Currency Speculation

[JohnR]

Currency Speculation, anyone ever dabbled?
Planning to sell an over-priced Euro property and take advantage of the weak dollar. Will likely hold the money in US CD's until ER, wherein plan to move the proceeds to Canada where the health coverage and extra bang for the buck currency-wise will provide enough $ for ER.

But then a needling thought occurred to me, are there restrictions on transferring large cash deposits into the US for individuals? And what about moving the same deposits to Canada in a few years time?

Might this be frowned upon by the US or Canadian Treasury or other Govt agency? Plus are there capital gains payable on any gains in the currency in either country?, and if so at what stage?

 

[Marshac]

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/skilled/assess/index.html

That is their online self assessment test to see if you will qualify as a skilled worker.... if you plan on immigrating as an 'investor', then check out the asset requirements and see if you fit. Regardless, I suspect that as many boomers begin to think about health care in their golden years, they will look north to Canada. Will many go? Who knows, but if enough do, you can be sure that Canadians will not be as inviting as they are now.

Canada has some laws favorable to resident aliens and their assets (ie: tax free), so many wealthy folks will renounce their US citizenship and become resident aliens in Canada in order to shelter their assets. Is this really what you want? Do you have enough assets to justify this? If so, google around, and you will find some of the several 'how to' guides for using Canada as a tax shelter.

 

[Mr._johngalt]

Hello! Re. "Canadians will not be as inviting as they are now", this begs the question. Howcum it seems that the more illegals enter the USA, the more we seem to encourage them? Or is it just me?

JG

 

[fletzie]

Be very wary of anything related to currency speculation since the FOREX area of investment trading is under a lot of review these days...you might lose it all to a fraudulent dealer.

I would think that you would face the same scrutiny as anyone else bringing and depositing more than $10K but if you can prove it is legitimate it may be OK.

When it comes to tax matters (eg capital gains) I would call the IRS or a well-recommended tax attorney for their answers.

BTW as mentioned above, review the rules about emigration to Canada as a worker. UNfortunately, the older you get the more negative impact on your total score that qualifies you.

 

[JohnR]

Thanks for the views.
Amazingly Canada wants people to move there . . .
They lowered the entry points for skilled workers in 2003. Before then, dusting off old French books would have been on the cards!

Thanks for the Forex warning. Wasn't thinking of anything sophisticated, merely phoning around local banks' treasury depts. querying the best EFT/draft rates . . .

I'll go chat with the IRS and post back if they say anything interesting.

 

[Marshac]

Thanks for the views.
Amazingly Canada wants people to move there . . .
They lowered the entry points for skilled workers in 2003. Before then, dusting off old French books would have been on the cards!

No kidding, the current pass score of 67 means that you don't even need to have a job lined up to go as a skilled worker so long as you have a college degree and some exp.