Best way to transfer $5000 from US to UK

Or option 5.

Br> Hi there,

Probably the best option but I think it's unusual for US banks not to mark up the exchange rate and/or charge for foreign withdrawals. Even if they do this could still be the best bet. Alternatively spend using a US credit card if you have one and pay that off from your US bank account.

Why? What are you going to do with the money in the UK?

If you're going to be spending it on purchases, could you use (do you have?) an American credit card which could be used for this, and could you not pre-pay your $5k into the card account?

I'm paying off my UK debts...before the US dollar gets any weaker...

I'm not using the money for purchases, with the dollar the way it is, it is waaay cheaper to purchase pretty much anything I want in the US right now.

R>

eh? You should be using the US money to make any US purchases, not UK money!

Eh? He doesn't have UK money, but he does have US money. He doesn't want to make UK purchases, he wants to settle existing UK debts.

Given that he thinks the dollar is weakening, his UK debts are therefore increasing in dollar terms, so it makes perfect sense to settle them sooner rather than later. Or are you proposing he should default on them, stay away forever, thumb his nose at his UK creditors and say "come and get me if you can"?

No, I took his comment at face value, when he said "it is waaay cheaper to purchase pretty much anything I want in the US right now." I took it to mean he was buying things in the US right now!

Exactly. That makes your comment all the more incomprehensible.

All the purchases he needs to make, he is making in the US with his US money, but he also has some spare US money he does not need to spend on purchases. He is proposing to use this to settle existing UK debts.

If he had been discussing the relative merits of bananas vs apples, and if you had taken his comments to mean he had come down in favour of bananas, it wouldn't then make sense for you to say "eh? you should be eating bananas". Yet that is, in effect, what you have done, or it looks that way from where I'm standing. Have I missed something?

eh? That is also incomprehensible until you read your next para.

Yes, it was the 'spare' US money I didnt get. I took it from the POV of there was lots of stuff he was buying in the US, he had money there, but was buying his US stuff with UK money, on account of the exchange rate being so good!

Can't think what gave you that impression. He doesn't have UK money, he has UK debt, hence his question about .

No, it's not a question of how good or bad the exchange rate *is*, but he feels the exchange rate is *changing* to his disadvantage, i.e. given that he must use US money to settle his UK debt (if he had UK money, he'd be better off using that to clear his UK debt, after all), it will be more expensive for him to do so later than sooner (even after allowing for any interest which may be accruing).

Having debt doesn't seem to be an obstacle to buying things for most people! Anyway it was a straightforward misunderstanding so I'll end it here.

Transferring the money by wire is probably going to be most convenient and quickest- yes you will be hit by (probably) fixed fees, but you should get a good exchange rate.

Slower and probably cheaper would be to buy a bankers draft in £ from your US bank and post it to the Halifax. Assuming US banks do this sort of thing - all major UK ones do the other way round. The fee would probably be less than wiring and the exchange rate good.

A variant of this would be to write a US $ cheque and mail it to the Halifax - they would negotiate it for you for a fee (£10 to £20 probably) and give you a good exchange rate. This is probably the simplest and cheapest way if there's no hurry.

If you carry the cash you will probably get a 'no commission' deal but will be stung on the exchange rate by at least 5% over and above the methods already described.

At 14:54:55 on 24/11/2006, Ronald Raygun delighted uk.finance by announcing:

Digressing ever so slightly, does anyone have any feelings on the short term prospects (i.e. next 3-6 months) of USD v GBP?

Ron,

Thanks for expla> Tumbleweed wrote:

Thanks for your advice guys.

I think I'll go with the check (cheque) option, since for reasonable sums of money, a good rate with a fee is better than a zero-comission exchange with a poorer rate.

I would also be interested in hearing others' views on the prospects of the USD vs GBP, though more especially over the next year or two.

I feel the USD will c> At 14:54:55 on 24/11/2006, Ronald Raygun delighted uk.finance by > announcing: >

IMO :

In the short / medium term the USD will fall further aginst the GBP. Maybe getting to 2.5 in 6-12 months

In the long term all exchange rates will become much more balanced than they currently are and a Big Mac will be exactly the same price everywhere (including current 3rd world/developing nations). (as will the average wage). So the GBP will go down against the USD.