Best Worldwide Rates For Regular Savings?

TheJackal said:
! Hopefully you could find a bank in the euro zone to avoid the whole currency fluctuation issue ...
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????? all euro denominated bank accounts are based off the ECB interest rate.
You are talking about investing in foreign currency, there is no way to get avoid dealing with currency fluctuations.
 
TheJackal said:
There are always going to be cons! Hopefully you could find a bank in the euro zone to avoid the whole currency fluctuation issue but it's not the end of the world if not.

But do you accept my premise that there must be higher rates out there, and depending on the rate, how much you can lodge per yr, currency used, etc, such a foreign account would be worth investing in?

I'm surprised there isn't a list of great worldwide rates anywhere...
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Do you know why Countries have higher rates or do you think they are just being more generous than the Euro banks? Be very careful about following this strategy even without the currency concerns. You could put your money in an Icelandic bank and earn around 15%. Sounds great until you realise that financial markets are shorting Iceland and betting that it won't survive because the banks and Country itself are so levered. The carry trade is only suitable for experienced investors who have a handle on FX and economic factors. A personal investor who ploughs their savings into a carry trade is more then likely going to get burnt.
 
soy said:
????? all euro denominated bank accounts are based off the ECB interest rate.
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Yes, euro banks use ECB (4.25%) but many also offer an extra rate on top of this. Eg: Irish Nationwide is ECB + 3.35%

So if you know what banks in eurozone offer & tax(es) on interest, you can compare this to Irish banks
 
WaterSprite said:
I'd be really amazed (and am prepared to be amazed!) if you could open an account in a foreign country for a normal savings account without being resident there.
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In my experience, it's not any more difficult to open an account as a 'non-resident' in any country in Europe than a regular savings account in Ireland. As long as it's mentioned in your yearly tax return in Ireland (and income tax paid on any deposit interest as mentioned before), there shouldn't be a problem. I had some HUF on deposit for years at 10% p.a. HU has the second highest base rate in the EU at 8.5%. Romania has the highest base rate as far as I'm aware at 9%? Non-EU countries such as Iceland, mentioned above, have higher rates still but increased risks.
 
budapest said:
As long as it's mentioned in your yearly tax return in Ireland (and income tax paid on any deposit interest as mentioned before), there shouldn't be a problem.
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So it is income tax (e.g. at 41%) and not DIRT (at 20%) that applies to such interest? What about PRSI? So this presumably means that the rate on such an account would need to be at least 0.21% higher than at home before you are making anything?
 
ClubMan said:
I suspect that the cons and risks will outweigh the pros in most or all cases. Have you checked out the tax issues?

Feel free to collate and maintain such a list yourself and we can stick it up as a key post.
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I suspect tax will be the major issue, especially in Eurozone.

Going to look at eurozone banks first & get a quick view.

Also looked at New Zealand yesterday. Many banks offer 8.5% & no max limit per year.

Higher profits can be made compared to Irish rates but you would need to invest a lot per year. Ireland's tax agreement with NZ says you pay Irish Income Tax (41% at higher rate) + a max of 10% of gross interest made in NZ. So that's 51%, compared to 20% DIRT in Ireland, Therefore, you'd need to be offered rates 31% higher (51 less 20) in NZ to make it worth your while. Not likely!

Edit: See this link regarding double taxation agreements in place between Ireland & other countries

[broken link removed]
 
ClubMan said:
So it is income tax (e.g. at 41%) and not DIRT (at 20%) that applies to such interest? What about PRSI? So this presumably means that the rate on such an account would need to be at least 0.21% higher than at home before you are making anything?
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Correct. It's necessary to pay income tax rather than DIRT. As you say too, PRSI should also be paid on the interest.

In most cases, it doesn't make much sense for Irish people to save money in non-resident accounts, particularly at the moment, when such high deposit interest rates are available at home and when taking into account the risk of currency exchange rates going the wrong way.
 
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