I have a lot of money sitting in PayPal (my extra side that my husband knows nothing about hehe) from mystery shopping and reimbursements... I was looking around the PayPal site and realized that I could in fact exchange the money into different currencies.

Has anyone done that? In theory, if I transferred the money into the Euro and if the Euro gains against the dollar, I suppose I would make money in the long run when I transfer it back to the dollar. Kind of nervous about it though!

Depends on your definition of "a lot of money".

Just remember, some very very BIG boys have lost billions (maybe trillions) doing the exact same thing.

Now, THAT'S "a lot of money".

I would suggest that you go to your local assessor's office and buy tax liens....in my state, guaranteed 13% interest.

Safe as can be.

Are there exchange fees?

Haven't got any experience doing that but I would suppose there are foreign exchange fees. I guess it's a gamble figuring out whether or not you can take a tidy profit that will encompass the fees. I play the stock market, it's gambling that I do well but haven't got any idea about exchanging money into different markets. I do know that Italy is going through some strange election stuff that may affect European markets and therefore the euro itself, so I personally would say to stay away for now.

I'm curious to know more about purchasing tax liens. That's an interesting idea there..

Just go to your local assessor's office. They will give you a list of all properties with past due property taxes. If the owner pays the taxes, you get your money refunded plus (in my state) 13% interest. If they don't pay within a predetermined time, you OWN the property (subject to any other liens, mortgages, etc.).

The tax lien idea is interesting. I'll take a look into it. Thanks!

Regarding PayPal, I believe the fee is 2.5%. Right now, for every $1, you get $0.91 euros, which is very very good. If I transfer as a test $1000 to euros, PayPal will give me 910 euros. If the euro gains against the dollar, I'll be able to get more than $1000 when I transfer it back even with the 2.5% fee if the euro bounces back to the same level last year. Just a theory.

But pay close attention to this election in Italy. It can vastly change that dynamic .

@isaiah58 wrote:

Are there exchange fees?

LindaM's probably referring to profit 'after any exchange fees.' If anything, profit's going to be small, unless you're hauling large currencies at a time.

Different states handle tax liens differently. Here they are auctioned on the courthouse steps on a scheduled date. The auction awards the lien to the lowest interest rate bidder. You need to own 5 liens on the same property (5 years of unpaid taxes) before you can exercise your rights and apply to be awarded the property through the courts. Meanwhile you need to pay the unpaid taxes when you purchase the lien. In any year if the property owner pays even $1 towards their current taxes the state cannot auction their lien. Generally the auction price is about 3% to 4%. Find out and understand ALL the rules of the game in your area before playing.

As for FOREX or foreign exchange, it usually is 'played' with thousands of dollars per trade on markets where the currency exchange rates are more controllable than through a bank or bank-like entity. The dollar has been very strong this year, though who knows what a new administration's policies will be or will do? When the dollar is strong, other currencies are weak by comparison, when the dollar weakens then other currencies are stronger by comparison. Exports of American goods are higher with a weaker dollar (because other currencies can buy more) and of course exports decline with a stronger dollar. BREXIT means the UK must renegotiate its trading with the Eurozone. Hard to tell whether that will be good or devastating to the pound. I certainly would encourage using a free Demo Account to practice currency trading and make certain I understood currencies and their likely movements before endeavoring to do any FOREX type trades.

Comment was made that a poster invests in the stock market because it is a 'gamble' that they do well. All of these deals are legal gambling and if you know the product well and use good judgment you can do very well. If you don't have a clue what you are doing you can lose a great deal of money.

Don't eat yellow snow or take financial advice from random unqualified people on the Internet is my advice.

I exchange the US$ to CAN$ before I transfer the funds to my savings account. There was no fee involved. I had actually opened a US$ account with the idea that I could transfer from Paypal. But can't do, so I just deposit the US$ checks to my US$ account and all US$ Paypal payments are converted to CAN$, then transferred to my savings account.

I don't want to accumulate Paypal amount anymore because I learned my lesson from previous failed business venture, It was too easy to use Paypal money for any online venture.

Oh btw, Italy voted no, their prime minister resigned, and the Euro fell 1% in premarket trading.

I do know the stock market well and have a well-diversified portfolio. I monitor my accounts daily and manage them myself. I made nearly $4,000 this year so far on an investment of $25,000 which is better than any money market account or CD would yield. Flash is right, if you don't know what you are doing you can lose money. Also if you have any debt it's futile to invest in the market. I own my car and my house outright and have 0% credit card debt. I have no loans of any kind. Before making investments of any kind its only logical to pay off your debt first. If you make a 5% return but have credit card debt at 15%, you obviously are losing money.

The tax lien thing sounds very interesting.

@risinghorizon wrote:

I exchange the US$ to CAN$ before I transfer the funds to my savings account. There was no fee involved. I had actually opened a US$ account with the idea that I could transfer from Paypal. But can't do, so I just deposit the US$ checks to my US$ account and all US$ Paypal payments are converted to CAN$, then transferred to my savings account.

I don't want to accumulate Paypal amount anymore because I learned my lesson from previous failed business venture, It was too easy to use Paypal money for any online venture.

Ive been trying to figure a way to tranfer my us paypal funds to a usd account but apparently thats not possible if you live in canada.
Im pretty sure when converting USD to CAD on Paypal they do include a fee in the exchange rate.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/05/2016 01:11PM by jgoodwin.

Oh, yes, tax liens are different in every state -- and sometimes they differ from county to county! I can only tell you what works in my county and the surrounding several counties.

First, the assessor's office in each county gives me the LEGAL address of all properties with tax liens. They all have a pre-printed list available for anyone who walks in and asks. Free. MOST of the "legal addresses" don't show street addresses. So you slog down to another department where you look up the legal address in the equivalent of a "reverse directory", and get the street address. Then you drive around and inspect the various properties.

I like to talk to neighbors in residential areas. Sometimes they'll tell you the owners are involved in an acrimonious divorce, or the owner died and the kids are fighting over the property. The more info you gather, the better the decisions you make.

Here, the owners have only 3 years to pay the taxes before the property is seized. If they pay the taxes, you get your money back plus 13% interest.

Meanwhile, if the property is sold, you get your investment back, plus 13% interest (which is free of state tax, but not federal tax -- it's taxable income, unless you're doing this with IRA funds -- which might be possible,
I'm not sure, you'd have to talk with a tax expert about that).

Taxing authorities I deal with do NOT allow "partial payment" of taxes UNLESS it's a monthly payment that has been agreed to and approved, "escrow", on this year's current taxes.

In areas with high taxes, you'd be investing thousands.

Here, they are NOT auctioned. If the back taxes are $1300, you give the assessor's office the $1300, and you earn 13% interest on the full $l300.

Once a year the local newspapers print a list of all properties with past due taxes. Then there is a flurry of activity. But they are actually available year around.

Here, tax liens have priority over any other lien. You don't really want to end up owning a property worth $4,000 with $15,000 in other liens on it, because as the property owner, you then owe all those liens. However, the same county office here that gives me the tax liens also can tell me of any other liens on the property.

It is REAL, slogging, HARD work. You must do your homework, find out exactly how it works in your area. In big cities, you'll be going up against real pros, who pick and choose and leave the dogs for you. In rural areas, much less competition, and the competition tends to be less sophisticated.

I find the safe and guaranteed 13% return to be worth the work. I'm too old to take the risk in the stock market.

I would suggest taking some rural shops and fit time in your schedule to drop in at the rural courthouse and suss out the assessor's office!

I'd also like to ask OP how she hides these funds from hubby at tax time? Surely they file taxes together, so he must be aware she has income?

My husband and I file separate, though I have no secrets about how much I make or how much I have in the bank or anywhere else for that matter. My money is mine and his is his, though he does contribute quite a bit more to our lifestyle than I do.

I did it! Just as a test run, I exchanged $1,000 to british pounds for $766.66... will see in a few months if I can convert it back for more than a $1000 hehe

I will look into tax liens , mystery shopping is not worth it for me it doesn't covers the my bills sadly.

BCM, Rome wasn't built in a day. Some of us make a good living but it doesn't happen overnight.

Speculating in the stock market or in monetary exchange is without a doubt gambling. You are trying to time events in the short turn to make money. Some days you'll win, but not always. And more lose than win, otherwise everyone would be doing it.

Investing in the stock market for a longer period, using good index funds, generally has paid off well in the past. Check out firecalc and run scenarios to your heart's content if you want to find out how much money you need.

Of course, past performance is no guarantee of future returns, but investing in the stock market is not the same as gambling with speculation in the stock market.

Books such as a random walk down wall street, or any of the John Bogle books, are great primers.

I'm in ruralville US. I may sludge down to the assessors office and talk with some folks. Someone down their is sure to have some info for me. It has peaked my interest. I'm off from work waiting to figure out if I have jury duty -_- might as well kill extra time. Here, you call each morning to see if you are assigned a case.

Piqued, not peaked...sorry, couldn't help it. And I hate calling in for jury duty

@jgoodwin wrote:

Im pretty sure when converting USD to CAD on Paypal they do include a fee in the exchange rate.

The exchange rate is no brainer but additional fee for conversion, no.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/06/2016 07:46AM by risinghorizon.

The fee for conversion is included in their exchange rate, is what I'm saying.

If you want to open a bank account separate from your joint account to deposit your Paypal money to (there are legit reasons to do so!), look into a fee-free account. I'm in Canada, and Tangerine or PC Financial are the ones available to me.

@LindaM wrote:

I did it! Just as a test run, I exchanged $1,000 to british pounds for $766.66... will see in a few months if I can convert it back for more than a $1000 hehe

Hoping you got your money converted back to USD since the pound just lost 1/5th of its value against the dollar. This Brexit thing is gonna hit the UK hard.