A few questions!

[Lily Rainbow]

Hi all,

I lived in Sth Aust for 30 yrs,and am returning within the next 3 mths to live.Without trawling through endless threads,can I please ask a few questions?Ok I have worked in Sth Australia,and recently found some old tax return type slips.So ....

(1)Do I need a new TFN?Or once you have one,does it stay with you?

(2)I've got a considerable amount of money to bring back with me.I know about opening bank accounts,but I'm wondering,why do some people use a money transferring company (Like Moneycorps)as a third party when you can just transfer funds yourself once your account is open?What are the benefits of using a company?

(3)I'm not bringing any furniture,but I do want to pack up some personal items (nothing big).Whats the cheapest option for doing so?Send in smallish boxes via Royal Mail or use a company like "Excess Baggage"?

TIA folks!

[NicF]

1) You keep the same TFN through life, no need for a new one.

2) Much better exchange rates. If you have a largish sum of money this can give you hundreds of dollars more. And PiA members get fee free transfers with Moneycorp. Banks tend to charge the earth, either through fees or poor exchange rates. As you are bringing a lot of money I would suggest opening accounts with several Fx companies and ringing each to see what rate they will give you and then seeing if the others will beat the rates quoted. You will get a better rate by phoning than doing on the Internet as the people on the phone have the ability to reduce the margin they make in the transfer.

3) I can't really help with although maybe a small move cube would be worth considering?

[kyliedonut]

I know for sure that you only get one TFN number...I actually went hunting through my old emails from my WHV days and found mine today

[snifter]

Hi all,

I lived in Sth Aust for 30 yrs,and am returning within the next 3 mths to live.Without trawling through endless threads,can I please ask a few questions?Ok I have worked in Sth Australia,and recently found some old tax return type slips.So ....

(1)Do I need a new TFN?Or once you have one,does it stay with you?

(2)I've got a considerable amount of money to bring back with me.I know about opening bank accounts,but I'm wondering,why do some people use a money transferring company (Like Moneycorps)as a third party when you can just transfer funds yourself once your account is open?What are the benefits of using a company?

(3)I'm not bringing any furniture,but I do want to pack up some personal items (nothing big).Whats the cheapest option for doing so?Send in smallish boxes via Royal Mail or use a company like "Excess Baggage"?

TIA folks!

 

2. As has been said, much better exchange rates and if you use Moneycorp on here and say you are a PIA member you get the free transfers. Can also use other companies if you prefer that offer good rates and no fees etc. Case of shopping around. We have used HiFX generally and have no issues with them.

 

3. Depends on how many boxes/items but I agree, look at a MoveCube perhaps? Small one might be more than enough. We used them and shipped a large one over and it was fine. Arrived a bit early, cleared and delivered quickly to use in Adelaide. I'd never use Royal Mail for that stuff as the cost would be a lot. Always use a shipping company. If its only a box or two, say tea chest size I'd look again at Seven Seas (who do the MoveCube) or one like them. We shipped 4 extra tea chest size boxes with them and again, no problems.

 

Excess baggage companies can be good for an extra suitcase or some such. The benefit of that is they arrive quickly (usually) and are delivered once they have cleared customs. We sent an excess bag and it was collected the day before we flew out and arrived the day after we landed. Cost about £100 though for the one holdall, containing about 25kg. Tea chests we shipped with Seven Seas contained far more, heavier and took longer but worked out cheaper. We didn't need those in such a hurry though so it was fine.

 

Good like with the move back

[Blossom]

I know for sure that you only get one TFN number...I actually went hunting through my old emails from my WHV days and found mine today

They gave me a new one 8 years later (unless it was a coincidence that one a couple of didgits different from mine was available for my husband who had never had one).

I have no idea why, as they had my old name and date of birth etc.

[Lily Rainbow]

Thanks people for your advice.I was thinking of using Moneycorps,but how does it actually work?Do I still open say a NAB account and Moneycorps transfers it for me??Clueless on this stuff!lol

I probably have enough personal items (mainly stuff like a few ornaments,photo's,etc)to fill a couple of boxes (and small ones at that),so probably not worth investing in a small move cube.

[NicF]

Thanks people for your advice.I was thinking of using Moneycorps,but how does it actually work?Do I still open say a NAB account and Moneycorps transfers it for me??Clueless on this stuff!lol

I probably have enough personal items (mainly stuff like a few ornaments,photo's,etc)to fill a couple of boxes (and small ones at that),so probably not worth investing in a small move cube.

 

You still need a bank account in Australia to use Moneycorp and you will need an account with Moneycorp as well. If you phone them up they will talk you through it. When you want to transfer your money you phone them up and tell them how much you want to transfer and they will give you the exchange rate they can transfer it at. If you are happy with this you agree the rate (or you can haggle or go find out what rate some other company will give you instead) and then you transfer your money to Moneycorp. They will give you the details of where to transfer it to. They then do the exchange and move the money to Australia and in to a bank account of your choice.

[noworriesmate]

Re Transferring money - I use Ozforex as their rates consistently beat Moneycorps (and it's also free) but I am tempted to try a peer to peer company too which matches people who are sending money in the opposite direction. This one is supported by Richard Branson https://transferwise.com/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=EN_AUS_Search_Brand&matchtype=e&network=g&device=c&devicemodel=&creative=77082794457&keyword=transferwise&placement=&adposition=1t1

 

I would be keen to hear from anyone who has used this kind of service.

 

NWM