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THIGV wrote:

The problem with SWIFT transfers is that they are billed at a fixed rate, usually about $30-45 per transaction.  If you are transferring $50,000 to buy an apartment that's fine.  If you are moving $1,000 to cover monthly family living expenses, the fee will be 3-4% of value.  Your money, your choice.

I bank with Charles Schwab for all of the reasons @Ciambella mentioned in her post subsequent to yours.

Schwab's flat fee is $25.00 for single wire transfers, any amount, so 2.5% for $1,000.00 USD.

But since (as @Ciambella has mentioned) $1,000.00 USD is the daily ATM withdrawal limit for Schwab, I would rarely need to make a wire transfer unless I needed $5,000.00 USD or more in a very short period of time.

[NOTE: the receiving bank in Việt Nam is likely going to charge a fee for the transfer, unless it is waived because of an account relationship with them.]

The only caveat to my plan being: $1,000.00 USD currently = ₫ 23,277,001.27 VND (08-12-2018) and from what I understand, this exceeds the daily withdrawal limit allowed by most banks in Việt Nam...(I'm asking???)

I suppose the answer to that is using multiple banks, or (as @Ciambella has also mentioned) withdrawing the VND I need over multiple days in non-urgent situations.

Also (FWIW) Schwab doesn't charge anything for transfers between accounts I own at other U.S. financial institutions.

I have one pension direct deposited to Schwab, while my SSA money goes into another bank which is totally free of fees.

Something about a basket and eggs...

OceanBeach92107 wrote:

The only caveat to my plan being: $1,000.00 USD currently = ₫ 23,277,001.27 VND (08-12-2018) and from what I understand, this exceeds the daily withdrawal limit allowed by most banks in Việt Nam...(I'm asking???)

I suppose the answer to that is using multiple banks, or (as @Ciambella has also mentioned) withdrawing the VND I need over multiple days in non-urgent situations.

We regularly withdraw 12M ($513 as of today's exchange) from the same ATM over 4 transactions on the same day (end the first transaction, re-insert card for the 2nd transaction, lather, rinse, repeat.) 

We've never needed $1000 on the same day, but if we do, we probably could continue the same process, or using my ATM card in addition to husband's.

The daily withdrawal limit set by VN bank is for a VN account.  VN banks do not have the authority to impose daily limit on a foreign account.  The more transactions you do, the more fee per transaction they charge so why should they care? 

Of course you can also step over to the next ATM as they usually stand in a cluster.

Ciambella wrote:

[We regularly withdraw 12M ($513 as of today's exchange) from the same ATM over 4 transactions on the same day (end the first, insert card again for the 2nd, lather, rinse, repeat.)

schleger wrote:

... I will most likely marry ...

Yet another reason to keep your money in a US bank: How well do you know your future wife and family?

Tediuki wrote:

Wow! There's a lot of information in the answers so far to absorb!  I'll answer some of the peripheral stuff .
Teaching? There's no problem in Viet Nam teaching beyond 60 years old although you will need a CELTA certificate or something along those lines because 99.9% of foreign teachers teach English . Your birth year will also disappear into the agencies files . I keep myself looking trim and fit, I keep the grey hair in check and lie at the schools about my age. Try to work hand in hand with the local teachers and never complain.   
Money transfers? The best advice I had was to Find a bank in my own country who would transfer money in the original form i.e.. Dollars . Why? Because I could transfer Dollars to my account (opened with a tourist Visa) in Viet Nam and it would be converted to vnd at pretty much the exchange rate shown on Bloomberg or I would put it into my US$ account .   
I'll ask what the current situation is next time I go into one of my banks but a lot of laws have changed since 2015 and made it far more favourable for foreigners to invest .
Interest versus inflation? To get 8% interest you must have a term deposit for at least a year in vnd.
Interest is Tax free in Nam . Inflation is around 4% (I looked last year on some international sovereign Nation health check site).
Repatriating your money? As long as you don't move your money from the original bank account to which you transferred your money to, you can wire your money back to the original foreign sending account for up to 3 years.
Placing a bet:  From 2006 - 2016 the USA was sliding down the pan . With the current US fiscal policy the US Dollar is likely to strengthen so it may be prudent to delay any large transfers or try to get a US$ account in Nam. But interest on a US$ account is rubbish . You are basically betting that the exchange rate will go up in the next year by 8% as there has been a recent gain already .
A car! You may be better off using a Grab Motorbike to get from A to B in the big cities, or a Taxi in the rain . Both are relatively cheap . It's also best to live as close as possible to work rather than buying a car . I have bought a second hand Yamaha Nouvo but I've ridden bikes my whole life .

Interesting point about sending money home that you originally sent to VN. I wonder how that works if the bank you originally sent it to is not operating in VN, eg ANZ. I have the original deposit slips to the ANZ, so Im hoping that the bank I deal with now will be able to transfer the funds back.

Bazza139 wrote:

Thank you for telling it like it is...     

I found what Tediuki wrote helpful.

If the same post had come from Cobot, Ciambella, Yogi or other serial expats, there would have been a "Like" from you.

Perhaps it would make sense to introduce a "Dislike" at ´ó¿§¸£ÀûÓ°Ôº in addition to the "Like".
Then Bazza can save himself the cryptic "dislike" comments in the future.

Andy Passenger wrote:

Bazza139 wrote:

Thank you for telling it like it is...     

I found what Tediuki wrote helpful.

If the same post had come from Cobot, Ciambella, Yogi or other serial expats, there would have been a "Like" from you.

Perhaps it would make sense to introduce a "Dislike" at ´ó¿§¸£ÀûÓ°Ôº in addition to the "Like".
Then Bazza can save himself the cryptic "dislike" comments in the future.

I was fooled. I actually thought BAZZA was giving a sincere compliment.

Just what I needed. Another language to learn...