I have 300k standing on my paypal

[makaylaglynn]

So, I have 300k USD sitting on my German PayPal. It's money I have earned over the years as a freelancer. Why are the money still there you would ask? Well, because:

1. The money/financing matters stress me out so I preferred to procrastinate and thus did nothing with those money.
2. I was hoping to find a good time when the conversion rate USD-to-EUR was favorable and transfer the PayPal dollars to my German EUR bank account. (Stupid beginner strategy?)

Some info about me:

• I am a freelancer in Germany getting paid with dollars to my PayPal
• Never made contributions to any public or pension funds (I am 35).
• Not owning any real-estate.
• I am non-EU citizen staying with a German residence permit.
• I am not 100% sure I will stay in Germany in the future

Please note that I completely understand I have been loosing money due to inflation and missed investment opportunities. So, what happened, happened. Also, I wanted to say that I am so happy I found this group. I have been eyeing r/personalfinance but their [American] vocabulary (e.g., 401, credit score, etc.) sounded completely alien to me.

So, what do I do?

Edit 1: I am looking at options that are easy to implement, safe, and stress-free tax-wise. I am not interested in maximizing profits with riskier methods.

Edit 2: I don't understand why many in the comments assume no tax has been paid on that money. It's PayPal money. That doesn't make it untaxable. Also, I am not asking how do I transfer my money from PayPal to my bank account. I have done that many times to pay the tax. I am asking about investing options.

 

[starryeyedmarisol]

@makaylaglynn Worst part is that paypal can decide to block your account+funds for half a year any time. Without any reason. Get that money out of paypal asap. Fuck paypal.

 

[oceanbreeze4evr]

@starryeyedmarisol I was living abroad a couple years ago working as a freelancer. PayPal froze my withdrawal and I ran out of money before they finally released it (3 weeks altogether). Bills went unpaid, they shut off my internet and phone and I had basically 0 money for 3 days. Couldn't do anything but wait 3 days in my bed and binge watch shows and fast (didn't speak the language and I worked from home). Lost hella lot in weight, so I guess its not all bad.

 

[kvarsh]

@oceanbreeze4evr Your experience makes for a great story but I wouldn't stay in bed with no food hoping PayPal will release my funds lol. You might starve before they do.

You can always go to a fastfood place and approach a friendly face to ask for a meal. People are many times more likely to buy you some food than to give money.

 

[oceanbreeze4evr]

@kvarsh I had a small amount of money coming every month from my home country (the actual date I received my money from PayPal was a week or smth later). In addition, I didn't speak a lick of French and going to a McDonalds to find an English speaker and ask them for food seemed worse than waiting it out for 3 days in my bed bingewatching Chuck.

 

[milleyvanilli]

@oceanbreeze4evr Did they say why they froze your withdrawal? Was it because of the change of location accessing your account?

 

[makaylaglynn]

@starryeyedmarisol Sounds like that happened to you. I can't imagine how much that would piss me off. Yeah, PayPal makes me nervous too.

 

[starryeyedmarisol]

@makaylaglynn Happens to many people. Happened to me as well. But not any near 300k.

 

[tammyl]

@makaylaglynn Take a look at r/paypal. There are tons of posts complaining that their accounts are blocked.

 

[bensherie]

@tammyl Here's a sneak peek of /r/paypal using the top posts of the year!

#1: DO NOT LEAVE FUNDS IN YOUR PAYPAL ACCOUNT...

#2: How PayPal stole 1000$ from me.

#3: Just wanted to say fuck PayPal

[sup][sup]I'm[/sup][/sup] [sup][sup]a[/sup][/sup] [sup][sup]bot,[/sup][/sup] [sup][sup]beep[/sup][/sup] [sup][sup]boop[/sup][/sup] [sup][sup]|[/sup][/sup] [sup][sup]Downvote[/sup][/sup] [sup][sup]to[/sup][/sup] [sup][sup]remove[/sup][/sup] [sup][sup]|[/sup][/sup] [sup][sup]Contact[/sup][/sup] [sup][sup]me[/sup][/sup] [sup][sup]|[/sup][/sup] [sup][sup]Info[/sup][/sup] [sup][sup]|[/sup][/sup] [sup][sup]Opt-out[/sup][/sup]

 

[evietheturtle]

@bensherie Funny how #1 is so relevant xD

 

[makaylaglynn]

@tammyl Those posts are for the US though and PayPal is not a bank in the US, but in the EU it is.

 

[jsis]

@makaylaglynn I don't think it will matter, I would assume all listed issues were due to AML reasons and they could just as well freeze your accounts in EU if they believe you cant justify your income

 

[tsubasakato]

@makaylaglynn Paypal froze €600K of Minecraft's developer Notch in 2010, and AFAIK he is Swedish.

If you ask me, it's a miracle they didn't get to you, yet. I think once you start withdrawing you may have problems.

 

[shadowinthelight]

@makaylaglynn just fyi I was locked out of German Paypal account for several weeks… so it’s also happening in EU

 

[resjudicata]

@makaylaglynn Happened to me as well. Get your money out of Paypal ASAP, friend.

 

[bugz444]

@makaylaglynn Then why the fuck haven't you withdrawn your balance to a bank account?!

 

[gracebute]

@starryeyedmarisol Non eu resident here. Can somenody explain why paypal does this and why are they allpwed to get away with it?

 

[starryeyedmarisol]

@gracebute Why not? I would do the same if i was paypal lol.

 

[linlou]

@makaylaglynn The problem with PayPal are very bad fees and PayPal conversion rates. They can take you up to 3,5% if you transfer them to a bank account in EUR because they will try to force you to convert with their rates.

If you find a smart solution to avoid this, let me know. I'm Italian and I have this problem (with a lot of less money, like less than 5k usd )