Banking , TV and internet

jacko


Joined: 20/11/2007
Posts: 193

Message Posted:
14/12/2007 16:31

Hi all



i will be moving to NC March 2008 and i need members help as im getting a little confused. My husband and i will be taking early retirement and therefore have this at the moment paid into our bank inthe UK my fisrt question is what is the best way to make sure this accessible in NC and what would you suggest is the best route to take to put my savings into. Im aware that there is HSBC bank abut the interest rate for sterling is a lot lower if i change it to lira .A guide on the way forward for this appreciated.



Secondly my husband loves his computer and wants to keep in touch with people and is looking at getting a skype phone as first option but obviously requires internet for this . What package would you suggest and costs please?



Lastly (for the time being) TV we will be bringing our own as it is fairly new can this be adapted for the region? and what do you satellite system do you recommend and cost for this (it would be nice in a way to receive some of the UK channels) but we are not great sport lovers .



I hope you can all help

ukturk



Joined: 01/09/2007
Posts: 1974

Message Posted:
14/12/2007 17:26

hi jacko

concerning banking i have gone into great deatail in previous post so i wont go into it again below are the links to previous posts that i have posted



http://www.cyprus44.com/forums/show-message.asp?messageID=944

http://www.cyprus44.com/forums/show-message.asp?messageID=686

http://www.cyprus44.com/forums/show-message.asp?messageID=674



concerning internet connection i have found extend quite realiable

http://www.extendbroadband.com/index.php

there is also sunnycyprus

http://www.sunnycyprus.net



concerning sat tv once again it has been discused to great deatail

http://www.cyprus44.com/forums/show-message.asp?messageID=864



take a look at all of these and if you need any further info dont hesitate in asking

regards

ukturk

jacko


Joined: 20/11/2007
Posts: 193

Message Posted:
14/12/2007 17:59

Many thanks Ukturk will have a good read over the weekend to see if it all helps

lovingcyprus


Joined: 02/03/2007
Posts: 1272

Message Posted:
14/12/2007 20:55

jacko



Whatever you do I strongly advise that you do not invest all your savings in Turkish Lira(YTL). It has in the past been a very volatile currency with a lot of devaluations, however, over the last 6 months or so it has been quite strong, whether or not this will continue is anybodies guess. If you invest now and the YTL weakens you could find yourself out of pocket.



Remember the secret in investing is to invest into diferrent asset classes (cash, fixed interest, equities(both UK and international) and property) they will not all go down at the same time neither will they all go up at the same time.



Here is an article I wrote for Cyprus Today in July this year:-



I understand that the rate of inflation in North Cyprus is currently running at around 20% p.a. lets imagine you invested £1,000 in July 2006 into a YTL account and you earned interest at 18% less of course 8% tax on the interest (this is automatically deducted by the bank) you have a net return of around 16.50% you are therefore eroding the spending value of your money by 3.50% p.a. This is the situation if the exchange rate and interest rates remained constant, of course as we all know the YTL is at a 12 month high against Sterling at 2.60 YTL to a £.



As you had invested in the YTL last July when the exchange rate was 2.90 YTL to the £ you would now have £1,299 when the interest at 18% and less tax has been deducted, this has been calculated at the current exchange rate. The net result being that for a UK resident the return of nearly 30% is pretty(very) attractive but from a TRNC resident not so, but still a 10% approx return after allowing for inflation is still quite good.



Lets look at another scenario you invest £1,000 in July this year with the exchange rate at 2.60 YTL to the £ into a YTL account once again you earn interest at 18% less of course 8% tax on the interest (this is automatically deducted by the bank) you have a net return of around 16.50% you are therefore eroding the spending value of your money by 3.50% p.a. However, in twelve months time the YTL has devalued and there are now 3.20YTL to the £ you would have the YTL equivalent of £947.00. So you have lost £53 and with inflation at 20% you have seriously eroded the spending value of your money.



Now can this second scenario happen, it has before and quite possibly could happen again, without a crystal ball it is impossible to say, however there are two events coming up in the future which could and they are the General Election in Turkey on 22 July and of course there are the EU negotiations taking place. Additionally, a lot of foreign money has flowed into Turkey and this could easily be repatriated.



The Turkish government has received lot of credit, since it has been responsible for a number of major structural reforms in recent years, including a complete overhaul of the financial sector not least in bringing inflation under control which is currently running at around 7% p.a. according to the opinion polls in Turkey it is predicted that the AK Party will win a landslide re-election if this happens the YTL will probably strengthen a little and the Turkish stockmarket will rise, (it has already risen by 20% in the first six months of 2007) and interest rates could start reducing. However should the AH Party not be re-elected the financial market will be in turmoil with the YTL devaluing.



I hope you find this useful.

jacko


Joined: 20/11/2007
Posts: 193

Message Posted:
17/12/2007 10:59

Thank you loving cyprus for the sound information on my banking options and the risks involved i certainly will take good heed of your advice.



Can i make a suggestion to the forum for people like me who find and those who have to keep repeating themselves answering the same old questions over and over again. that threads are put into cateogories eg tv/radio/internet, cost of living, best beaches, etc etc im sure newbies would find this alot easier to find the answer to their questions.