Gordon acts against savers again........

Old_Slaphead

SGE1 wrote: »

Not entirely true - redundancies etc mean that even those that did borrow sensibly might find themselves in trouble.

Interest deferral for those made redundant, MIRAS for first time buyers for first 5 years - no problem - probably a very good thing.

Hundreds of pounds per month back for those who've had mortgages for yonks and are not in need - that's not fair.

Interest rates are at historical lows to help businesses and distressed recent housebuyers - not a windfall those who could comfortably manage debts.

Anyway, it's not interest charges that are crippling manufacturing SMEs - it's the horrendous fuel charges which in 2009 will be 100% higher than this year. Gov't did b***er all about that

BobbyBlade_2

I don't understand the reasoning behind lowering interest rates in an attempt to get us out of this mess.
This country now no longer makes much that we export.
We are heavily dependant on imports.
All the lowering of interest rates has done is created a devaluation of the pound thus making all out imports more expensive. I suspect that these increased prices have yet to filter through but are almost certain to do so after Christmas.
Also there is a lot of talk about the positives concerning the price of oil dropping. However oil is priced in Dollars and the pound is rapidly devaluing against that currency. This will add further to inflationary pressures as we are very much dependant on oil.
So with a new year to look forward to of prices increasing and a lot more doom and gloom (job losses, more companies going to the wall etc.) the value of the pound will continue to head south, thus compounding the problem even further.
We as a country now only have a service sector. We can only hope that it becomes so cheap here that thousands of rich tourists from Europe & America flock here to spend their wads of money. I think not!
It's irresposible lenders and greedy live for today sod tommorow morons who live beyond their means that have got us into this mess in the first place, and the likes of prudent folk who have saved or are trying to save for a rainy day who are now expected to bend over and brace themselves.
Pass me a pillow to bite on.......... thanks a lot Gordon!

bazster

There's no doubt that there's a f3ckless "I want it now" element who have run up stupid debts that they didn't need to and are now being rewarded (and encouraged to do the same again) with plummeting interest rates, to the detriment of those of us who've never accumulated debts we couldn't afford.

This same element has been responsible for the ludicrous house prices (and correspondingly ludicrous mortgages) of the last decade. If they were a bit more patient (and the banks had been a bit more responsible) then house prices would have climbed less steeply and would've been a bit more affordable for everyone.

These are the people that we careful savers are angry with. But, at the same time, there must be people who are not amongst the villains who have lost their jobs and are faced with losing their homes because of the actions of the f3ckless borrowers and equally f3ckless banks. These people deserve what relief they can get from lower and deferred mortgage payments.

It's kinda hard to see how these people can be helped without also benefitting the idiots who caused the mess in the first place.

gil13

The government could increase the ISA limits to encourage long term saving and a higher limit would go same way to offsetting the current poor rates (and probably going to get poorer still) on cash ISA's. Yes, 2/3/ 4% is not a great return at the moment but if you could put away more in terms of limits then the benefit when rates go back up are there for everyone. The banks and BSoc's also need to retain saving balances, and ISA's I suspect are an important part of that. Other than this I expect more people to overpay and offset mortgages going into next year as interest rates take a dive and for some to reduce debts is not such a bad thing.

SGE1

UnhappyHarry wrote: »

I did actually say that I was talking about the people who weren't in financial difficulties.

I know - but what I mean is that a lot of redundancies haven't happened yet. So those not currently in financial difficulty might become so soon enough.

MarkFromCornwall

ed123 wrote: »

....so there you have it Gordon could'nt give a XXXX for us savers....:mad:

I think that's unfair considering the way the Government paid out to savers in IceSave and other failed banks, going somewhat beyond previous promises, and paying out quickly and easily.

Mark

GooeyBlob

When it comes to encouraging debt and hurting savers, Gordon Brown has form.

He replaced the system of TESSAs and PEPs with the less tax-efficient ISAs, then reduced ISA savings limits in real terms for a decade. In 2003, he also replaced RPI with CPI as the Bank of England's inflation measure, effectively removing house price inflation from interest rate decisions at a stroke. The result was - as was the intention - interest rates far lower than they should realistically have been, and an orgy of private debt private follwed, echoed by his own fiscal incontinence in government spending when he should have been building up reserves.

Now he is racking up further debt, while his plans to borrow money are hitting difficulties. There are signs that nobody wants to buy UK government debt - or gilts. There are also moves afoot to remove the need for the Bank of England to publish its weekly accounts - leading some commentators to suggest Brown plans to print his way out of debt.

I realise it is easy to criticise, but there are good ways of dealing with this partly self-inflicted crisis, and there are bad ways. Much of what Gordon is doing falls into the latter category.

apt

TESSA maximuum of £9,000 plus interest, Cash ISA maximum of £39,600 and a further £3.600 pa plus interest. Which do you think is better GooeyBlob?

GooeyBlob

apt wrote: »

TESSA maximuum of £9,000 plus interest, Cash ISA maximum of £39,600 and a further £3.600 pa plus interest. Which do you think is better GooeyBlob?

TESSA limit £1,800 per year (averaged over 5 years)
General PEP limit £6,000 per year
Single-company PEP limit £3,000 per year
Maximum £10,800 per year.

Mini ISA limit £3,000 per year
Maxi ISA limit £7,000 per year
Maximum £7,000 per year, frozen for a decade.

So Gordon gave us a £3,800 tax-free savings limits reduction per annum, compounded by a real-terms reduction every following year. Anyone can see which is better, apt.

The switching of RPI to CPI was probably most damaging of all, but it goes to show Brown never really cared about savers.

moonrakerz

UnhappyHarry wrote: »

Isn't there something wrong here? The problem was caused by excessive borrowing

................and Gordon Brown is complaining that the banks (propped up with taxpayer's money) aren't lending enough money - presumably to those who over-borrowed before !!

Could we have a "leak" about this man's sanity ?