Would some of you financial whizz-kids be kind enough to give an old lady an opinion on whether the UK£ and the US$ are going to continue their dramatic slide against the Swiss franc, or whether you see some glimmer of hope on the horizon for an improvement.
My husband, a Swiss, retired from his multi-national company over 25 years ago, and wanted to return to his own country after a career spent living all over the world, which seemed perfectly reasonable at the time.
Our pensions are all in pounds and dollars and it is becoming increasingly difficult to make ends meet, living in la belle suisse.
The UK£ has gone from Sfr.4.50 to 1.35 now.
My husband is too old and frail to face a move to the UK
We are now at the stage of selling off our assets and, after disposing of things which didn't mean too much to us, we now have to face selling stuff we love just to live.
We could hold off for another year or so if things look like improving.
Not of course, any comparison to the situation of the poor devils in the horn of Africa, but difficult for an old couple nonetheless.
I'm just looking for educated guesses and promise not to hold you to them.

I'm no whizz kid financial or otherwise. But the long-term trend is clear from CHF20 to £1 in the 1950s to today's rate.

I read an article on the strength of the pound being held up by North Sea oil. (This was part of Britain's manufacturing demise.) Yesterday the euro interest rate went up to 1.5% while the pound remains at 0.5%. This will not help the exchange rate either.

In the mid term, I can't see such a high rate of the franc can last, but again the 50 year trend means it is unlikely to see the pound over CHF2.00 again. But what do I know?

I feel for you and there is a massive advantage in investing in a pension fund in the currency you will retire in...

Unfortunately, we probably haven't even got 10 years left, let alone 50 and, originally the intention was to retire in the UK, but the lure of his homeland was too much for my old boy.
Yes, if the UK hadn't given their North Sea oil away, things might not be so bleak for the £.
Thanks so much for your help, Ab Fab.

i have been short GBP long CHF for the last 3 years. personally, i would imagine the situation to stay the same or get worse over the next few years. that said, i closed my short position as it was costing me 6% per year to fund and i wanted to reduce my risk.

i guess the problem you will have is that the best time to have sold was years ago and so now you are stuck having to sell at the lowest point, or wait for a miraculous re-bound.

while some are in a position to wait 10 or more years for a rebound, if you're retired and need the cash to live, then time is not on your side. so you will need to weigh up the chance of a big rebound within your desired timeframe.

FYI, the BoE left rates on hold and have consistently been doveish (most of the hawks on the MPC board have been replaced by doves) so this could continue for a while. while the SNB have also rock bottom IRs (and also a very bad QE mis-adventure) i see the SNB as more likely to respond the the threat of inflation than the BoE.

Thanks, Phil.
Maybe we should just hope that dementia kicks-in so that we can just smile whilst dribbling into our gruel

Our latest quaterly pension transfer was at


1.28

Just sympathy to offer - I will probably have to move back to the UK or somewhere similar, question is only how long can I hang on - I do not see the UK$ going anywhere.....

about - "investing your pension fund in the country you live in." Only possible if your pension fund is/was a lump sum. It it is monthly paid then no chance.....
Certainly no chance to change your UK state pension

One real problem with moving back is having to face the inadequacies of the NHS in retirement.
At least the Swiss health insurance works........most of the time!

If you have property to sell - then re-converting into £s would a long way towards compensating for the extra cost of property in UK (well maybe not if you are in GVA or Zh gold coasts, in which case you'd be fine!

Funny though, if ever I did have a major health problem, I'd go straight back to the UK FOR the NHS. One's own experiences and those of those around us do so influence how we see things. Hospitals in CH do look much nicer, the food is better- but for good medicine I sincerely believe the NHS is way ahead (and I am Swiss).

We are fortunate to have space and enough land to become more or less self-sufficient if we have to, and live very close to the border so we can shop in France. We can do frugal, been there, done that, plenty of T-shirts to that effect. Good news this am at the accountants, our taxes are plummeting as fast as the £, hurray.

Thanks, Odile.
Yes we do own the place we live in. That's where all our capital is.
We live in it though so the only ones who'll benefit will be our kids when we fall off our perches.
We've already 'downsized' and changed our house to an apartment but the charges on the apartment seem to increase at the same alarming rate that our pension value decreases by.

One more thought: depending on whether you have children (and basically whether you like them and want to leave them anything) and if you own property here, you may want to consider raising a loan or other arrangement with your bank against that property.

This means when you pass away the amount of the loan or payments is deducted from your estate. This is quite possible in the UK, I asked my Swiss bank (ZKB) about this and they were less straightforward, but didn't give me an outright 'no'. So it may be a avenue worth investigating...

maybe if you rent out the place here and rent in the UK, the difference will be enough to cover it? there are plenty of cheap places to live in the UK and I agree with the above, that the NHS provides great medical service (if not great customer service).

Thanks AbFab. That's certainly something else to look into, but I've been warned against that in the past..........probably by the kids

The Exchange rate is just one part of the equation, holding foreign equities would have been more profitable over the last 12 months.

SMI - 0.04%
DAX +22.65%
FTSE +17.45
NASDAQ +30.94
Dow Jones +24.10

The majority of my wealth is in NASDEQ quoted securites, I am British, quite happy with my choice.

Thank you, but wealth, WEALTH!!
I'm not talking about wealth, just survival on a miserable pension, but oh boy wealth would be nice; very nice

the sad thing is that you are facing the same thing that many pensioners will face over the next few years as the results of over a decade of economic incompetence.

at least you own your own place to live in so are already better off than many. as you discovered, it's best to own freehold to be in control of as many costs as possible in retirement.

you have kids? in many places, kids are your pension. time to hit them up and ask for some payback

Nasdaq up 31% & in the same period the $ lost 20% so net 10% more or less?

This is the Nasdaq that still has just got back up to the level it was at in 2008? And almost half what it was 10 years ago.
& the US dollar that has lost around 25% in value in the same 3 year period period.

So if I had bought NASDAQ quoted securites 3 years ago then I would be looking at a 25% loss?

Great advice, excuse me if I do not take it.

I foresee the Nasdaq turning down again & the $ also going down.

That is good news in one sense then. Your assets should be going up in Sterling terns by more than you are loosing each year on pension income.

I have beaten the index by a huge margin, as I only buy companies I like so I am very happy.
I am not giving advice, just making a point.
I am happy to be surrounded by bears, it makes making money so much easier!
Many people who 'knew' were selling Gold at 300 or buying today at 1500

Pensions are long term investments, profit from peoples day to day short term fear.

Best