Low Canadian-Dollar ; lower expectations

[Fiddler]

Well,
A few years ago when our Canadian dollar was at par..I dreamed of having my first couple months of retirement stateside, enjoying Florida, Louisiana and Texas. The last two states I have never been too.

Then the oil crash and the CAD crash...A dollar American is now 75 cents. I will be spending more time in Canada for my holidays. I will take advantage of the free Discovery Pass to visit Canada's National parks and Historic sites.

I will be staying closer to home. I will still visit the US, but probably off-season to make my money stretch further and for shorter durations.

 

[gerntz]

To be clear, I think you mean a loonie is now 75 cents 'merican.

 

[HF63]

Boy, I did not realize that the Canadian dollar had lost that much value.
Might be time to visit Toronto once more, nice place.

 

[Fermion]

Louisiana is dirt cheap though.

We are staying at one of the nicest state park campgrounds near the coast of Louisiana. It has lagoons, canoe, hiking, free laundry, electric/water hookups, hot showers, huge screen porches outside the bathrooms, picnic tables and grills everywhere, boat launch with private bathrooms.

$18 a night.

And it is empty. There are like 7 RV here for the 100+ spaces. No kids around. Heaven on earth.

Sure even a Canadian dollar would go far here.

 

[Corporateburnout]

This has been great for us as we frequently visit Canada. Last summer we spent a week in Montreal and Quebec and in the fall we spent a week in Toronto. The exchange rate makes it cheaper even with the 15% GST and QST in Quebec and 13% HST in Toronto.

 

[marko]

Just got back down to Florida for the winter. The shortage of usual Canadians is noticeable.

 

[Meadbh]

Just got back down to Florida for the winter. The shortage of usual Canadians is noticeable.

There are two reasons for that. Money and politics. And that is all I will say on the matter.

 

[6miths]

Yes good point Meadbh and that is all that should be said about that. Most snowbird Canadians likely bought a big stash of USD the last time the CAD was at 1.05. A quarter of our networth is in USD as we travel quite a bit and this is just another way to diversify.

 

[anethum]

A friend & I were in B.C. (Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands) for several days last September. Despite the favorable exchange rate for us Americans, we found the hotel prices to not seem especially cheap. I had been on Vancouver Island and in the city of Vancouver in 2002 when the exchange rate was even more favorable for Americans and I recall it definitely felt like a bargain then. I was in Quebec about 5 years ago when the two currencies were at parity and I found Canada to be quite expensive.

 

[Ronstar]

Please keep politics out of this thread, to include innuendo.

 

[audreyh1]

My tea from Murchies of BC was much cheaper this year!

 

[NW-Bound]

Looking back to 2013, the Canadian and US dollars were at parity. A 34% gain of the US dollar in 3 years is quite hefty. No wonder there are a lot of players in the Forex market, but this is something I never think of venturing in. I already learn how to lose money in the stock market, so need no new ways.

The US dollar almost got to 1.6 Canadian dollar in 2002. Wowza! At about the same time, it got to be nearly 2 Australian dollars. Holy mackerel!

 

[YVRRocketSurgery]

When the greenback and loonie were around par, we were constantly driving from Vancouver down to Seattle and Portland a few times a year. We've kind of scaled it back now to one trip a year to Seattle or Portland as well as scaling back two trips a year to Vegas down to one. It also feels like it's impacting cruise pricing too.

While we did slowly accumulate a chunk of greenbacks when the loonie was at par and get the odd USD dividend check, we store our greenbacks in a USD dollar account which pays essentially zero interest. It makes it hurt a bit less spending USD's that we know we purchased at par but it kind of sux having "lazy" money sitting in the account.

On the flipside...

What my American cousin hates when she's up here having to take account the 12% sales tax added to the sticker price.

Hotel pricing in Vancouver is expensive because hotel construction, particularly in the downtown core, hasn't kept up with demand. It also doesn't help that expensive land values likely made development difficult.

 

[NW-Bound]

I recall in 2003 talking with a Canadian couple in Sorrento, Italy. They were complaining about how things were so expensive. So, I look back and saw that the dollar was strong against the euro and was near parity then, while the Canadian was a bit weak at that point.

One thing interesting I just observed. The US dollar swing against other currencies is huge, but the exchange ratio between other major currencies is more stable. For example, the Australian and the Canadian dollars are bouncing about parity +/- 10%. The variation is a lot less than against the US dollar.

 

[Danmar]

Agree that the lower Canadian dollar creates a challenge, especially for Snowbirds. We bought our Arizona home in 2012 when the currencies were at par. Since then the strengthened USD had meant it's more expensive to maintain this place but also that if is worth a lot more in Canadian dollars. I figure the house in Canadian dollars has almost doubled. No plans to sell but I can see the current situation presents a big incentive for some snowbirds to do so. This highlights that having a source of income in USD (say USD dividends) makes good sense for those Canadians with USD expenses.

 

[audreyh1]

Looking back to 2013, the Canadian and US dollars were at parity. A 34% gain of the US dollar in 3 years is quite hefty. No wonder there are a lot of players in the Forex market, but this is something I never think of venturing in. I already learn how to lose money in the stock market, so need no new ways.

The US dollar almost got to 1.6 Canadian dollar in 2002. Wowza! At about the same time, it got to be nearly 2 Australian dollars. Holy mackerel!

We had a great time traveling to both the Maritimes and the Canadian Rockies in 2002. It was quite a shock to me when the Canadian dollar reached parity a long while later.

All about commodity prices I think as Canada is rich in natural resources. The huge drop in the price of oil drove the recent exchange drop.

 

[garyt]

Looking back to 2013, the Canadian and US dollars were at parity. A 34% gain of the US dollar in 3 years is quite hefty. No wonder there are a lot of players in the Forex market, but this is something I never think of venturing in. I already learn how to lose money in the stock market, so need no new ways.

The US dollar almost got to 1.6 Canadian dollar in 2002. Wowza! At about the same time, it got to be nearly 2 Australian dollars. Holy mackerel!

I remember those days. Living right on the border we often visited Canada. It was great for camping, golf, etc.
I did buy a few thousand CAD when it was 60% to use for the next few years.

 

[Nemo2]

Camped down on the Baja, the winter of 1997/98......went into a grocery store in Mulegé and the owner either said "Your money is worth less" or "Your money is worthless"....amounted to the same thing I guess....it was at about 67¢ US at the time.

 

[Sittinginthesun]

Just sold our Florida short term vacation rental which we purchased in 2012 when our Canadian dollar was above par (just). Closing in 2 weeks and with price increase over 4 1/2 years of market rebound plus the current exchange rate (which is expected to get even steeper in 2017) it seems like a good time to sell. We won't be retiring for 8 or 9 years and hope to have another buying opportunity closer to that point for a snowbirding home. Overall a good chunk of our net worth is in USD and I will keep $50k as travel funds for US adventures over the next few years.

 

[gerntz]

- Skied at Whistler-Blackcomb back in 90's when exchange was 3C=2US. So it has been worse for Canucks.
- I think this is a good example reason to hold assets in a range of currencies. US$ top dog now, but doubt it stays that way for next 5-10 years.

 

[gerntz]

Yes good point Meadbh and that is all that should be said about that. Most snowbird Canadians likely bought a big stash of USD the last time the CAD was at 1.05. A quarter of our networth is in USD as we travel quite a bit and this is just another way to diversify.

Smart move.

 

[DrRoy]

As a long time visitor to Canada, I have also seen the very wide swings in value of each currency. When it is in your favor, enjoy. When not, things will cost more.

 

[tmm99]

- I think this is a good example reason to hold assets in a range of currencies. US$ top dog now, but doubt it stays that way for next 5-10 years.

That's exactly my sentiment. It makes life more difficult for people like me who have US funds, but are living in Canada. It is definitely good for me now, but only a few yeas ago, the situation was in reverse, so I need to be prepared for both situations. I am right now trying to convert more USD to CAD for the time CAD is stronger, but it is not easy since most of the remaining USD is in tax sheltered accounts...

 

[brett]

The low CAD has impacted us. We are spending very little time/money in the US. Wherever possible we are not buying any travel products that are base prices in USD or are not discounted.

We consider currency when we travel. When CAD was high we took numerous cruises and spent months in the US. We delayed a trip to South Africa by a year and saved about 15 percent on currency alone. Same for Europe. Instead of spending winters in Florida, AZ, or Hawaii we have gone to Thailand and SE Asia for the past three years. This year it will be South and Central America.

 

[tmm99]

The low CAD has impacted us. We are spending very little time/money in the US. Wherever possible we are not buying any travel products that are base prices in USD or are not discounted.

We consider currency when we travel. When CAD was high we took numerous cruises and spent months in the US. We delayed a trip to South Africa by a year and saved about 15 percent on currency alone. Same for Europe. Instead of spending winters in Florida, AZ, or Hawaii we have gone to Thailand and SE Asia for the past three years. This year it will be South and Central America.

I think being able to adjust is the key. From what I can see, you are still enjoying traveling as much, but now, hitting more exotic places