Considering move back to Australia with family from the U.S.

[expatChicagoan]

Good luck with what every you decide! I move to the US (Chicago initially) from Melbourne almost 19 years ago. I could never see myself moving back. I love the US too much. There's way more to do here, and cost of living is so much better.

[wanneroo]

Originally Posted by Vichel

Tough luck there, wanneroo! You've often stated your wish for the AUD to go low so you can visit but who'd a thought it'd go so high! I don't understand the whole currency world ... is it that the USD is weak? or the AUD strong? or both? or something totally different? It seems if you knew the process well you could make a whack of money on exchanging currency.

Trimac must be jumping for joy though.

If the carbon tax gets through the COL here will get worse. Unless you're low income, then you'll be better off, apparently. Maybe.

Trimac will be well off when he visits the USA, unless the rates change in a big way.

I'd say the bigger part of it is weakness in the USA, due to US debt and also our very low interest rates. Australia has much higher interest rates so what investors do is buy US dollars at our low interest rates and then buy Australian bonds at the higher interest rates. With the difference in interest rates, they cash a nice profit.

Also the Aussie dollar is high due to the commodities boom.

I'd say look for the Aussie $$$ to go down when the USA brings up it's interest rates.