How do I turn apple (pies) into kiwis?

October 23, 2008 9:15 AM

How do I get New Zealand dollars within the United States?

So I am permanently moving to NZ within the next 9 months or so from the United States. I have a savings account in the states that has not been touched in years (except to add more to it).

How do I take advantage of the good US dollar and put my savings into NZ dollars? I don't want to do it AFTER I move there (which is what all the NZ bank websites are wanting me to do).

Again, this money will NOT be touched, and I don't need access to it until I get to NZ (if that matters). I just want to take advantage of the good US dollar right now.

I don't need any advice about how I should be investing, or stock tips. I don't want to become a foreign exchange trader. I just want to turn a good portion of my savings that is just sitting there into NZ currency...something I will have to do in 9 moths anyways. How do I do this today?

Also, if you have more questions for me, I will be watching this post so I can can answer them!

Thanks metafilter, you guys are awesome.

posted by hal_c_on to work & money (8 comments total)

Looks like this might solve your problem?
http://www.everbank.com/001CurrencyAccess.aspx

Depending on the amount of money you're talking about, a Currency Broker can help you get better deals than you will exchanging cash directly through a company like Forex.

If you're looking to directly move cash from a US account to a NZ account, you might have some issues depending on the rules about opening a NZ account. If you have an address already you'll be set with that requirement, but you may need to be present to actually get an account. Again, a Currency Broker can help you with that.

Disclaimer: I'm a graphic designer, not a banker, but I've been thinking of moving overseas as well.
posted by hipersons at 9:51 AM on October 23, 2008

Getting NZ dollars shouldn't be too hard, provided that your savings account is with a large bank that regularly changes money, (it may take a few days for the transaction to clear), but I don't think that a U.S. bank will automatically maintain that same account in a foreign currency. (I'm assuming that you don't want to withdraw the money in NZ$ and put it under your mattress for 9 months). You might be able to open a new NZ$ account with a big bank like Chase or Citibank that operates both in NZ and the US to deposit the NZ$ funds. Presumably, you could do this with a NZ bank that operates in the US, but I suspect there are fewer of these in fewer locations.
posted by *s at 9:59 AM on October 23, 2008

Note: Everbank totally gears its website towards investors, but the deposit account looks like its simply a money market account that's in whatever currency you want it to be in AND is FDIC insured.
posted by hipersons at 10:03 AM on October 23, 2008

It is easy. Open a NZD$ currency account through HSBC in the US. transfer $.
Either use HSBC or a forex broker to do the currency exchange.

You are not easily going to be able to open up a NZ account without being a NZ resident etc.
posted by dripped at 10:15 AM on October 23, 2008

This isn't an answer to your question but may I suggest that if you have any significant amount of money you think twice about changing it into NZD ?

I'm not bagging NZ (I live here ... I love it !) but it's a relatively small economy that's based strongly upon a limited number of industries (dairy/meat/fruit). The NZD has in the past 10 years moved around a great deal relative to the USD (plot here). I equate the NZ economy to a small cork on a big ocean it can bounce around a great deal and a really big wave would knock it sideways (by comparison the US economy is an aircraft carrier).

To convert a large amount of existing assets into NZD's - unless you need those NZD's for something - such as buying a house is not something I would personally advise.

I'm not a banker/investment adviser/whatever I'm just speaking from my view of the currency / economy.
posted by southof40 at 3:01 PM on October 23, 2008

This was my reason for finally joining up (8 years lurking) - don't know why. Anyhoo...

You'll probably find you get a slightly better fx rate if you change your USD when you arrive here - the buy rate (in theory) is probably going to be higher for USD in NZ than the reverse (You can currently get NZD$1 for ~USD$0.62 in NZ).

In terms of moving your money - be careful. Not that NZ is fragile, but when you change into NZD, you'll notice the value of it in comparison will change as the rest of world dictates (more so than the NZ economy anyway).

The currency is probably about mid-stream at the moment (would normally sit between $0.55 and $0.75) but has dropped significantly in recent months. You'll get more than you would have in July by about 25%. If it keeps dropping, you'll get a better fx rate if you wait - but you'll be wanting a crystal ball with the way the world is at the moment.

The other thing, I guess is that our interest rates are not bad if you have cash to put in the bank. Rates are dropping, but you're still looking at over 6.5% (Higher if you're going to be earning in the upper tax brackets, as you can do this through a PIE fund).

IAAB, but not yours. Getting proper financial advice is a wise move, particularly if you have a bit of coin...
posted by MatJ at 3:47 PM on October 23, 2008

So are you wanting to get NZ cash in hand? Can't you just go to your bank and ask for an exchange? You'll probably have to go to the main branch in your area, and it will probably take several days for them to get the bills. Though if it's too much money, NZ customs might raise an eyebrow at that when you enter the country.
posted by zardoz at 4:59 PM on October 23, 2008

Local American Express offices in bigger malls, will exchange money for you. If you are looking for something they do not have, call them in advance and they will have the currency "shipped" to them.

Did this with French Polynesian Francs because I heard it was easier than in Tahiti, Plus it sorta forced me to stick to a budget since I knew exactly how much I had and what it was worth to me. Since I had more time to figure out common prices in my head before hand, i wasn't doing on the fly math trying to figure out if something was 10.00 or 100.00
posted by Mesach at 7:50 PM on October 24, 2008