Neither economy is going to stave off collapse. Another currency you might want to consider is CAD. Canada is better positioned than either of the major Western economies, and you might have

better luck getting billing in that currency past an international company.

If you have complete flexibility, write your contract in terms of XAU. That will outperform everything.

[Naam]

agree with lovelomsak

IMO

If you live in Thailand & your expenses are in THB then request that as pay

As for the USD yes not looking great now that it has found the trap door @ 75

1. But really does the Euro look much better?

2. What do they have to look forward to?

1. yes, it does look better.

2. one looks at the fundamentals. apart from one or two problem "PIIGS" the overall situation can be handled because (as opposed to the U.S. of A.) the revenues exist to cover debt service.

evidence for my claim can be easily found by comparing the exchange rates EUR and USD vs. a dozen highfly currencies.

[farang000999]

difference between the euro and dollar is that the EU has austerity and is trying to fix the problems whereas the US is deliberately devaluing it's currency.

[jazzbo]

As attributed to Dr. Julian Simon in the NY Times 27 DEC 2010:

You can always make news with doomsday predictions, but you can usually make money betting against them.

[Naam]

But really does the Euro look much better?

[flying]

But really does the Euro look much better?

Yes no doubt about it in hindsight the Euro did in fact do better than the dollar VS THB

But at times the Euro lost a 15% during the year & the USD lost less than 10%

Yes the Euro is in a recovery swing as we write but overall fluctuations in the Euro vs THB were greater

But again my interpretation of the OP is he was looking ahead & asking to change now from Dollar to Euro

hence my next comment after the one you quoted in regards to "what does the Euro have to look forward to?"

It is in that area that if I were the OP I would think carefully. Lest he be switching just as the currencies also switch positions of strength...or both do even more poorly against the THB

As always just my opinion & each persons situation is unique to themselves.

EDIT: merging next post with charts into this one

Edited April 11, 2011 by flying

[flying]

...merged into previous post.....

Edited April 11, 2011 by flying

[Naam]

But at times the Euro lost a 15% during the year & the USD lost less than 10%

we should look at a more extended period (5-6 years). USD vs. THB -28.5%, EUR vs. THB -18.5%. but that is not really relevant. what counts are the fundamentals and as already mentioned the fundamentals for the EUR are much better because the ratio revenue/debt service U.S. / USD are deplorable. the often quoted ratio debt/gdp doesn't mean a flying fàrt. it's like pointing to an indebted company and comparing debt with turnover. well, turnover does not service debt. it takes surplus (aka profit) to service debt.

but then... our discussions are academic. the learned doom&gloomers are telling us that all fiat currencies will sooner or later reach their actual value which is ZERO and the only acceptable currency will be gold. handling will be quite easy. all cashiers in Winn Dixie, Tesco, Publix and Foodland will have scales and when they have finished scanning the goods we can expect announcements such as "that will be 17/64 ounce of 999 or 17.6/64 of 965. please submit your payment for purity testing."

p.s. mom&pop shops will sell Lao Khao and Sang Som against payment in banana bundles or IOUs drawn on packets of Marlboro.

[flying]

But at times the Euro lost a 15% during the year & the USD lost less than 10%

we should look at a more extended period (5-6 years). USD vs. THB -28.5%, EUR vs. THB -18.5%. but that is not really relevant. what counts are the fundamentals and as already mentioned the fundamentals for the EUR are much better because the ratio revenue/debt service U.S. / USD are deplorable. the often quoted ratio debt/gdp doesn't mean a flying fàrt. it's like pointing to an indebted company and comparing debt with turnover. well, turnover does not service debt. it takes surplus (aka profit) to service debt.

Again I would still respectfully disagree even on a 5 yr range

Looking at both & what they fluctuated...Since the OP is basically looking at fixing his pay to one or the other....

The Euro in a 5yr range fluctuated 26.87% ( between 53.4 & 39.05 THB) & the USD 23.37% (between 38.5 & 29.5 THB )

Now of course looking at these 5 year range one would probably say whats the use...for stability they both suck :lol:

[Naam]

...they both suck :lol:

what's wrong with sucking?

[flying]

...they both suck :lol:

what's wrong with sucking?

Nothing if ya got cookies

[chops]

If you're running an international business as I do, I think it's time to start moving out of the US Dollar.

The US government has no respect for anyone holding Dollars. I am losing money because of the inflation.

I have thought about charging clients in Euros, but I've always thought some might be put off by that. But I'm worried the US government won't stop with the money printing and I'll be forced to charge in Euros.

[connda]

Like most Americans on a fixed income, the pounding the dollar is taking is scaring the heck out of me. I understand that prior to 1997 the baht was pegged at 25B to $1. Also at this time, there were no monetary requirements for a visa extension based on marriage and a retirement visa extension required something like 250,000B. Then after the collapse of the baht in 1997 the value of the dollar skyrocketed and obviously the amount needed for retirement and spouse visas increased. Now that the US government and the Federal Reserved have decided to destroy the US dollar -- pensioners, retirees, and individuals who would like to live in Thailand may have to reassess their plans. If the dollar starts to float in the 20 - 25B to $1 range (or less), and the visa requirements remain at their current levels, this isn't going to be a very attractive place to retire to.

And what's with the baht / USD conversation rate that I see at the top of the page on the Thaivisa forum. I went to Bangkok Bank two days ago and you could buy baht at around 28.11B / $1. The price at the top of the page looks more like what the bank will sell USD for, although I think their spread was higher. My guess is that the Thai Banks (along with the rest of the world) don't want to be holding US Dollars. Can't blame them considering that the US is fabricating US Dollars out of thin air. Too bad individuals like me who have worked and saved all their lives, and have paid off all their debt in order to enjoy a relatively nice retirement are the ones getting totally screwed over by our government and the banking cartel. I guess I can just eat an iPad, right?

Good luck to my fellow US expat retirees. What are your plans after our government toasts the US Dollar?

[NovaBlue05]

I still have another 2 years before I seriously consider the move. I started crunching numbers a few years ago with respect to a budget scenario. I have always used 25/$$ as a "worst case" but now I am thinking 25 is a given and the only question is just how much lower it will go.

[flying]

And what's with the baht / USD conversation rate that I see at the top of the page on the Thaivisa forum. I went to Bangkok Bank two days ago and you could buy baht at around 28.11B / $1. The price at the top of the page looks more like what the bank will sell USD for, although I think their spread was higher.

The number you see at the top of the page is the TT rate for transferring in money

http://www.bangkokbank.com/Bangkok%20Bank/Web%20Services/Rates/Pages/FX_Rates.aspx