Greg, thank you but I keep an eye on my bank accounts and get online statements as I need them and have to see what bank charges are. I would never have a Canadian pension issuer deposit my pension directly into a foreign account that I can’t even view. I want to see the CAD to US exchange rate being used, for example. When I can't just walk into a bank nor see things online, I would not be able to know or control what's going on or how much is actually in that US account in $US or know what bank charges are accruing. I wouldn’t want to tell "Xoom" to transfer to me in BA a guessed-at sum because as a non-resident US account holder, I’m blindfolded and thereby not permitted to have a handle on my own finances!!
Also, I know 2 Canadians locally who were each born in the States but have lived here as Canadians since they were small children and raised their now adult kids here. What they’re being told to pay now in US taxes on their worldwide income is unbelievable and scary. I’d in no way want to have any relation with US tax authorities (as someone with resident status there has) when the only reason for having it would be to avert paying 35% more in Buenos Aires than Americans! That would be an insane trade-off as much as I love BA and its society. And I could find myself in a massive mess with Canadian tax authorities with its far more complex residency rules than people wrongly assume. The fact is that time away from Canada is just ONE factor used to determine whether someone is non-resident in Canada. And what about people who would be surviving in or visiting BA on pensions from more than one continent? That can easily be a minefield.
I see no reason for why I should have to ‘go American’ with my banking to enjoy equal treatment of my money in BA rather than be ‘penalized’ 35% there. The idea that I’d have to struggle in order to avert currency discrimination in BA is offensive. Even though the fact that the penchant for using $US as a standard in Argentina belongs with only 11% of Argentines (according to one of the BA papers) and was never meant in any way to snub foreign currencies that weren’t the US one.
I know nothing about economics but from all this, I can’t help but feel that the influence the $US carries in Argentina is distorting relationships between or among foreign currencies that visitors and expats have as their particular source currencies. And you have no idea of the complexities of time wasting and discouragement that comes from now being expected to jump hoops because you want to go to Argentina but are not American! This shouldn’t bug Argentina because Americans are still the main bringers of $US cash, assuming that Brazilians haven’t yet superseded the amount Americans bring in or sell in BA.
Argentines have told me that the fact that foreigners come is very healthy for Argentines because it lets them see other perspectives and so think more internationally, ie. feel more a part of the world. But in order for me to participate in this, my currency has to be treated like any other and not be ‘accidentally’ penalized. Cuevas, arbolitos, 35% more money needed is beyond all rationality to me. The $CAD has been close to or on par with the $US for a good 18 months and Canada’s banking system is regarded as the world’s best. I shouldn’t need to have to use “Xoom”.
I could not wait here in Canada another 2 years to see if Argentine problems settled down because I’m a retiree and need to learn and enjoy a new life now. Argentina is unlikely to see or care about disadvantages applicable to users of $CAD, $AU, euro etc. But despite this being an unintended consequence, it leaves me feeling like I’m a second-class visitor (or expat) there. One’s having to jump hoops to avoid that is ITSELF discriminatory and would create more problems and uncertainties as I've shown.
