Holders of bank shares - the triple wammy

philadam

There's a lot of incredulous feeling out there about what has happened in the markets recently, not least the precious savings people have and the heart stopping sensation it has brought. I am so pleased to hear today of the steps the government has made to alleviate these fears of some of losing out massively.

From a personal perspective I have been immune from this particular worry as I have followed the advice of this site and not put too many of my eggs in the cold basket that is Iceland, but being a holder of a not insubstantial number of shares in one of the major banks I am now wishing I'd got rid of some of the damn things when I was last thinking about it in early 2007. Hindsight is a wonderful thing of course, but I now find myself as a taxpayer owning more bank shares when I don't really want to, the value of my shares being diluted because of circumstance and having the prospect of a severe dividend cut, something that was an important part of my income.

There's no quick fix and I realise that as an owner of bank shares I am now in it for the long term and probably won't see the value as it was. Depressing really, but I know I am probably luckier than a lot of people. To those that have worked hard for their cash and been prudent I feel for you.

Thanks for listening.

Phil