Job Discussion Forums

[gloomyGumi]

My problem is I have no US account anymore, it was closed 2 years ago. All my savings is in Korean won here in a Korean bank. I think I can leave the money here after we leave Korea for a little while, while we find another place to settle down for a while.

If/when we settle in Turkey/open a bank account, can I transfer all my account into the Turkish account? Does anybody mind keeping all their savings in a Turkish bank in the form of Turkish lira? Is there any way to open an international or offshore account instead?

Im not sure how to go about getting my money from Korea to the next place, which is looking like it'll be Turkey. I wouldnt mind carrying the cash as Ive mentioned before, its not illegal to carry it as long as you declare it. But this would involve exchanging all my money in Korean won for US dollars (or some other big currency like Swiss Francs or Canadian dollars) and then exchanging them again for Turkish lira once I open the Turkish account. I would prefer holding all my money in another currency besides Turkish lira, maybe that is an unfounded concern. How do you think I should do it?

[coffeespoonman]

Personally, I keep all of my savings in Lira for two reasons:

1) There haven't been major overnight fluctuations in like 5 years - the Turkish Lira is now, I believe, a stable world currency. And more importantly...

2) The interest rates on savings accounts for Turkish Lira are 7.5 - 8%, compounded monthly. Basically, keeping my savings in Lira literally pays the bills - and then some!

Incidentally, a wire transfer or international bank transfer for your entire savings will be VERY expensive. How about something like PayPal? Would that work?

[billy orr]

If you want you can keep your money in just about any currency, dollars, pounds, swiss francs. If you have internet banking it is all incredibly easy to change back and forth. Sending to and from accounts abroad is easy too, but there are charges, of course.