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gabrie30
Joined: 12 Sep 2011
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 Posted: Thu Oct 13, 2011 11:06 am Post subject: Avoiding the high exchange rate after leaving Korea |
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My contact is ending at the end of October and the exchange rate, though improving, is still relatively high for US citizens. I believe the exchange rate will improve over the next 5-10 months and would like to take advantage of this. I wanted to share an idea I had and would appreciate any opinions or feedback.
I use KEB (easy1) to send money home and KB for personal banking.
I will receive my bonus, last months pay, etc. after I leave. Meaning I will have no control over what the exchange rate if they send this money in November, directly to my bank account back in the States. With the current exchange rate, I will be losing over 1k dollars, compared the the exchange rate 3 months ago.
My plan is to have my school deposit all of my pay into my KB account and when the exchange rate becomes more favorable, transfer it to my KEB account via online banking. The KEB easy1 will automatically wire it to my home bank.
I've contacted KB and KEB and both told me my accounts would stay open, even with an expired visa and alien registration card. But as we all know, important information sometimes gets lost in translation. Does anyone have first hand experience with this?
I have set up a KB online banking account, and plan to test the transfer feature soon.
Thanks for reading! |
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madoka
Joined: 27 Mar 2008
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| Posted: Thu Oct 13, 2011 12:07 pm Post subject: |
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Whenever I see posts asking about the exchange rate, I think of the saying, a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.
Fact of the matter is, there is no predicting future currency shifts and/or when you're going to NEED the money. IMHO, I think you should save yourself the hassle, time and worry of waiting around for the won to increase in value. Chasing losses is a bad idea in Vegas and it is the same with Korea. |
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gabrie30
Joined: 12 Sep 2011
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| Posted: Thu Oct 13, 2011 6:25 pm Post subject: |
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| madoka wrote: |
Whenever I see posts asking about the exchange rate, I think of the saying, a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.
Fact of the matter is, there is no predicting future currency shifts and/or when you're going to NEED the money. IMHO, I think you should save yourself the hassle, time and worry of waiting around for the won to increase in value. Chasing losses is a bad idea in Vegas and it is the same with Korea. |
I appreciate your reply and will take your advice into consideration. Do you have any experience dealing with Korean banks from home? |
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madoka
Joined: 27 Mar 2008
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| Posted: Thu Oct 13, 2011 6:39 pm Post subject: |
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| gabrie30 wrote: |
| Do you have any experience dealing with Korean banks from home? |
Yes, it's a giant pain the the rear. I use KEB which is the most foreigner friendly of Korean banks. I order to access your account, you need to install specialized security software on your computer. If you have any technical problems with this, you are going to face non-native English speaking customer service reps which is not fun. After several attempts, I just gave up on any hope of monitoring my Korean bank account. Heaven help me if I wanted to try to move the money in any way.
However to be fair, I only maintain a few thousand dollars in that account, so I wasn't very motivated to keep track of it. I only set it up to dump any leftover money from my trips to Korea. |
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Evanzinho
Joined: 10 Apr 2008
Location: California
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| Posted: Thu Oct 13, 2011 8:14 pm Post subject: Re: Avoiding the high exchange rate after leaving Korea |
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| gabrie30 wrote: |
My contact is ending at the end of October and the exchange rate, though improving, is still relatively high for US citizens. I believe the exchange rate will improve over the next 5-10 months and would like to take advantage of this. I wanted to share an idea I had and would appreciate any opinions or feedback.
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I used to think the same thing, always thinking the exchange rate was "going to improve" and waiting for the perfect time to send my money back. The fact of the matter is, the Korean won is a garbage currency that is pretty much useless outside of Korea. I really see no reason keeping won unless you absolutely have to. If it was like the Swiss Franc or Singapore dollar, that would be a different story.
May I ask what makes you think the won will strengthen in the next five to ten months? I mean, what are you basing this assumption on?
When it comes down to it, if there's a global double dip, then the dollar is just going to get stronger. Might as well just send it back now. I just checked at KEB today and they're giving 1173 to the USD for wire transfers. |
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methdxman
Joined: 14 Sep 2010
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| Posted: Thu Oct 13, 2011 9:16 pm Post subject: |
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| Look up currency hedge on google. Your bank has a lot of options for you including futures, options, etc. |
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akcrono
Joined: 11 Mar 2010
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| Posted: Fri Oct 14, 2011 12:52 am Post subject: |
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| methdxman wrote: |
| Look up currency hedge on google. Your bank has a lot of options for you including futures, options, etc. |
I'd like to know more about this. Google searches are showing some muddled results that seem more applicable for other investors. |
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