Sorry to disagree, I have a Dutch account but do not have a residence there. There is a private banking system that lies outside of the domain of the national system - as far as I know, every bank in Europe offers that option. There is a minimum ante (usually something like $50k) and you are responsible for the tax end of things and there are no bank guarantees/deposit guarantees of course.

Dennis

Hey THE,

Actually, I wasn't the one who talked about putting money specifically into Germany, but no big deal. My comment about the exchange rate was meant to address the sinking value of the dollar and the implied "profit" if you put money into another currency while the value of the dollar wanes.

What prompted this post was all the doomsday economic stuff I have been reading about the ultimate fate of our economy considering the massive deficit, the ownership of our debt by potential hostile countries, the large individual debt of the average american, the impending implosion of lending institutions, and the way the Fed's bandaid approach of lowering interest rates seems not to be working in the long term. As I said in my original post, I'm a novice when talking about money, but I am interested in surviving hard times if they are indeed on the horizion.

Oh, in that case, you can invest in foreign currency right here in the US, without the need for actually having an account in the foreign country.

If you want to put your money in a savings account in a foreign country, you are welcome to use mine! :)