Hair Transplant Payments

[SD1984]

I have a rather interesting question for everyone. My HT is scheduled for Spring 2022 and will be in the ballpark of around 6000 euro in cost. As of right now today the european dollar is average in value with 1 euro being $1.18 USD as far as the exchange rate goes. This would be $7,086 for my cost of surgery if it were today.

Should the euro go up, even if slightly, to lets say $1.22, the total would then go up to $7,320 for me. That's a $236 increase! Basically half the cost of my flights. If you see where I'm going with this, I'm curious if anyone coming from the US has ever thought of, if there's a way to cash in NOW or anytime soon if the euro value drops even lower, to secure my 6000 euro for a good exchange rate. The app Revolut which I have been planning to pay with charges a whopping 84 euro ($100) to exchange this large amount, while my local bank would give me 6000 euro in cash exchange for around $50. I'm certainly not a fan of bringing that much euro cash with me, but if I can save a couple of hundred dollars it might be worth it.

Any thoughts or advice I'd appreciate... Thanks

[deeznuts]

Well I used transferwise to pay in euro. Or maybe you can use a 0 fx fee credit card. I'm sure you can discuss with your clinic to pay ahead of schedule. I'd imagine it's not a hard conversation to have.

You: "I want to pay you earlier".

Clinic: "Okay". 

Anyway, the exchange rate can go up, it can go down and it can stay the same. If you knew what was going to happen, you'd be rich. So honestly holding onto your USD is just as likely to be good to you as it is to be bad to you. Forex is somewhat of a zero sum game. Someone has to lose and someone has to win. So it's really a coin flip if you win or lose. 

That said, if you want to avoid the currency risk altogether and lock in your exchange rate, I think interactive brokers is quite friendly with exchanging to euro? I'm not sure since I'm not American and don't have access to all the great brokerages they have over there. But you might benefit from forex trading. Here in Canada, we often use something like Norbert's gambit for a cheap currency exchange (primarily for the CAD <-> USD pair. Have you done a Google search on how to get USD -> Euro for cheap?

[1978matt]

You could buy the Invesco CurrencyShares Euro Trust ETF with the $7000 and hold until you are ready pay.

Whether after share dealing fees it is worth it you have to work out.

[Al - Moderator]

Give them 1500 up front now as a deposit (25% down payment). That will lessen any difference in price as the remaining amount owed at the time of surgery will only be 4500.

 

[Fue3361]

Carrying that amount of cash really shouldn’t be an issue imho, just dont flash it around.  If you get mugged at gunpoint, the 7k usd is the least of your worries.