Currency issues/questions

How should I handle the current currency situation between GBP and USD? The way I see it, sterling is basically at a high vs. the dollar. What goes up, inevitably comes down at some point (even if it won’t happen for a number of months or so). My concern is that if I move to the UK now and they convert my current US salary to sterling and pay me in local currency, what happens if sterling drops in value vs. the USD? I stand to loose a lot of money (in USD). Therefore, when (if) I come back to the US someday, I will have been paid (and/or saved) much less on a relative basis. Is there any way I can protect myself from this during my current negotiations?

Is there anything else I need to 'look out' for as far as currency? Cheers.

no magic bullet.  i have tried to mitigate this by having part of my salary paid in the US & part in the UK.  that way, my UK tax is lower, and i'm building a nest egg in the US.  also- i have spending money in each country.  no need to worry about currency exchanges.

In all honesty there would have to be a massive blow to the British Economy for the US dollar and British pound to be on par in the spance of months.  It wasn't until last year that the dollar crept up to $2 per £1 after a slow and steady increase since 9/11.  In the past its roughly been about $1.50 per £1...

If you're planning on moving back to the US anyway I'd do as Meggles suggested and keep some money in a US bank account so that way you have spending money in each country (good if you have family still in the states and wanting to buy gifts - but doesn't always work if you don't have a family member or friend that can accept mail on your behalf).  This is also good to keep your credit report going with some activity (like if you keep a credit card etc).

Ultimately the decision is yours, but at most in the next couple of months the dollar's probably going to hold steady at $2 per £1 if not fall just under the $2 mark.  In the meantime you may want to possibly look into XE Trade or Money Corp for money transfers or see if your bank charges you to make international withdrawls if you're hesitant to transfer all your money to pounds.