Financial Challenges Support Group
This community is for people who are struggling to meet financial obligations of any kind. Financial challenges include everything from the day-to-day challenges of making ends meet to managing credit card debt to bankruptcy. Get support from others who are going through similar obstacles on the road back to financial stability.
Since I moved to the UK I kind of felt "exposed." I had a majority of my money still sitting in America, so the cash I came with was it. I had no checking account or savings, no CC's - nothing.
I came here with $3,000 in cash - still have $1,500.
I started work the first week in February and now, the last week in March, I have a checking account with over 1,000 pounds ($1,300) for emergencies.
Now it is time, to start building on our home account - for food, rent, vacations and other things.
It is a load off my mind to see an account with some reserves in it.
Also got a hold of the company managing my 401K. I decided to leave it with my former employer. Doing this, I can withdraw it IF I need it without penalties. I'm over 55 - so I can do it. If I rolled it into an IRA I would have been penalized for any withdrawal before age 62.
So, once again, I have money working for me and not me working for money.
Now, if I can just maintain this simple style of living I will start drawing SS in four years and work part-time (16 hours or less). And relax into my golden years.
Wife and I have planned a day long journey traveling on a long boat up and down some English canals. Looking forward to it and watching everything coming back to life in springtime England...
I came here with $3,000 in cash - still have $1,500.
I started work the first week in February and now, the last week in March, I have a checking account with over 1,000 pounds ($1,300) for emergencies.
Now it is time, to start building on our home account - for food, rent, vacations and other things.
It is a load off my mind to see an account with some reserves in it.
Also got a hold of the company managing my 401K. I decided to leave it with my former employer. Doing this, I can withdraw it IF I need it without penalties. I'm over 55 - so I can do it. If I rolled it into an IRA I would have been penalized for any withdrawal before age 62.
So, once again, I have money working for me and not me working for money.
Now, if I can just maintain this simple style of living I will start drawing SS in four years and work part-time (16 hours or less). And relax into my golden years.
Wife and I have planned a day long journey traveling on a long boat up and down some English canals. Looking forward to it and watching everything coming back to life in springtime England...
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I invited Bill to have dinner with me last Sunday. He wasn't willing to drive 7 hours to mid Michigan and teased me with his beautiful ribs!!! So, of course I ate alone and had cedar salmon
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check out that smoke ring. It tasted really good. I smothered it with Maulls BBQ sauce which is Local to St. Louis and one of the best I ever had.....
Anyway, money hasn't been growing in the emergency fund account. It has started diversifying. Started putting 30% of every paycheck into a joint account for my wife and I. This one will be used to pay our rent, utilities, and basic living necessities like food for us.
Then we'll each keep whatever else we earn for whatever we want. It is kind of nice. The other night the wife wanted to treat me to dinner and a movie and she did! So, we actually get to enjoy money that we earn for our own whims and wishes.
Still being new to the country and really having no credit history here, I have to physically go to the bank to set things in motion.
Today though, I got set up for on-line banking. A major step for not having to visit the bank to do my business. Now I can just transfer funds from my personal account to our joint account from the luxury of our home.
Bank account interest rates are pretty low at the moment in the UK. Cash ISAs seem to be a little better and you still have access to the funds without financial penalty if you need it
The US Federal Reserve are trying to implement NEGATIVE INTEREST RATES. They're trying to punish those who are trying to save.
*Tinfoil Hats to the ready*
I'm giving my personal experience of UK banking for those that are from the US plus a suggestion about where best to save in the UK while retaining access to funds.
The bad part for an American (like myself) trying to bank anywhere outside America are the tax laws. Foreign banks have so much paperwork to do with it as well as myself. I don't blame any bank for not wanting to do business with an American... it is still very early for me with learning all these things. I've only been here for three months and right now I'm a little concerned with doing my tax returns with my UK income for USA tax laws.
The bad part is that I wasn't planning to work right away so I filed my USA taxes and then got a UK job. Doing research on that leaves me mentally exhausted.
Des, as far as negative interest rates - this isn't anything new or like Fish says not a conspiracy. No one right now uses banks to save money. I use it for emergency funds and daily living.
The European Central Bank does it, as well as Denmark, Sweden, Switzerland, and Japan.
It is kind of strange how negative you are about America, yet you freely take and use American money!!!
surely if you are earning in the UK you are subject to UK income tax - especially if you are on PAYE (Pay as you earn) which means national insurance and income tax is deducted from your wages at source.
Have you tried contacting the embassy to get advice?
alternatively there are US ex pat forums on the net where you could ask.
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/best-cash-isa
I just need to spend a full day or two looking at everything and writing it down and then ask the questions.
I only made 1,500 pounds for the tax year just ended and trying to find a way where I don't have to amend my USA return for such a small amount.
Sadly, I'll go through this again next year but in the opposite way. I will have one... just ONE American paycheck and the rest will be UK...
Got it confirmed tonight from a couple of different sources that as an ex-pat, I don't need to file my UK income for this year is under $4,000.
So, now it gives me a year to learn the rules. My best hope is a law being presented by Elizabeth Warren passes. It is a change in how taxes are filed for everyone - made simpler for residents and stop on non-residents.