Korean Job Discussion Forums

[alphalfa]

The current exchange rate [CAD$1+=1048KRW] is having a huge negative effect on my current bank savings here in Korea. When the rate was CAD$1 =1000KRW, there was little to worry about. Now that it's at around CAD$1+=1048KRW, I have lost approx CAD$4300 from my bank savings alone. Also, starting from 1048KRW for every 6KRW increase in the exchange rate I lose a further CAD$538 from my bank savings. This is the equilivant of about one week's pay here- a third of my monthly salary! I really don't want to think about the amount lost with a 12KRW increase in the exchange rate~[CAD$1075] from my current savings-
half a month's salary.

What effect is the rise in the exchange rate having on your pocketbook?

OUCH!

[marlow]

You've got over $100,000 here and you're making 2M per month?

Anyway, you should feel glad you haven't been here to see it go from 750-800 up to this 1050 nonsense. You'd be crapping your pants.

[I_Am_The_Kiwi]

But i assume if the market bounces back you will regain all that money will you not....or is the account holding CDN dollars in Korea.
Otherwise youve still got the same WON that you started with.

[Tobias]

The US government just took control of the Fannies, meaning the dollar will start to rise. More upward pressure will also be exerted by the US demonstrating to the world who is still the boss. Muscling into the Black Sea shows all that the US still has a backbone, so get ready to see the won go to about 1240-1250 within a few months. Since the '97 meltdown, it's averaged about 1180, so a law-of-averages correction is in order. And we'll soon see that correction.

Won at 1240 per Greenspanback by February, and at 1300 by next May.

[alphalfa]

Marlows reply..
______________________________________________________
You've got over $100,000 here and you're making 2M per month?

Anyway, you should feel glad you haven't been here to see it go from 750-800 up to this 1050 nonsense. You'd be crapping your pants.
_______________________________________________________


Alphalfa response...

No, I don't quite have $100,000 here. ~ $89,000+ and counting.
No, I'm not making 2M a month. I'm making 2.3M a month from PS and another ~500,000 extra each month. I've been here in Incheon for the past 8YRS!

yes, I crapped my pants. No time to go home and change- gotta class of middle school third graders to go to.

alphalfa

[Ut videam]

[KoreanAmbition]

alphalfa,

Don't you think you should have been sending that money back home instead of just saving it all here in Korea? I think that's a lot of risk you gave yourself which you are now feeling the pain of.

[Poemer]

Yeah, that is a lot of savings to have here in Korea. The past two or three years have been about as favorable for won -->dollar conversions as you'd ever be likely to see. I guess hindsight is always 20/20, but I would have sent a minimum of half that elsewhere.

If I'm not planning to spend it here, I don't keep it here unless I have to (like now, when the exchange rate is crap.)

[loose_ends]

In terms of having to pay taxes when he returns, his best bet is not to send that money home.

Having a bank account with money being transfered to it regularly in Canada is risky in terms of paying taxes if and when he returns. It is hard to prove Korea is your main domicile when you are sending all your savings home.

Also, large bank accounts get flagged.

He should have opened a foreign (ie, CDN$) account here in Korea and bought $'s when the rates were good.

[marlow]

[Tobias]

[quote="Ut videam"][quote="Tobias"]The US government just took control of the Fannies, meaning the dollar will start to rise. More upward pressure will also be exerted by the US demonstrating to the world who is still the boss. Muscling into the Black Sea shows all that the US still has a backbone, so get ready to see the won go to about 1240-1250 within a few months. Since the '97 meltdown, it's averaged about 1180, so a law-of-averages correction is in order. And we'll soon see that correction.

Won at 1240 per Greenspanback by February, and at 1300 by next May.[/quote]
The government takeover of Fannie and Freddie will help the won, not hurt it.

The Bank of Korea and Korean government hold a lot of their foreign currency reserves in the form of Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac bonds. Those bonds were looking worse and worse as their issuers teetered on the brink of insolvency. The takeover will reassure bond holders and prospective investors that their holdings are still valuable and convertible.

Also, if this is funded by the Fed pumping credit into the system (the modern-day equivalent of printing money), it's going to weaken the dollar, not strengthen it.

The won's already down below 1100 on this news. Keep it coming![/quote]

Three days is a little early to be thinking the won is on the rise. Give it a few months. But it is good you guys are watching the won's value every day.

If the won does head back into the 900-range, I'd definitely buy dollars and pay off some debt back home. I'm talking making 500-dollar-per-month payments on any student loan debt. Maybe even 1000 per. We all know it won't stay at a high value long. Or at least I hope we do.

[Ut videam]

Really wish I'd bought some bucks yesterday afternoon.

The Fannie/Freddie bailout bounce was extremely short-lived, with the won already back above 1100.

The mortgage giants' bailout may well have averted a currency crisis in Korea (and elsewhere in Asia), but looking at the fundamentals, the outlook for the won in the short term is still not that great. Their balance of payments is headed in the wrong direction, and their debt load is problematic.

Oil prices continue to fall, but the dollar has resumed its rise�no net gain for the won there.

On the whole, I agree with Tobias: the won's not going anywhere good in the short term. I'm really kicking myself for not getting in on yesterday's momentary 3% uptick.

[Tobias]

I quit worrying about those short-term gains. Watching the exchange rate daily'll drive you bonkers. And what will you do if it starts dropping in value? Cut class and make a run to the bank?

Oil prices are higher because the dollar is more valuable. Oil is bought in dollars (petro-dollars, actually) in most places, so its price is inversely related to the greenback's value. When the hurricane season is done, oil will return to below 100 a barrel.

The won is heading lower in value because its own BOP books are heading into the red. The dollar will increase, relatively speaking.

The US military helps prop up the dollar's value in times like these. Uncle Sam doesn't spend 400 billion a year on defense for nothing. Look for the dollar to increase.

France is getting rid of its 35-hour workweek. Could trouble be brewing in Euro-land? It could be. This may mean the dollar will increase, relatively speaking.

So. Anyone still wanna wager on the Won going UP in value the next few months?

Won at 1250 by February.

[alphalfa]

Background :

Her school is willing to pay W400,000 for the housing subsidy BUT she -the native teacher - has to pay W50,000 towards the housing fee as the monthly housing fee is W450,000.

Here's an update :

From her contract it says the following..

Article 12 #2 says If Employer is not able to provide housing for Employee, Employer shall provide Employee with 300 000 won per month as rent subsidy in lieu of the housing set forth in the forgoing.

She says..
Whether they may or may not afford, the contract does not support that so I cannot fight that. If there was something I could do, of course I would do it but I don't think there is.

Also, on a related issue...
"They make me come in 8:30 and leave 5:00pm."

This is her daily schedule. Normal for a technical high school? She works at a Technical high school.

thanks.