Currency Focus

Buying Canadian dollars for your emigration or property purchase, international mortgage or pension transfer.
by Nathan Barcic - HiFX, July 2007

For anyone planning a property purchase or emigration to Canada, watching the exchange rate will become a habit. The last year has seen a great deal of Canadian dollar (CAD) strength. Several factors, including a strong economy and high oil prices, have driven up the price of the CAD. What does this mean for you? It means you should be careful not to be caught napping and consequently risk your future wealth!

For example, if you committed to buy a $250,000 CAD apartment near Vancouver in the beginning of March, 2007, it would have cost you $211,434 US dollars (USD) at a March 5th exchange rate of 1.1824. Over the next four months, the CAD strengthened more than 10%, meaning that same property would have cost $236,720 USD on July 5th - an increase of more than $25,000 US dollars!! Don’t let this happen to you!

Similarly, if you were going to buy the same property, but were coming from the UK, you would have paid nearly £9,000 more for the apartment in the beginning of July than you would have in early March.

Fear not, help is at hand!

Each month currency specialists HiFX help thousands of people all over the world who are either emigrating or buying a property abroad. Most clients have the same concern: "When is the best time to buy my dollars?"

The only prudent advice is to fix an exchange rate when you agree to buy the house or are confident that you will be emigrating. This will fix your costs and ensure your budget stays on track. The majority of analysts expect to see continued volatility. If you have a series of payments to make, you might choose to secure a rate for the first one or two and use HiFX to monitor the rate for the remainder. If you do this it is just as important to establish a high and a low target so that you cut your losses if the rate starts to fall.

Sending regular payments to Canada

Sometimes it is not just the cost but the stress factor that requires a solution. HiFX can now process regular monthly payments overseas. Let us suppose you receive a pension each month. By using a direct debit, HiFX can transfer your funds to you in Canada each month with no transfer fee. HiFX will fix the exchange rate for your transfers straight away meaning you will know exactly how much money you will receive each month. This will help you to budget. Not only will this save you money, but it will also save you a lot of time and hassle too.

To find out exactly how HiFX can help, feel free to call +1 415 678-2770 or head to www.hifx.com/personal.aspx. Mention Assignments Canada when speaking with a senior HiFX consultant. Also feel free to email Nathan directly at nathan.barcic@hifx.com.

The details expressed in this article are for information purposes only and are not intended as a solicitation for funds or a recommendation to trade. HiFX accepts no liability whatsoever for any loss or damages suffered through any act or omission taken as a result of reading or interpreting any of the above information.