Pukey - tell us how you got on when you get in.
Hiya Brian…thanks for the splendid advice…
Had a very good night…The emerates inself is a lovely stadium, very well laid out and we had a smashing vantage point from the upper tier behind the goal Arsenal were attacking into in the first half…A good atmosphere in there but probably thought it would be better all the same
On the game itself…Barca will be very disappointed to have lost that, until they brought on Keita and shifted Iniesta out to the left they were well on top in midfield but lost their grip here when this happened…Fair play to Arsenal they worked hard throughout and even at times when they were chasing shadows but stuck with it and all three goals on the night were excellent…RVP looks incredibly sharp at the moment and had a cracking battle with Pique…Valdes will be disappointed with the first goal but for a man who would have been seen by many as a liability/weak link a few seasons ago he has really developed into a very good keeper and looked assured throughout…
Messi’s movement was excellent but took far too much out of the ball second half while Koscielny was probably the best player on the pitch last night, absolutely immense for the gunners…
I will definately make it my business to go back to the Emerates again, lovely stadium and very accessable and the Gunners fans came across as alright sorts too…i shall post in more detail this evening BT
tinnion, irish govt bonds - listening to sunday business show, goons on it reckon 2 year irish govt bonds are as safe as having your money in an irish savings account but with a better interest rate. granted with mcleish to villa, galway hurlers etc my investment strategy hasnt been great of late but dont like having all my savings in AUD either. can you sum up whats involved with buying these bad boys/buys as the case may be. cheers
Depends on how much you have to invest on whether it’s worthwhile. You’ll have to buy them through a broker, not sure if you can do that through an Australian there should be some out there that have access to buy them. You could also buy through someone here like Davy, they will hold the bonds in custody for you.There’s a minimum bite size to buying them, so you buy them in tranches of 1,000 or 10,000 not sure which it is. Unless you have a relatively large sum any gain you get from the better interest rate is likely to be eaten up in broker fees and transaction fees. Basically, call up a few brokers, ask them if they deal in Irish Govt. bonds, if they do open an account with them, fund it and ask them to buy some for you.
What is the yield on the bonds at the moment anyway? What is your objective? To earn a better return or to move some assets out of AUD into EUR?
I’m in a similar postiion myself with my USD and EUR assets, no idea what way I should weight them, at the moment it’s about 50:50 but that’s by accident rather than design. Interest rates are so low and I have so little in assets that I can’t be bothered moving it around to get a better rate. My only concern is the FX risk.The easiest way to change this exposure is through a spreadbetting account, only fee is the bid ask spread an it’s tax free.
Not sure how bond income works overseas but in Ireland it’s also at the marginal rate of income tax so you could be throwing away half straight away on tax.
The high yield isn’t just a reflection on the risk of default, there’s also the risk of restructure and the possibility that 2 year bonds could become 20 year bonds.
I think they were saying 6% or so yield, so much better than a savings account. They had a section on it during the podcast which seemed interesting. Could always get a family member to open it for me in Ireland I suppose and avoid the tax…
My primary motivation is to move off having 100% of my assets in AUD. They have a superannuation scheme here where 9% of my gross income goes into a pension scheme which I have structured as mostly cash as Aus companies are ridiculously overvalued at the moment, the banks in particular. If I leave Aus, there is a 30% tax for withdrawing my super but still almost everything I have at the moment is AUD. Granted its the best time to have AUD but I need to diversify a bit. Also think the crash here will leave the Irish one looking like a tea party.
Also on that podcast, stockbroker speak granted - load of very solid companies, pay good dividend and with no debt. They reckon they are hugely undervalued at the moment - Royal Dutch Shell was one, Prudential, Vodafone, Aviva, think BT actually was one too though I wouldnt invest in them with Mac’s money. I’ve had a lot of dealings with the IT companies here - VMware and Quest seem to have very strong product offerings at the moment. While I think Google are a superb company. No idea of their balance sheets to be honest.
Sound advice there Rocko. The entire yield isn’t income though some of it is capital gains. You should get tax advice anyways before doing anything like that. It shouldn’t be too bad with Oz as I’m sure they’ve some agreement setup, but you can get caught with income tax and some retention tax on certain foreign investments, depending on agreements.
But you need to know the balance sheets to make the decision. The best companies in the world can be overvalued and the worst companies in the world can be undervalued. It doesn’t follow that good experience dealing locally with a company should result in price gain on the stock market.
A family member in Ireland won’t avoid tax on the bond income. Like I said it’s much higher tax than DIRT on savings so you need to allow for that in comparing rates.
Better again is An Post’s savings bond and savings cert which is tax free, albeit hardly a gamble.
Yes mate I’m just trying to be lazy here and hope there is someone else here in the same boat and might have looked at these balance sheets.
I think the GAA betting thread is your best chance of diversifying.
In seriousness I wouldn’t be buying government bonds. They’re usually for investors with a portfolio of assets who are managing a structured investment strategy and are reasonably price neutral because of hedging and maturity spreads etc. They’re not generally used by the lone investor as far as I know. But I guess that’s the risk you’re looking at taking on. If you just want to get out of AUD though then some ETFs should do that for you and all the underlying investment management is taken care of.
ETF’s?
Thanks guys. Have had a wonderful few days in the Tuscan sunshine surrounded by fellow Americans (have been meaning to outline the details in the relevant holiday thread, will do so tonight).
I’m in the US and having a very nice memorial day so far albeit it’s far too hot for a roaster like me (30 already and it’s not eleven yet)
I have two questions for BT.
- We went shopping a couple of days ago. I bought some bits and bobs in timberland, including a pair of boots. The assistants were great, but they were bombarding me with memorial day discount this, and memorial day discount that. I paid up and left, and when we got home I told herself how cheap or all was in the sale. When she checked the receipt it transpires they didn’t charge me for the boots. I really really can’t be arsed going back as it’s so hot, and it’s a good 45 min drive. She says it’s not worth bothering and that she was overcharged in a different shop in the same mall.
Should I go back or not??
Second. What are your thoughts on brexit, and the short, medium and long term economic ramifications? I’d appreciate advice from @balbec, @anon7035031 @Rocko @Bandage and any other business types. It could be close enough to bother voting.
Ps I was going to vote to stay in, or not bother voting until that cunt junker weighed in, and I’m inclined to vote out now.
Your a gas man Flatty. Give some homeless chap a few bucks to assuage your guilt.
I’m also heading to murica on Wednesday. Temps do look way too high alright.
Would you vote for Ireland to stay in if was a referendum? Same answer for me.
You’d struggle to find homeless person here. The stepford wives would have them soylent greened.
You poshing it out in the Hamptons Flatty?! You’re some boy.