The euro

[Dolt]

Whats going to happen to it?
If the euro goes, what will happen to my money, will I lose everything?

[starone]

Stop worrying. They will work something out. After all, their own money is involved as well and they won't risk that.

[Dolt]

But Starbuchon it's not looking good. all my savings are in a bank, should I withdraw them and put them somewhere safe? ....Like sterling?

[flobadob]

Dolt, apparently the safest currency to invest in is Dollars. Also Ireland has a deposit guarantee if you want to open an Irish account.

[Dolt]

I think Ireland is in a bad way at the moment. so how can they guarantee something if they have no back up?

[flobadob]

Haven't a clue but that's the story anyway.

[Dolt]

If I withdraw my money (euros) from the bank and put them under my mattress will I be able to redeem them later, or will they be worthless?

[grffindoor2011]

A certain value will be lost, that I have no doubt of. Those that remember decimalisation will have memories of things costing more and not getting the same for your money initially.

[Dolt]

I hope it doesn't come to that grff.

[Kayless]

get a sterling account and convert. When the Euro collapses they will revert back to their previous currencies probably at huge reduction on the original conversion rate. Despite what the anti British Euphiles tell you sterling is considered pretty good in the current climate.

[sandyRoe]

If I had any money I'd buy gold.

[factor-fiction]

I think Starbuckone's initial answer was a good one.
I can't see any possible way that you could lose everything. The Euro will not go in the next 12 months (maybe not in the next ten years) but if it did go it would be replaced by other currencies.
By moving your money out of Euros into another currency you may gain a bit or you might lose a bit. Experienced currency traders try to forecast these things but no-one knows for sure.
And I don't see any reason for taking Euros from the bank and putting them under the mattress!

[BARNEYKX]

PUT IT UNDER THE MATTRESS ,AN HONEST THIEF MIGHT IT GET BUT BETTER THAT THAN THE BANK MANAGERS ETC

[Twenty20]

An 'honest thief'?

[rov1100]

Although the Euro has taken a battering lately you would think the value of sterling would increase. But it hasn't! When Germany finally sorts it out the £ will go the way of the Titanic and just as fast. It don't take much working out but if inflation is at 5%, as it is in Britain, your £ is only worth 95p after 1 year.

[Prudie]

From the sole selfish purpose of wanting more holiday money I've watched the euro v sterling daily through the whole of the euro crisis, the euro has hardly waivered from 85p or 86p so it seems pretty strong against the pound whatever!

[SpikeyBush]

And I remember the Euro was only worth about 63p when it first came out.

Ireland is doing a good job of putting its house in order and I can't see France or Germany standing by to let the Euro be devalued.

[Hopkirk]

The Euro will fall apart eventually.

It's just a matter of time.

It was always a bad idea, and nothing they do can get past this truth.

[New Judge]

Prudie and Spikeybush have, perhaps unwittingly, identified the problem.

Germany, in particular, will not allow the value of the Euro to fall. It suits them to have a strong currency and the structure of the Eurozone is designed almost exclusively for their economy (and to a lesser degree that of France). The lesser Eurozone nations have been reeled into the scam that is the Euro. They have borrowed huge sums - far more than they could ever be expected to repay - at interest rates far below those they would have paid had they kept their own currencies. (Those interest rates were “Euro-wide” rates, designed to suit Germany). Germany did very well out of this by selling goods and services to those countries who used their cheaply borrowed money.

Now the chickens have come home to roost. Those countries have now become so indebted that it has become (very belatedly) apparent that they must either be “bailed out” with taxpayers’ money or they must go skint. This would not have occurred had they retained their own currencies. Firstly, they would not have been able to borrow such huge sums and the cash they did borrow would have been at considerably higher interest rates. Secondly their currencies would have devalued as their debts increased helping them attract inward investment and sell more of their goods and services as they became cheaper with the devaluation of their currency. That is what variable exchange rates are for.

The Euro was a flawed project from the outset. And the most annoying thing of all is that the politicians who pressed on with it (and in particular allowed the weaker nations to flout the entry criteria in order to join) were warned that the precise circumstances that now prevail were a strong possibility.

They ignored those warnings and pressed on. And everybody is now paying the price for their vanity and folly.

[Sqad]

I agree with rov1100....in the last few weeks we have had horror stories about the eurozone and yet the euro has held up against the pound sterling and even today after the "bad news" the pound hasn't strengthened (or the euro weekend)..

Does this tell us more about sterling or about the euro?

The UK debt is greater than the Greek debt.

I don't know what will happen to the euro, but my guess is that it will remain, so that I am not panicking (at the moment;-)

[mungbeanz]

Withdraw all your money and buy gold or a fleet of Lotus Esprits.