Need to go !!! Can you live off savings

SMKWUK


Joined: 09/04/2008
Posts: 6

Message Posted:
09/04/2008 21:54

Hello everyone,



My wife and I are considering moving to NC, as we are very "Cheesed off" with the way the UK is and desire a better quality of life with decent people and values and beautiful NC is ticking all the right boxes!



Our situation is that we would like to pay for an Off-Plan property for approximatley 50-60,000 GBP. my main question is ...Is it fisible to live of interest of £50,000 in a high interest account!!! my friends tell me that the cost of living is low, we would be mortgage free and would survive from the income generated on the savings ? IS this really possible, to a reasonible standard of living like in the UK????



Any information anyone could supply given our situation would be very much appriciated.

cleos


Joined: 13/03/2008
Posts: 77

Message Posted:
09/04/2008 22:33

Hye SMKWUK

We moved over and are mortgage free. We have invested the equity (on our house sale in UK) in high interest 1 month YTL account. We have split the monies between few banks (just in case !!!) but our average interest on 50k is 19%. That brings us in approx 1900 YTL , which at todays rate of 2.55 to the pound is 745 Gpb per month after tax.

The most expensive outgoings we have found are electric and car tax/ins etc (and gas if you have central heating). We do not have a problem living on that - we go out a couple of times a week for drinks - maybe a meal or 2 . What we don't spend we save for hols and extra bills. Same as in UK some months we spend more than others.

I think you can live here as cheaply or as expensively as you wish.

It is diificult to compare the standard of living to that in UK because here the standard is not always based on the materialistic consumer standard of the UK.

Do your research and if you decide to come out ENJOY just as we are doing.

sids1969


Joined: 06/07/2007
Posts: 77

Message Posted:
09/04/2008 23:25

hi cleos

can you tell me which banks you have deposited your cash with as i am considering opening a high interest account and is it possible to open an account and manage it online, my plan is to move there permenantly once my partner has our child in july and i would like to invest the cash now to start earning us some interest straight away.

could you also tell me what the rate of tax is on savings.

many thanks

the2ofus


Joined: 13/02/2008
Posts: 637

Message Posted:
10/04/2008 11:12

Hye sids1969

Hope following info helps;

When we first came out we opened a Sterling a/c with Turk bank (only 5%) . We then opened YTL 1 month account with CreditWest at 19% - the interest on this is paid into a YTL current a/c (with CreditWest every month) for which we have debit card and master card. Our electric.internet.tv are paid by direct debit from this a/c.

We also opened a sterling a/c with Continental (again 5%) and a YTL 1 month a/c with them at 20% (no minimum deposit) - again we have the option of transferring the interest on monthly basis over to our current a/c with CreditWest.

I haven't done internet banking from here as we live here and i enjoy popping into the bank for a natter !! but i know that several banks do offer internet banking. I can check whether CreditWest offer that service if you want.

The tax is (i may be wrong on this as it is taken at source so i never see it anyway) either 6 or 8%.

The reason we have split our money is because we had heard (rightly or wrongly) that in the event of bank crash your money is protected up to $30,000 in 1 a/c.

Like i say hope this helps.

Mountain Edge



Joined: 23/02/2007
Posts: 199

Message Posted:
10/04/2008 11:24

Where is the nearest CreditWest in relation to Karsiyaka.

I do have an account at TurkBankasi, who are very good, but I want to spread my wares.



By the way, Sids1969, did you enjoy your holiday and was the car OK.

We had a great week.

jamie012002


Joined: 13/12/2007
Posts: 223

Message Posted:
10/04/2008 12:28

Hi



Excuse my ignorance.



But what is stopping me borrowing money against my UK property at 5% and then putting the funds in to NC account and getting 20% ?



Kind regards



Jamie

Barrovian1



Joined: 16/11/2007
Posts: 95

Message Posted:
10/04/2008 12:29

Mountain Edge



What % of interest do Turk Bankasi give?



Bob.

jamie012002


Joined: 13/12/2007
Posts: 223

Message Posted:
10/04/2008 12:31

Hi







Excuse my ignorance.







But what is stopping me borrowing money against my UK property at 5% and then putting the funds in to NC account and getting 20% ?







Kind regards







Jamie

brian24001


Joined: 23/03/2008
Posts: 606

Message Posted:
10/04/2008 12:36

Jamie,

Nothing, except if the currency fluctuation eats up the interest you would loose out, i.e. you may get say 15% interest with a bigger bank like the Is Bank or Turk Bank, but if the currency exchange fluctuates by say 0.3 YTL to the GBP, and you change the money back, you won't have gained anything.

Do the maths carefully.

A couple of years ago, we got over 3YTL to the GBP, add to this the 15%, works out nicely, but the timing was fortunate.

However, its worth remembering, as said many times on this and the other BB, where there is high gain, there is potentially high risk.

I say again, deo the maths carefully!

namus


Joined: 23/06/2007
Posts: 74

Message Posted:
10/04/2008 13:05

I rarely post on here but have some knowledge of turkish currency over the past 30 years.

basically, in the past 30 years the interest rate has never kept up with the devaluation of the lira.

example; relative took 30,000 GBP in 1988 and invested in lira (approx 3 old lira to the pound from memory) with Is Bank at 35% interest - yes 35%, look at the records.



By 1993 the exchange had moved from 3 lira to 600 lira to the pound and her investment was nigh on worthless. We all know where the lira ended up with exchange rate in the millions before the yeni lira replaced it.



i have not researched the figures and the above is from memory but be very careful trying to live off interest in a country with a weak and volatile currency.

ukturk



Joined: 01/09/2007
Posts: 1974

Message Posted:
10/04/2008 13:42

hi guys

this topic has come up many times in the past, and i dont wont to say to anyone they are wrong!!!!

yes its true what namus is saying and 35% interest was quite high interest rate but i had heard of even upto 45% in the past and in the past the turkish lira has been very unstable due to the turkish economy and inflation being one of the highest in europe

but over the last 5 years the turkish lira has been the most stable fluctrating between 2lira and 3 lira to the pound and since the new montary system was introduced the lira is very stable due to turkeys economy being one of the strongest in developing only changing a slight bit on a average between 2.20 and 2.70

due to my experiance in dealing with pound, euro and the lira because it plays a big part in my work when dealing with foreign customers, the best advice i can give anyone is dont be hasty to change your money into lira as soon as you land in cyprus wait and play the exchange game, i do this and you can make quite a bit of money change your pound to lira when the rate is quite high lets say 2.70 to the pound and change back to pound when it drops down to lets say 2.20 so for example if you have a 100k and you change at 2.70 you will recive 270000 lira if the rate goes down to 2.20 then you change back to pound you will earn a extra 50000ytl which is around 23k

some might say they can keep a head on this so for a basic rule of thumb only change your pound into lira when the rate is quite high 2.50 to 2.70 and that way if the lira does drop down to the 2.00-2.40 you wont loose any money but gain like i said the lira has been the most strongest and stable it has been for years and the only thing that will change this a bit is the polictical uncertantinty which is going on at the moment here in turkey with the party which is in power at the moment

so i would reconmend to put you money into high interest accounts but be patient when changing money and especially if you are living in cyprus or turkey, because this good return on your money wont last for ever because if turkey does join the e.u it will have to come inline with other european countries iterest rates which is greece at 10%

hope this helps you guys

regards

ukturk

joandjelly


Joined: 24/02/2008
Posts: 2953

Message Posted:
10/04/2008 14:17

Mountain Edge - the nearest Credit West to Karsiyaka is in Karaoglanoglu. Coming from Karsiyaka, it is on the right just before the shops.



Sids1969 - regarding opening accounts online, you can do this with HSBC but you have to have opened an account with them in person first because you need to be set up with telephone banking before you can set up internet banking. You need to do this in person because they will want to see your passport as part of the account opening process. I hope this makes sense.

Pipie


Joined: 05/01/2008
Posts: 5499

Message Posted:
10/04/2008 18:06

ukturk , what sort of bank charges do the banks charge for changing from ytl account to the sterling account ?

ukturk



Joined: 01/09/2007
Posts: 1974

Message Posted:
10/04/2008 19:29

hi pipie

if you are talking about bank charges in cyprus, you dont actually get charged for changing your money from one account to another

regards

ukturk

sids1969


Joined: 06/07/2007
Posts: 77

Message Posted:
10/04/2008 19:31

thanks very much the2ofus i would appreciate it if you could find out if credit west do internet banking

thanks very much



hi mountain edge

yes the car did the job very well and we managed to take it back in only two pieces as a wind deflector fell of!!

and the underside has a protective layer of tarmac as i went over a newly laid road near to the villa a little too fast oops!!!

brian24001


Joined: 23/03/2008
Posts: 606

Message Posted:
10/04/2008 20:41

Also piepie, funily enough, foriegn currency accounts are free (at least they are with Is Bank and Turk Bank), no monthly bank charges for having the account, but there is a small monthly charge for ytl accounts.

jaysea


Joined: 26/03/2008
Posts: 2

Message Posted:
11/04/2008 09:50

Dera all,

Like SMKWUK I am thinking of moving to NC for the same reasons but would like to know the cost of living. How much on average is the monthly out goings for council tax, electric, water, gas. running a car.

Am sure its been mentioned on this site before but can't seem to find the answers.

Thanks

Jim.

Lemtich



Joined: 15/02/2007
Posts: 1487

Message Posted:
11/04/2008 10:38

I think that a figure of £1000 per month for a couple seems to be the ball park figure. Obviously it depends on your preferences but I would see that as a minimum if you wish to maintain a UK type middle class lifestyle.



Lem

ukturk



Joined: 01/09/2007
Posts: 1974

Message Posted:
11/04/2008 10:57

hi

thats where a lot of expats go wrong, comparing and keeping up a uk type lifestyle in cyprus trust me you wont last long if you have that mentality!!!!

like i have posted on this before in the past, now you are living in cyprus you dont have to go for all the uk goods when you go shoping most if not all turkish produsts are the same quality as their u.k counterparts and half the price, you really dont need to spend a £1000 (2400ytl) a month unless you are one of them expats that lives in the pubs from morning till night only buys uk products cos it reminds them of home and they cant do without it!!!

a figure that we live on is 1000-1500ytl a month and thats including running a car, a moped, bills (water and electric) food shoping, fresh produce from the markets, meat from the butchers and bits and pieces from the supermarket, also thats having a meal out once a week and going out for a drink and this is for a couple

like i said before if you have the mentality of comparing prices to the u.k thinking this and that is cheaper than the u.k, when in actual fact it is quite expensive for cyprus trust me you wont last very long!!!

good luck to all

regards

ukturk

Kantara


Joined: 28/05/2007
Posts: 661

Message Posted:
11/04/2008 11:11

Thanks UkTurk - especially when you are working here and you get the local salary there not many possibilities to earn more.



A very good answer!



Kantara

livethedream


Joined: 12/04/2007
Posts: 455

Message Posted:
11/04/2008 11:25

Well said uk - a lot of ex-pats that I've heard of are leaving NC because of the 'cost of living' - this is because they feel like they're on permanent holiday and so eat out all the time, buy all the imported stuff at the supermarkets, etc - that's fine if you are on holiday, but if you are living off your savings or indeed working out here, you'll soon find that you are living way beyond your means and your savings are soon running out.



Look out the Turkish cookery books and be adventurous!!



ltd

hattikins


Joined: 17/02/2008
Posts: 2793

Message Posted:
11/04/2008 11:30

How would you define a " middle class" lifestyle,what does it entail. I think £1000 per month is a bit over the top when you take into account that the cost of living in Cyprus is much lower than in the UK, we certainly don,t spend anywhere near that to enjoy a good standard of living.

Pipie


Joined: 05/01/2008
Posts: 5499

Message Posted:
11/04/2008 11:32

Ukturk Thanks for reply .

Lemtich



Joined: 15/02/2007
Posts: 1487

Message Posted:
11/04/2008 11:42

Please don't get me wrong, I am not advocating a UK middle class lifestyle. When I stay in the TRNC I go native aside for a liking for Strongbow, I agree with UKTurk that you can still enjoy life on a much more modest budget and skip the imported goods.



I think what I was trying to describe was being able to dine out as and when, maintaing a private pool and car, flights to the UK to see family and perhaps membership of a golf club etc.



Its not my cup of tea but I know that for many people It may well be.



Lem

orangekazzie



Joined: 31/07/2007
Posts: 1091

Message Posted:
11/04/2008 11:43

Any imported stuff we need gets brought over in suitcases on trips to the UK. Personal choice stuff like shampoo, shower gels, replacement heads for toothbrushes etc, things we wouldn't buy in NC because of the costs.

If we run out we go without. We buy everything else local.

Karen

livethedream


Joined: 12/04/2007
Posts: 455

Message Posted:
11/04/2008 12:01

Karen



I do online shopping - I get my mum online and give her orders, then she brings them out - brilliant system!



Karen

ukturk



Joined: 01/09/2007
Posts: 1974

Message Posted:
11/04/2008 12:41

is that primark and matalan online home service is it??



i do the same for certain stuff if you want to stay at hotel ukturk then you got to bring me my list of products or their is no room in the inn!!!!

ukturk

livethedream


Joined: 12/04/2007
Posts: 455

Message Posted:
11/04/2008 12:56

ukturk - how did you know - are you a mind reader as well??



Yes, Primark and Matalan, and we run the same policy as you do - no goodies, no room!



ltd

jaysea


Joined: 26/03/2008
Posts: 2

Message Posted:
11/04/2008 15:26

Dear all,

Thanks for the replies, as I am single (divorced) I will only have myself to look after and will always buy what the locals buy, so should not have to spend to much. The only large outgoings would be the runing costs and the upkeep of the house that I intend to purchase sometime soon.

Thanks

Jim.

Brookie


Joined: 31/05/2008
Posts: 20

Message Posted:
31/05/2008 19:08

Hello, we are planning on moving over to KKTC by end of August. We thought we would rent a villa initially until we have decided whether or not we will be able to adapt so renting out our UK house. I have looked at prices of villas for rent but most seem to be holiday rents. Does anyone know where we could rent a villa at a reasonable rate bearing in mind it will be for a 6 to 12 month tenancy. Does anyone have a vacant 3 bed villa with pool in either Lapta, Alsancak, Dogankoy, Ozankoy or Beylerbeyi or any of the villages surrounding Girne ? Brilliant site by the way and its been so useful in helping us to make a decision to give it a try.

cyprusishome


Joined: 31/03/2007
Posts: 2381

Message Posted:
31/05/2008 20:44

What you have to remember with interest rates, or any invetment they can go down or up. With the current high rates at some banks the situation is for them to go one way only, down.



So if you are going to rely on that rate as your bench mark earnings then you would make a major mistake.



As well as points raised above you have got council taxes, water and electric all rising way above inflation rates. What happens in the event of a major problem with house or home. Or indeed you have to seek health care which could be very costly.



After 2.5 years here if we only had £50k invested for our income we would be struggling in a couple of years.



Prices are no longer cheap here for food etc so if anyone is thinking of coming to live they MUST come here for a couple of months to gain a full insight into costs, especially on what is a small sum to invest as income.