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The US dollar is strengthening

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sekmet
The US dollar is strengthening among all major currencies, and looks to get stronger in the short term. Will this have any affect your cost of living?
Lotus Eater
The cost of living is a meaningless term. Its your standard of living i.e the purchasing power of your income in terms of the goods and services that you purchase. The answer Sekmet is it depends. I'm assuming that you get your income in U.S Dollars. So if the U.S. Dollar exchange rate against the Philippine Peso (PHP) is increasing faster than the prevailing inflation rate in the Philippines then your standard of living given a typical cost of a basket of goods and services in the country will increase. If not the reverse applies.

Your question is specific to currency strength. It should be noted that other factors on your standard of living should be taken into account such as whether your income stream whatever the source, state or private, is keeping up with the prevailing inflation rate of the country you are domiciled in.

Just a reminder - it's better to rent




1f609.svg
picomanning

@sekmet  Only so far as the Dollar rises against the Peso. That will evidently happen in the short run. In the long run it's very possible the peso will strengthen against the dollar.

Enzyte Bob
Considering a currency is getting stronger, if using the dollar, it is possible the PHP is getting weaker.

The Forex Currency Traders have the biggest influence on the value of the on currencies they are trading.

Millions of buy/sell 24/7 orders done on a keystroke of a computer.

One active big buck Billionaire, a political donor in the US, almost collapsed the British Pound some years ago by trading. He became a billionaire thanks to Britain.
Lotus Eater
There are various determinants that affect the strength of a given currency and its exchange rate with another currency.
The US$ is the reserve currency of the world and dominates what is effectively the largest market in the world with up to $3 trillion traded daily.

All other things being equal the main driver of a currency's strength are interest rates. Central banks use this to temper inflation and prevent the economy from over heating. The US Federal Reserve has made no secret of the fact that it intends to increase interest rates steadily this year. That coupled with the current volatility economically and politically worldwide has led a rush to the relative safety of the US$

Interestingly there has not been much movement between the USD and PHP recently. The Philippines economy has taken a hammering and I'm somewhat surprised at how well its currency has maintained its value. About 10% of its GDP is foreign remittances from overseas workers many (though not all) have been repatriated. Moreover its tourism industry has been decimated by covid. Currency traders ( effectively the banks) will weigh up the pros and cons of a particular currency taking into account not just interest rates but political stability, inward investment, current account deficits to name just a few.

The 'big buck Billionaire' that the above post alludes to is a Hungarian gentleman by the name of George Soros. In 1992 the UK was a member of the EU's exchange rate mechanism and pound sterling had to be kept within certain bands against the EU currency the Euro. The whole project had very weak untenable foundations and eventually the pound was forced out of the ERM which ultimately saved the UK's bacon in years to come. The EU Euro currency nearly collapsed during the 2008 financial crisis.

Now the UK has its financial independence back and is free of the bureaucratic, bondage, & self serving yoke that is the EU of today.
coach53
The Forex Currency Traders have the biggest influence on the value of the on currencies they are trading.

Millions of buy/sell 24/7 orders done on a keystroke of a computer.

One active big buck Billionaire, a political donor in the US, almost collapsed the British Pound some years ago by trading. He became a billionaire thanks to Britain.
- @Enzyte Bobot
Big part of the Forex traders are idiot sheeps just following what "fantastic" tools based only at what TA tell them to do!!! 
TA = Technical Analyse of just TRADES, NOT BOTHERING what things are worth!!! 
When many such not thinking traders are in a market using same/similar tool, it kind of become self fullfilling - until the bubble burst e g by some big of thinkers decide to cash in at that crazy overvaluing...

Its some similar at stock market where Nasdaq index have gone up CRAZY by many started trading with such TA tools when they got free at daytime by covid and Americans got covid support payouts, which added money at the Nasdaq stock market from people not knowing what they are doing.  This stupidity made prices DOUBLE at stocks which in many cases got LESS worth by COVID.  It dont seem these traders have understood covid is NEGATIVE for economy...  1f923.svg    (During the last half year it have gone down some, but still far to high valued...
Last I looked average earning was only 5 % per year in the COMPANIES these stocks are shares of - which some of these not thinkers dont understand!!!

- -
Soros didnt only mess up for UK, but for Sweden too 30 years ago, HE earned himself I suppouse, but he messed up Swedish economy a lot, interest became 500 % a while!
Enzyte Bob

Actually George Soros is an American who meddles and finances liberal  causes. Born in Hungary with stops in the UK, he came to the America in 1956. Yes he almost brought down the bank of England.


Morgacj2004
@Lotus Eater



I agree with everything you said except the last statement that it is better to rent. In some cases it is and in some such as mine definitely was better to buy. It depends.
Lotus Eater
@Lotus Eater



I agree with everything you said except the last statement that it is better to rent. In some cases it is and in some such as mine definitely was better to buy. It depends.
- @Morgacj2004

I note your observation Morgac. I also note that you are are a US citizen based in the USA. You say 'it depends'. What are your criteria for 'it depends'?

I see you are married to a Cebuano and have been for 12 years and plan to relocate to the Philippines in the next 5-6 years. Firstly congratulations. No  '7 year itch' for you or your partner 1f609.svg - So far.. Need I remind you that the divorce rate Stateside is about 50%. If you split the assets are divided. I defer to our American lawyer friends for the specifics.

If you purchase a house, as is your intent, in Cebu the house will be in your Filipina spouses name. If you split for whatever reason, the assets will go to your spouse. Good luck on fighting that in the Filipino courts. Now I know that you will say that your marriage has been 'road tested' but only a fool believes that he/she can beat the odds which is why the Mafia invested a good portion of their dough in Las Vegas - perhaps money laundering had a say too..

For most expats viewing this Forum their main asset is their property. Some will only be renting in which the context of this exchange is irrelevant.
But for those who do would you advise them to put the bulk of their worth on Red or Black to use the above analogy? The answer for most who are undeluded and are not gambling addicts is an emphatic NO.

You state that it 'In some cases  it is and in some such as mine definitely was better to buy' but hitherto you have not purchased property in the Philippines. Where is the precedent?
Okieboy
There is this idea if you and your Filipino wife buy property together if one of you dies the other is the sole owner, and that is correct if it is you that dies, but if she dies her part is covered by Filipino law, and her spouse is on the bottom of the list, so if she has children and parents you will have a partner
coach53
There is this idea if you and your Filipino wife buy property together if one of you dies the other is the sole owner, and that is correct if it is you that dies, but if she dies her part is covered by Filipino law, and her spouse is on the bottom of the list, so if she has children and parents you will have a partner
- @Okieboy
Well. Not according to Filipino law (although can be as you say in reality).
If the wife has no kids, then the foreigner inherit WHOLE, although need to sell/solve the legalities some other way within a limited time if its land.

If there are any kids, then the foreign husband still get over half. How much depend of how many kids (or if wife has any will, but a will can change legaly max 1/4 of the total value.)

Other relatives have legal right to NOTHING (except can be max 1/4 IF wife had will saying so.)

DISTANCE to relatives can reduce the practical problem risk factor though   :)

Lotus Eater
Even if the above is true, and that's a big if, it will only be relevant in a small number of cases. Women live longer than men. Moreover the age gap between the average foreign expat and his Filipina partner is far greater.

Which brings us back to the couple splitting up. The guy has no rights. There was recently a heart breaking blog by a well known Dumaguete American blogger regarding a fellow expat (John) who has literally been denuded of ALL his assets by a scheming Filipina and her mother. Hell they even tried to get the guy deported.
coach53
Even if the above is true, and that's a big if, it will only be relevant in a small number of cases. Women live longer than men. Moreover the age gap between the average foreign expat and his Filipina partner is far greater.

Which brings us back to the couple splitting up. The guy has no rights. There was recently a heart breaking blog by a well known Dumaguete American blogger regarding a fellow expat (John) who has literally been denuded of ALL his assets by a scheming Filipina and her mother. Hell they even tried to get the guy deported.
- @Lotus Eater

So no problem if the foreigner man die first, because after death he dont have use of the property anyway   :)
(Although some can have children since earlier relations.)

((Among my ancestors the normal is the MEN live much longer than their wifes. Perhaps we wear out the women  :)     Men normaly 85-95.  One of my grandfathers WORKED more than full time during season until he was 85, got fired when he was 92  :)  because forgot to forward big orders he had sold.  Women 63 -80 except my mother who got older than my father. She is 88 so far still managing herself.))

Well. Not odd if have no rights when acting stupid as many foreigners do and put everything even at girlfriend's name...!!! 
Although if married even WITHOUT owning documents the foreigner have LEGAL right to half by marriage and often even more by the Philippine law have a kind of "Automatic prenup" which give right to more if one brought more to the marriage.  (If the laws are FOLLOWED in the Philippines is an other question  :)  and its rather common foreigners WITH rights are SCARED away.

One interesting thing for foreigners is inspite of foreigners cant own land (with the exception I have told several times in other topics) the foreigner CAN get some legal protection EASY by get his name TOO at the real estate documents as "co-owner" of wife.  (Thats not the corect name of it but understandable meaning of it. ) That make it make it more clear for presumtive buyers the FOREIGNER has to sign too to get it sold although thats common anyway spouse have to sign too. That have stoped a scammer Filipina wife to a foreigner friend of mine from get a property sold. (A buyer offered much for the two lots my friend bought. The second of the lots he did put in eldest mutual daughter's name and she (grown up now) agree with the father so at this biger lot the scammer wife get NOTHING...)
sekmet
52.5/$1

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