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joe_d_boss wrote:Hey Tuners, can anyone suggest which financial institution to save/invest US dollars for the best interest? I believe most normal USD savings accounts give you something like 0.005% interest on your monthly balance. Simply not enough.
Yup that is true.vaiostation wrote:Heard some horror stories on the local radio of countless people who invested their US currency into the bank, and when the time came to get back their US dollars, that bank said that they could only pay them in TT dollars...
Some people had to take the bank to court to get back their US currency.
If you going to open an account with these local banks, just remember ask a lot of questions, and read your contract throughly...
zoom rader wrote:
I had a US local Credit card and wanted to pay it off in US the clowns told me i need to change the US at their bank and then pay the account in TT as the going rate of US. After heated arguments with the clowns, i left.
I sold the US on the black market, paid off the credit card and closed off my off all my accounts with that bank.
I wrote a letter of disgust to the CEO and manger of that branch.
Have not received a reply since.
Dont open a US account
zoom rader wrote:Yup that is true.vaiostation wrote:Heard some horror stories on the local radio of countless people who invested their US currency into the bank, and when the time came to get back their US dollars, that bank said that they could only pay them in TT dollars...
Some people had to take the bank to court to get back their US currency.
If you going to open an account with these local banks, just remember ask a lot of questions, and read your contract throughly...
I had a US local Credit card and wanted to pay it off in US the clowns told me i need to change the US at their bank and then pay the account in TT as the going rate of US. After heated arguments with the clowns, i left.
I sold the US on the black market, paid off the credit card and closed off my off all my accounts with that bank.
I wrote a letter of disgust to the CEO and manger of that branch.
Have not received a reply since.
Dont open a US account
Rockram wrote:From my personal experience with UTC, i never had any problems accessing my funds, getting CASH locally i guess might be a challenge, but i have withdrawn cash at foreign ATMs no problems, i also recently withdrew some funds to invest in the MPC ipo and they issued me a CITIBANK check.
thelem-again wrote:Rockram wrote:From my personal experience with UTC, i never had any problems accessing my funds, getting CASH locally i guess might be a challenge, but i have withdrawn cash at foreign ATMs no problems, i also recently withdrew some funds to invest in the MPC ipo and they issued me a CITIBANK check.
lol lol. You are probably withdrawing low amounts. Try $1,000 US a day internationally and see what happens.
I had a US Account with a local bank to do transactions and caught hell.
Couldn't do wire transfers in excess of $200 US a day and the transactions themselves took like 3-5 days to process. So trying to wire $800 US would usually take like a month. So I closed it.
A few banks away allow non-residents to open a US Account still, but like someone said, you have to go in person. I think Chase and Bank of America does it. No one else due to tax and even after 9/11. There is a cost to maintain the account and I am not sure how it would integrate with our banks, if at all. (In terms of transferring etc.)
joe_d_boss wrote:Hey Tuners, can anyone suggest which financial institution to save/invest US dollars for the best interest? I believe most normal USD savings accounts give you something like 0.005% interest on your monthly balance. Simply not enough.
INDAVID WORKSHOP wrote:Guys, Enough said I had US$7,000 accumulated asked the bank for it for my travel, was told I can get about US$1,000 over a two week period.
Gave up asking wire transferred all to a family member and got it there on arrival.
francis1979 wrote:joe_d_boss wrote:Hey Tuners, can anyone suggest which financial institution to save/invest US dollars for the best interest? I believe most normal USD savings accounts give you something like 0.005% interest on your monthly balance. Simply not enough.
Fixed deposit with interest rates starting at 3%
https://www.dflbusiness.com
I have used unit trust and republic bank.
Never had problem obtaining money back via check.
Advantage of unit trust is that checks are issued for free vs. bank where you need to pay
Although the amount transferred may be reported the the US IRS, it may not necessarily require detailing on that person's individual tax return.xtech wrote:INDAVID WORKSHOP wrote:Guys, Enough said I had US$7,000 accumulated asked the bank for it for my travel, was told I can get about US$1,000 over a two week period.
Gave up asking wire transferred all to a family member and got it there on arrival.
Your family member will have to explain to IRS how they come into so much money. You should have flown up open an account and wired to yourself.
adnj wrote:Although the amount transferred may be reported the the US IRS, it may not necessarily require detailing on that person's individual tax return.xtech wrote:INDAVID WORKSHOP wrote:Guys, Enough said I had US$7,000 accumulated asked the bank for it for my travel, was told I can get about US$1,000 over a two week period.
Gave up asking wire transferred all to a family member and got it there on arrival.
Your family member will have to explain to IRS how they come into so much money. You should have flown up open an account and wired to yourself.
You can also transfer from your bank account using a service such as Western Union where you specify the recipient's name (yours) and date of cash pickup.
INDAVID WORKSHOP wrote:Guys,
Understood my reason was funds returned for loan given.
No question asked, family member had no issue.
Regardsadnj wrote:Although the amount transferred may be reported the the US IRS, it may not necessarily require detailing on that person's individual tax return.xtech wrote:INDAVID WORKSHOP wrote:Guys, Enough said I had US$7,000 accumulated asked the bank for it for my travel, was told I can get about US$1,000 over a two week period.
Gave up asking wire transferred all to a family member and got it there on arrival.
Your family member will have to explain to IRS how they come into so much money. You should have flown up open an account and wired to yourself.
You can also transfer from your bank account using a service such as Western Union where you specify the recipient's name (yours) and date of cash pickup.
joe_d_boss wrote:Thanks for all the replies. It is a little too late now since I already opened a USD account with FCB to deposit a few US cheques that I got as payment. I thought it would be a good idea to save some USD. The bank agreed that I can withdraw my funds and send it to another institution via a manager's cheque that they issue. This is to ensure that the money goes only to another financial institution. I have accumulated a small amount of USD, and my goal is to transfer it to somewhere else where I can just get some interest on it. Mutual funds is what I have been looking at. I want to take my time and make the right decision.
INDAVID WORKSHOP wrote:Bro, note the last time I tried to get a manager check for my$US the check takes about 45 working days to clear, and this was from my bank to another financial institution right here in T&T.joe_d_boss wrote:Thanks for all the replies. It is a little too late now since I already opened a USD account with FCB to deposit a few US cheques that I got as payment. I thought it would be a good idea to save some USD. The bank agreed that I can withdraw my funds and send it to another institution via a manager's cheque that they issue. This is to ensure that the money goes only to another financial institution. I have accumulated a small amount of USD, and my goal is to transfer it to somewhere else where I can just get some interest on it. Mutual funds is what I have been looking at. I want to take my time and make the right decision.
INDAVID WORKSHOP wrote:Bro, note the last time I tried to get a manager check for my$US the check takes about 45 working days to clear, and this was from my bank to another financial institution right here in T&T.
joe_d_boss wrote:INDAVID WORKSHOP wrote:Bro, note the last time I tried to get a manager check for my$US the check takes about 45 working days to clear, and this was from my bank to another financial institution right here in T&T.
Yeah I know it takes some time to clear. I have no problem with that since I don't plan to use the money anytime soon. I think it's about 20 working days, depending on which bank or financial institution.
thelem-again wrote:Rockram wrote:From my personal experience with UTC, i never had any problems accessing my funds, getting CASH locally i guess might be a challenge, but i have withdrawn cash at foreign ATMs no problems, i also recently withdrew some funds to invest in the MPC ipo and they issued me a CITIBANK check.
lol lol. You are probably withdrawing low amounts. Try $1,000 US a day internationally and see what happens.
I had a US Account with a local bank to do transactions and caught hell.
Couldn't do wire transfers in excess of $200 US a day and the transactions themselves took like 3-5 days to process. So trying to wire $800 US would usually take like a month. So I closed it.
A few banks away allow non-residents to open a US Account still, but like someone said, you have to go in person. I think Chase and Bank of America does it. No one else due to tax and even after 9/11. There is a cost to maintain the account and I am not sure how it would integrate with our banks, if at all. (In terms of transferring etc.)