What does it mean for a normal citizen like me when my country's dollar value goes down?
This may make Australian exports cheaper, which can be a good thing. However it is at the expense of making imports more expensive. Look to Japan, which is devaluing their currency, and is a large importer of energy:  I wont say its bad or unnecessary to hold money in other currencies. However, keep in mind that all AUD-denominated assets will, or at least should, rise as the currency falls. If just AUD/USD falls this may not apply, but if AUD is weakened all around it should hold true. Again, look to Japan, where the Nikkei is closely correlated with the strength of the yen:  Another possibility is to buy gold which should rise in AUD terms but other forces are at work with gold price so some would not agree with this. Essentially imported goods from the country (in this case the US) that is improving against your local currency will become more expensive. For the most part, that is the only practical effect on you on an individual financial level. There are several possible effects: There isn't much you could do about it. If you had enough money to try to hedge by buying foreign securities, in theory you could be happy no matter what your dollar did: if it goes up, you have pain or gain from local effects (depending on whether imports or exports have a bigger effect on your life) and that is offset by your investment having gain or pain. Ditto if it goes down. In reality the amount you might have to invest to get to this point is probably not a realistic amount for an ordinary person to invest outside their country. I own a Canadian company that bills a number of US clients and I buy very little from the US (I'm big on local food, for example, and very frugal on the consumer-goods front.) When the Canadian dollar falls, I effectively get a raise, so I'm happy while all around me are wringing their hands. One more effect that's not yet been mentioned is that companies based in Australia and listed on the Australian Securities Exchange, but which do most of their business overseas, will increase their earnings in AU$, since most of what they earn will be in foreign currencies. So their shares are likely to appreciate (in AU$).
I wrote about the dynamic of why either of a lower or higher exchange rate would be good for economies in Would dropping the value of its currency be good for an economy? A strong currency allows consumers to   import goods cheaply from the rest of   the world.  A weak currency allows   producers to export goods cheaply to   the rest of the world.  People are   both consumers and producers.    Clearly, there have to be trade-offs. Strong or weak mean relative to Purchasing Power Parity (i.e. you can buy more or less of an equivalent good with the same money). Governments worrying about unemployment will try and push their currencies weaker relative to others, no matter the cost.  There will be an inflationary impact (imported inputs cost more as a currency weakens) but a country running a major surplus (like China) can afford to subsidise these costs. "Once a currency loses value, it never regains it. Period. Granted there have been short term periods of deflation, as well as periods where, due to relative value fluctuation, a currency may temporarily gain value against the U.S. dollar (or Euro, Franc, whatever) but the prospect of a currency that's lost 99.99% of its value will reclaim any of that value is an impossibility. Currency is paper. It's not stock. It's not a hard commodity. It has no intrinsic value, and no government in history has ever been motivated to ""re-value"" its currency. Mind you, there have been plenty of ""reverse splits"" where a government will knock off the extraneous zeroes to make handling units of the currency more practical." Fed Reserve is not responsible for devaluing the dollar, but it is run by secrecy.   Should be nationalized and in control of by government.   A nation has to have the power over its money printing, it can't let some private large bankers control all its central bank stock shares  and the money policies of a nation.      the dollar goes down during boom times, but goes up during crisis and recession.   the devaluing was more due to too much debt in circulation acting as money supply.  when that debt exploded in 2008 US dollar shot to the moon.     M2  increased not in relations to M1 before the 2008 crisis.  That proves debt/money lent out by commercial private banks was the cause for inflation, not FED base money printing.     on youtube you should watch some bill still videos, ellen brown, steve keen, harry s dent,  richard wolff.   Do not fall for any retarded mises asstrian von hoodwink libertarian gold bug videos telling you how great gold standard or gold exchange program is.  That's just plain slavery. "I would make this a comment but I am not allowed apparently. Unless your continent blows up, you'll never lost all your money.  Google ""EUR USD"" if you want news stories or graphs on this topic.  If you're rooting for your 10k USD (but not your neighbors), you want that graph to trend downward." "Yes, but it depends on WHICH other currencies the country's money is depreciating against, and to what extent.  This is why China ""pegging"" the renminbi/yuan to the dollar is an issue, it means Chinese goods do NOT become more expensive in the US." "Need to be very careful with this kind of discussion. The dollar has been a ""fraud"" since it went off of the gold standard. If you get people thinking too much about their currency, then could start a panic. Should really just leave it alone. -- Especially with the increasing US debt; and Trump saying something earlier about defaulting on it." The ruble was, is and will be very unstable because of unstable political situation in Russia and the economy strongly dependent of the export of raw resources. What you can do? I assume, you want to minimize risk. The best way to achieve that is to make your savings in some stable currency. Euro and Swiss Franc are currently very stable currencies, so storing your surpluses in them is a very good option if you want to keep your money safe. To prevent political risk, you should keep your money in countries with stable political regime, which are unlikely to 'nationalize' the savings of the citizens in predictable future. As for your existing savings in rubles, it's a hard deal. I assume, as the web developer, you have a plenty of money, which have lost a lot of value. If you convert them to euro or francs, you will preserver the current value (after the loss). You'll safe them agaist ruble falling down, but in case the ruble will return to previous value, you'll loose.  Keeping savings in instable currencies is, however, speculation, like investing in gold etc. So if you can mentally accept the loss and want to sleep good, convert them. You have also option to invest in properties, for example buy an extra appartment. It's a good way to deal with financial surplus in Europe in US, however you should be aware, in Russland it's connected with the political risk. The real estates can be confiscated in any moment by the state and you can't run away with it (the savings can also be confiscated, but there's a fair chance you'll manage to rescue them if you act quickly). "Let's say there's a product worth $10 in July and the inflation rate in August is 10%. Will it then cost $11 in August? Yes.  That's basically what inflation means. However.  The ""monthly"" inflation numbers you typically see are generally a year over year inflation rate on that month.  Meaning August 2017 inflation is 10% that means inflation was 10% since last July 2016, not since July 2017. At the micro consumer level, inflation is very very very vague.  Some sectors of the economy will inflate faster than the general inflation rate, others will be slower or even deflate.  Sometimes a price increase comes with a value increase so it's not really inflation.  And lastly, month over month inflation isn't something you will feel.  Inflation is measured on the whole economy, but actual prices move in steps.  A pear today might cost $1, and a pear in five years might cost $1.10.  That's 10% over 5 years or about 2% per year but the actual price change might have been as abrupt as yesterday a pear was $1 and now it's $1.10.  All of the prices of pears over all of the country won't be the same.   Inflation is a measure of everything in the economy roughly blended together to come up with a general value for the loss in purchasing power of a currency and is applicable over long periods.  A USD inflation rate of 3% does not mean the pear you spent $1 on today will necessarily cost $1.03 next year." "Just to get the ball rolling, here's an answer: it won't affect you in the slightest. The pound happened to be tumbling anyway.  (If you read ""in the papers"" that Brexit is ""making the pound fall"", that's as valuable as anything else you've ever read in the papers.) Currencies go up and down drastically all the time, and there's nothing you can do about it. We by fluke once bought a house in Australia when that currency was very low; over the next couple years the currency basically doubled (I mean per the USD) and we happened to sell it; we made a 1/2 million measured in USD. Just a fluke. I've had the opposite happen on other occasions over the decades. But... Currency changes mean absolutely nothing if you're in that country. The example from (2) was only relevant because we happened to be moving in and out of Aus. My various Australian friends didn't even notice that their dollar went from .5 to 1 in terms of USD (how could it matter to them?) All sorts of things drastically affect the general economy of a given country. (Indeed, note that a falling currency is often seen as a very good thing for a given nation's economy: conspiracy theorists in the states are forever complaining that ) Nobody has the slightest clue if ""Brexit"" will be good bad or indifferent for the UK. Anything could happen. It could be the beginning of an incredible period of growth for the UK (after all, why does Brussels not want your country to leave - goodwill?) and your house could triple in value in a year. Or, your house price could tumble to half in a year. Nobody has the slightest clue, whatsoever about the effects on the ""economy"" of a country going forward, of various inputs." "This is a speculative question and there's no ""correct"" answer, but there are definitely some highly likely outcomes. Let's assume that the United States defaults on it's debt. It can be guaranteed that it will lose its AAA rating. Although we don't know what it will drop to, we know it WILL be AA or lower.  A triple-A rating implies that the issuer will never default, so it can offer lower rates since there is a guarantee of safety there.People will demand a higher yield for the lower perceived security, so treasury yield will go up.  The US dollar, or at least forex rates, will almost certainly fall. Since US treasuries will no longer be a safe haven, the dollar will no longer be the safe currency it once was, and so the dollar will fall. The US stock market (and international markets) will also have a strong fall because so many institutions, financial or otherwise, invest in treasuries so when treasuries tumble and the US loses triple-A, investments will be hurt and the tendency is for investors to overreact so it is almost guaranteed that the market will drop sharply. Financial stocks and companies that invest in treasuries will be hurt the most. A notable exception is nations themselves. For example, China holds over $1 trillion in treasuries and a US default will hurt their value, but the Yuan will also appreciate with respect to the dollar. Thus, other nations will benefit and be hurt from a US default. Now many people expect a double-dip recession - worse than the 08/09 crisis - if the US defaults. I count myself a member of this crowd. Nonetheless, we cannot say with certainty whether or not there will be another recession or even a depression - we can only say that a recession is a strong possibility. So basically, let's pray that Washington gets its act together and raises the ceiling, or else we're in for bad times. And lastly, a funny quote :) I could end the deficit in 5 minutes.   You just pass a law that says that   anytime there is a deficit of more   than 3% of GDP all sitting members of   congress are ineligible for   reelection.   - Warren Buffett" "Im not sure, but let me try. ""That person"" won't affect the value of currency, after two (or three) years (maybe months), agencies will report anomalies in country. Will be start the end of market.  God bless FBI and NSA for prevent this.  Actually, good ""hypothetical"" question." A VAT means that the cost of goods in your country just went up by that VAT percentage. This would mostly effect how the poor and middle class spend their money which currently is very selective.  Additional economy slow downs can generate another recession.   That's what I understand, anyway. The numbers in this numbers game are very very important and is difficult to generate in theoretics. You have currency risk either way.  The only question is deal with it now or later.  No one can tell you which action is better until we look at it in hindsight.  You could hedge and move some now, some later.  Invest your USD in US equities and move some to EUR and invest that in EUR companies. I'd suggest having your money in the same currency as where you are living, since for the most part, you'll be in the same boat as your peers and neighbors.  If you have high inflation, so will your friends and neighbors and you won't feel so bad.  And if your currency gets stronger, then so will the currency of the people you are hanging out with. It's similar to betting on Don't Pass in craps.  If you bet against the rest of the table, you could win when they lose, but then all your friends will be sad and you'll be happy. And vice versa, when your friends are high-fiving, you'll be in the dumps. I'd say it's better to be in the same boat as your peers since that's usually how we judge our happiness when we compare our situation to others. It's important to note that the US is also the country that taxes its expats when they live abroad, and forces foreign banks to disclose assets of US citizens.  Americans are literally the property of their government. America is a tax farm and its citizens can't leave the farm. Wherever you go, you are owned.  And that now appears to be true of your Bitcoin as well. Even if you spend 50 years outside the USA, your masters want a piece of what you earn.  Land of the Free. "I think the important fact here is that all of our currencies are Fiat Currencies. So currency technically means nothing, because (as you mentioned) the country could print more any time it wants. Now what makes it useful is the combination of two big things: So I would say, we know they owe us 100 ""dollars"", and the dollar is just a word we use to represent value. It is not technically worth anything, beyond the fact that the government controls the amount of that currency in circulation and you trust that people still want more of that currency."