Dispatches on C4+1 now, Families Hit by Credit Crunch

PasturesNew

Got it: http://www.channel4.com/video/brandless-catchup.jsp?vodBrand=dispatches-the-human-cost-of-the-credit-crunch

MrMonkey

I found it thoroughly depressing. Especially the segments regarding the pensioners who were facing hardship through no fault of their own.

What worries me is that however bad things may appear for the elderly now, it seems as they will be so much worse for people retiring in decades to come. Low pension funds, aging populations. It doesn't look good for the weakest segment of the population.

fatpig_2

ad9898 wrote: »

However, on a lighter note, that 5 mins on the EA came accross like a comedy sketch, he made 2 phone calls all day, one of which wasn't answered, I couldn't help but smirk a little, sorry

One of those phone calls was to the jobcentre. The other one was to his wife you didn't want to talk to him for obvious reasons

chewmylegoff

MrMonkey wrote: »

I found it thoroughly depressing. Especially the segments regarding the pensioners who were facing hardship through no fault of their own.

What worries me is that however bad things may appear for the elderly now, it seems as they will be so much worse for people retiring in decades to come. Low pension funds, aging populations. It doesn't look good for the weakest segment of the population.

all the programs about the current situation from last night are melding into one in my mind. was this the one with the woman who had sold the house in order to rent it back without bothering to read the contract which stipulated she would have to pay £400 rent a month instead of £150 mortgage, and they had to wait 10 years before receiving the equity in their home? if so, it's not quite "through no fault of their own".

MrMonkey

chewmylegoff wrote: »

all the programs about the current situation from last night are melding into one in my mind. was this the one with the woman who had sold the house in order to rent it back without bothering to read the contract which stipulated she would have to pay £400 rent a month instead of £150 mortgage, and they had to wait 10 years before receiving the equity in their home? if so, it's not quite "through no fault of their own".

Thats the programme. Whilst I agree she should have read the contract, it seemed that she was taken advantage of. The solicitor (that the company provided) should have explained the dangers in detail to her. It is easy to citicise people for getting into ludicrously stupid deals. However, the elderly do need to be treated differently to younger people. Not very PC, but true nonetheless. High-pressure sales tactics and confusing jargon can be intimidating for the strongest-willed of us. Older people, if they do not have family or friends, can be easily conned out of money by salesmen using this to their advantage. Con artists do regularly target the elderly and it is sickening.

Besides her, there was the story of the man nearing retirement who had seen his pension fund seriously damaged by the falls in the stock market, and the 79 year-old man who could barely afford to feed himself and heat his home. Most people expect the economy to grow again in time, and the stock market to strengthen also. This is not much comfort to those who saved for years in private pensions, on the advice of the Government, only to live in poverty due to a stock market crash when they hit their 60s.

Lotus-eater

The man who had invested in one bank. HBOS I believe, he'd put over £300k into one share. Isn't that a little silly, putting all your eggs (I assume) into one basket.
Isn't this a little like the Lloyds thing, its a sure thing, I expect it to keep going up and make free money, but if it goes down, I'm going to moan about it.

Maybe a little unfair.

chewmylegoff

MrMonkey wrote: »

Thats the programme. Whilst I agree she should have read the contract, it seemed that she was taken advantage of. The solicitor (that the company provided) should have explained the dangers in detail to her. It is easy to citicise people for getting into ludicrously stupid deals. However, the elderly do need to be treated differently to younger people. Not very PC, but true nonetheless. High-pressure sales tactics and confusing jargon can be intimidating for the strongest-willed of us. Older people, if they do not have family or friends, can be easily conned out of money by salesmen using this to their advantage. Con artists do regularly target the elderly and it is sickening.

con artists who regularly target the elderly are, indeed, sickos. no one is going to argue with that. furthermore the point about the solicitor is a good one - there is no way these schemes should be able to operate on this basis, the vendor should be protected by proper legal advice.

however, just because you're over 65 doesn't mean you can't think clearly enough to realise you need proper legal advice. not does it mean you cannot read a contract and understand the financial implications of it. she seemed to be perfectly mentally astute to me. essentially she was offered some free money and didn't think to ask what the catch was, or read the terms and conditions, or bother to get her own lawyer. in that sense i don't see much difference between her and someone who goes to a BTL property seminar and sees the ££££ before their eyes without thinking of the consequences.

Besides her, there was the story of the man nearing retirement who had seen his pension fund seriously damaged by the falls in the stock market, and the 79 year-old man who could barely afford to feed himself and heat his home. Most people expect the economy to grow again in time, and the stock market to strengthen also. This is not much comfort to those who saved for years in private pensions, on the advice of the Government, only to live in poverty due to a stock market crash when they hit their 60s.

still seemed to be able to afford fags though.

but yes, the outlook is bleak for lower paid private sector employees, and i guess it's only going to get worse as the population ages and the country is unable to afford to increase pensions at a fast enough rate to keep the pensioners who retire with the least above the poverty line. it's a sad state of affairs but there isn't really an easy solution to it.

eventually someone is going to have to think about reducing public sector pensions as the cost of these is going to become crippling to the taxpayer as the public sector schemes have no assets and rely on contributions from current employees to pay pensioners - with the tax payer making up the difference. we will have (or probably already do have) a two tier system where lower paid public sector employees retire with enough money to live, and lower paid private sector workers retire to their pointless stakeholder which gives then a fiver a week, which just reduces the amount of top up benefits they get.

the government hasn't helped by raiding the pension funds with its dividend tax credit policy, which will be brown's enduring legacy.

chewmylegoff

Lotus-eater wrote: »

The man who had invested in one bank. HBOS I believe, he'd put over £300k into one share. Isn't that a little silly, putting all your eggs (I assume) into one basket.
Isn't this a little like the Lloyds thing, its a sure thing, I expect it to keep going up and make free money, but if it goes down, I'm going to moan about it.

Maybe a little unfair.

it's totally fair. portfolio diversification is hardly rocket science. if he had spent 20 minutes researching what he was doing he would have been able to make more sensible decisions.

tomstickland

OK, just watching this.
The food factory workers seemed entirely reasonable. Very sad.

It's now interviewing the civil servant bloke. They spent £18K on work on their house, £5.5K on private physiotherapy, and he's know shown checking the oil in an Alfa 24V (oh, it's a hobby). They paid something like £3K to have a patio taken down and decking put up. Now £35K in debt. They were not too wise with their spending.
They need the DFW board.

Swansea woman who worked at XL call centre. She was working for £11K. No sick pay. Pretty desperate situation.

They're talking about child poverty now. I thought GB was proclaiming what a wonderful job he'd done the other day. Also 1 million more working poor than 10 years ago.

Now talking about door to door loans.

This might as well be a party political broadcast by the Conservatives .

Pensioners now; that black chap doesn't look 79 years old. Ah, his eyebrows do.

amcluesent

>It doesn't look good for the weakest segment of the population<

Soylent Green anyone?