Job Discussion Forums

canuck · Joined: 11 May 2003 Posts: 1921 Location: Japan

Lloyds TSB TTS rates for Thursday, November 11, 2004

USD 107.83
GBP 200.02
CAD 90.89
AUD 83.14
NZD 75.02
EUR 139.18

Americans are loving it. The rest of us, if you send money back to your home country, have noticed that the exchange rate sucks. A few of my friends are deciding to head back to Canada. For them, it's not worth it anymore financially or that the financial gain here doesn't offset being away from family and friends.

At what mark will you bolt? Or do you just accept it as a pay decrease and just keep on keeping on? 90.89 is absurd. I remember when it was in the low to mid 70s just a couple years ago.

Chris12 · Joined: 25 May 2004 Posts: 98

I am in Japan because I love the culture, the people and my lifestyle here. I feel sorry for anyone here only for the money. If you are here only for the money then you should leave go back right away!
Life is short the years go by faster and faster! Money is important but you can't take it with you! Enjoy life before you are too old to enjoy living!

canuck · Joined: 11 May 2003 Posts: 1921 Location: Japan

rossiter joe · Joined: 28 Jan 2004 Posts: 25 Location: Gunma, Japan

When I first came to Japan in 1998 the Canadian dollar was worth 100 yen.

canuck · Joined: 11 May 2003 Posts: 1921 Location: Japan

Quite a paycut now for Canadians.

Mike L. · Joined: 28 Feb 2003 Posts: 519

canuck · Joined: 11 May 2003 Posts: 1921 Location: Japan

David W · Joined: 17 Jan 2003 Posts: 457 Location: Japan

Psssst- exchange rates Wink

Glenski · Joined: 15 Jan 2003 Posts: 12844 Location: Hokkaido, JAPAN

Thank you, David W. I was going to say something similar.

Americans may get a good exchange rate in Japan, but the bank interest rates suck (0.01%).

Gordon · Joined: 28 Jan 2003 Posts: 5309 Location: Japan

The exchange rates are quite painful. It was 76 to the Cdn dollar when I signed my first contract here (July 2002).

JimDunlop2 · Joined: 31 Jan 2003 Posts: 2286 Location: Japan

I don't suppose I would benefit any exchange-rate-wise if I transferred my money from yen into USD instead? I have a USD account with Royal... And then transfer the money into my Canadian account?

/just wonderin'

P.S. I dunno what the USD/CDD rate is right now anyway...

Gordon · Joined: 28 Jan 2003 Posts: 5309 Location: Japan

Jim,
You lose money every time you exchange it, probably 2% or more. It would not be a wise move.

Now if you think the US dollar will go up in the near future, then you could buy US dollars as a future investment. Personally I think the US dollar will continue to plummet some more.

I have an ING Direct account in Canada and I periodically transfer money into that and get 2.25% interest. Not great, but better than .01% in Japan. Most of my money, however, is going to Oz for tuition fees.

Mike L. · Joined: 28 Feb 2003 Posts: 519

[quote]Personally I think the US dollar will continue to plummet some more. [/quote]

I'll second this advice and add that we could be looking at something of a "tank" too.

It's a confusing time to make money managment decisions that's for sure!

guest of Japan · Joined: 28 Feb 2003 Posts: 1601 Location: Japan

It's about time some of you took the beating us USians have taken in recent years. When I came to Japan in 2000 the exchange rate was well below 100. It quickly jumped up to about 115 and I remember my colleague complaining quite a lot. Last year it was over 130 for most the year. It was killing me to make my college loans.

Expect to see more of the weak dollar. We'd have gotten it sooner if Japan and China didn't sink so much money into it to keep it propped up.

Billy Chaka · Joined: 20 Oct 2003 Posts: 77

It seems from everybody's responses that everyone is keeping all their money in yen and exchanging it to their home currency all at one time. I can't really blame you for doing this, because I did the same thing in the past. However, I realize now that this was unwise. It's been proven mathematically (don't ask me for my sources, I don't remember them) that the best approach is to exchange your money little by little as you make it, not letting the current exchange rate have any affect, since absolutely nobody can predict where it's going to go anyway. I realize that this advice isn't much good to people who have kept all their money in yen, but perhaps it will be helpful to somebody just starting out.