The loonie's demise

[DeadPoolX 9]

I'm very worried about the exchange rate. I've been saving up for quite a while now and was planning on using my savings to go towards a down-payment on a house when I move to the U.S. Now I'm thinking that I'll have to keep it in my Canadian account and wait until it gets better. I am kicking myself for not exchanging what I could when the dollar was par and better.

What we did was open a U.S. dollar account with the TD, when the exchange rate went up we transferred the bulk of our savings over there - when the rate was good - so it would stay in U.S. dollars regardless of the exchange rate when we moved - plus having it online like that you can just go in to 'transfer' and have a look at the 'real' buy rate that day and make your decision then whether to convert to U.S. or not.

Reena, as Sapphire said - the TD has a couple of good accounts that you might want to look at, depending on your balance (I'm sure other banks have them too). The value account is like $5 a month with limited transactions - like 4 - the RBC has a similar account. Or if you keep a balance of $3000 or more you have a variety of accounts to choose from where you won't pay any fees.

I've got one of those, as well.

The current exchange rate is actually beneficial for me. Although I'm living in Canada, I have tons of accounts full of American money. My two most used credit cards are American, as well. So the U.S. dollar being worth more works out in my favor.

[SapphireDreams 71]

I'm very worried about the exchange rate. I've been saving up for quite a while now and was planning on using my savings to go towards a down-payment on a house when I move to the U.S. Now I'm thinking that I'll have to keep it in my Canadian account and wait until it gets better. I am kicking myself for not exchanging what I could when the dollar was par and better.

What we did was open a U.S. dollar account with the TD, when the exchange rate went up we transferred the bulk of our savings over there - when the rate was good - so it would stay in U.S. dollars regardless of the exchange rate when we moved - plus having it online like that you can just go in to 'transfer' and have a look at the 'real' buy rate that day and make your decision then whether to convert to U.S. or not.

Reena, as Sapphire said - the TD has a couple of good accounts that you might want to look at, depending on your balance (I'm sure other banks have them too). The value account is like $5 a month with limited transactions - like 4 - the RBC has a similar account. Or if you keep a balance of $3000 or more you have a variety of accounts to choose from where you won't pay any fees.

Ugh I so regret not opening the US account with TD back in the fall. I think I'm going to open one before I leave and hope the exchange gets better.

to_hope - I'm hoping for it to go back in the fall too! Fingers crossed!!

[LindaB 0]

I still get paid in Canada so yah, it sucks alot..... plus we are in the process of buying a house in the US so that will be another US payment that will be at the mercy of the exchange rate for me ever month.

I am in the same boat too, still work and get paid in Canada, I lose so much in exchange every payday when exchange my money into U.S. money. Yesterday, it was 1.31, $530 U.S. cost me approx. $695!!!!! Like Sly Wolf said, it is like getting a big pay decrease every payday!

[sly_wolf 199]

I still get paid in Canada so yah, it sucks alot..... plus we are in the process of buying a house in the US so that will be another US payment that will be at the mercy of the exchange rate for me ever month.

I am in the same boat too, still work and get paid in Canada, I lose so much in exchange every payday when exchange my money into U.S. money. Yesterday, it was 1.31, $530 U.S. cost me approx. $695!!!!! Like Sly Wolf said, it is like getting a big pay decrease every payday!

Yes, I really wish that I could paid by our US parent company instead. Plus I also would save money paying US taxes instead of still paying taxes to 2 countries north of the border ... that really bites.

Sly

[Gypsyangel 11]

It's stressing me out too. I'm working on contract for a Canadian company and I'm not making what I thought I was. I also have some cash in my Canadian bank account that I keep trying to transfer down here, but the exchange is so painful!!!

[k34 0]

Ugh! It's painful to even think about lately! When I transfer my employer pension to an RRSP or similar, there is a portion of it that is in excess of the income tax limits, so it will be paid out to me in cash. The value of this excess cash pay-out amount has decreased by $30,000 since Oct It was going to be a nice amount to keep things comfortable while I am waiting to work, but now it's down to almost nothing

[TimandJoyce 1]

Well, I'm not living in the States yet, still a few months to go before that happens so I do hope the dollar will improve by then. However, I am leaving for an extended holiday. I'm going to NYC, and flying out of JFK to Greece at the end of March. The tour package was in US $$ when I registered but I didn't realize where the exchange was at that time. OUCH!! Cost me over $700 more than what the Americans are paying!! Plus, it hadn't included the airport taxes at the time and they're $450 US! Of course, I'm touring NYC for a few days before hand, cause I'm there anyway!! LOL

I'll be heading to SC for the rest of April, so that Tim and I can make as many wedding plans as we can, ( without an actual date) but I know we'll be able to organize a lot! So really, this month and a half is going to be expensive! Glad I have a visa card!!

[Carlawarla 1]

I will get an account balance sheet this month from my private pension plan this month. The last one I received in October said I was down $26,000.00. Hope it didn't go down too much more. That's just the banking scene right now, not US - Canada dollar though.

[Emancipation 2]

The current exchange rate is actually beneficial for me. Although I'm living in Canada, I have tons of accounts full of American money. My two most used credit cards are American, as well. So the U.S. dollar being worth more works out in my favor.

You sound like a Nigerian email scam!

[TayL 0]

The exchange rate isn't beneficial for people who are moving money to America. That's for sure. It is, however, beneficial to Canada as it becomes cheaper for American companies to outsource work to Canada. That means that companies that can't afford to employ Americans will give Canadians more jobs. An example is the film industry. The Canadian film industry largely produces AMERICAN-MADE films. Yes, there are Canadian-made films as well, but the films that bring in the real dollars to our film industry are American-made. The Americans come up here to shoot because it saves them money and we have locations all over that look like American locations. It becomes much more lucrative for the film companies to do "location shoots" in Toronto or Vancouver than New York or Boston. When I was going to film school, the loonie went up and that sent people out of film school in droves because we knew that if that continued, our industry would die up here and it's a lot harder to get cross-border jobs when you're just starting out.

It's like that for several other industries. A lot of cars made in Canada are shipped to the US, for example. They're American models, fit American standards and get manufactured in Canadian plants, then sent to the States for a larger profit. They put together *just* enough of the product to label it "American made" in the US.

Just a thought.

[giraffemd 0]

works in my favor actually, as I had some Canada debt when I moved here, and have been able to pay if off completely ($20K in 3 years). I am just leaving my RRSP's up in Canada. When we retire we will spend some time up there and have that money to live on while we are there...if there is any left, that is, after all this demise in the markets.

[Ban Hammer 13,283]

i thought by the title of this thread i was terminally ill and no one had told me.

[DeadPoolX 9]

The current exchange rate is actually beneficial for me. Although I'm living in Canada, I have tons of accounts full of American money. My two most used credit cards are American, as well. So the U.S. dollar being worth more works out in my favor.

You sound like a Nigerian email scam!

Who says I'm not?

[TimandJoyce 1]

i thought by the title of this thread i was terminally ill and no one had told me.

[to_hope 0]

The exchange rate isn't beneficial for people who are moving money to America. That's for sure. It is, however, beneficial to Canada as it becomes cheaper for American companies to outsource work to Canada. That means that companies that can't afford to employ Americans will give Canadians more jobs. An example is the film industry. The Canadian film industry largely produces AMERICAN-MADE films. Yes, there are Canadian-made films as well, but the films that bring in the real dollars to our film industry are American-made. The Americans come up here to shoot because it saves them money and we have locations all over that look like American locations. It becomes much more lucrative for the film companies to do "location shoots" in Toronto or Vancouver than New York or Boston. When I was going to film school, the loonie went up and that sent people out of film school in droves because we knew that if that continued, our industry would die up here and it's a lot harder to get cross-border jobs when you're just starting out.

It's like that for several other industries. A lot of cars made in Canada are shipped to the US, for example. They're American models, fit American standards and get manufactured in Canadian plants, then sent to the States for a larger profit. They put together *just* enough of the product to label it "American made" in the US.

Just a thought.

I know this is true- I have extended relatives who work on farms and when the CND is high they really feel it because American companies won't buy their product.

Still hurts me to have it so low, though