Anyone withdrawing savings due to 1% base rate?

uk_messer

There are higher rates being offered by the likes of ICICI and some Nigerian bank if you look at the MSE top payers (both secured by UK protection for 50k). I did find it amusing to read the part telling people to consider whether they want to put their money into a non-european bank. I had my money in a European bank and they went bust!

uk_messer

standinman2009 wrote: »

if we had a savers group we could make our voices heard maybe threaten to draw all our funds out as cash that would cripple the uk banking system they would be forced to listen to us the decent saver

And if the UK banks went to pot the value of the pound would further decrease. So you can't win.

unitedwestand

uk_messer wrote: »

And if the UK banks went to pot the value of the pound would further decrease. So you can't win.

If you didn’t have good savers they would have already gone to pot or wouldn't exist in the first place, so its a dud argument.

There's a happy medium 1.0% isn’t it.

unitedwestand

sh856531 wrote: »

Guys,

Whilst we can debate at length whether the government is or is not responsible for the current banking crises, many people complaining about government in this thread seem to be unaware of one extremely simple truth:

- The British Government *does not* set interest rates - the Bank of England does, completely independently of government.

And unfortunately for you and I, the BoE, along with just about every other economist who can count, has decided that the only way out of the current shitfest, is to cut interest rates massively - so that home owners start spending what they are now saving on their mortgages each month.

I don't like it any more than anyone else does, but *government* has very little to do with your savings rate.

Best Regards

S

Sorry S, I'm going to have to rubbish that.

It’s a bit like saying the Chef has nothing to do with the meal your eating because the waiter brought you it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bank_of_England

demotw

ok i havent read through all the posts so apologise if this has already been suggested:
1) if you have a mortgage and its not fixed look at offsetting savings? would mean the interest paid on savings matches the interest paid on your mortgage (making that portion of your mortgage interest free). This is also tax efficient and means your savings are still instanct access should you need it, you can even offset your current account to make wages reduce the interest on your mortgage.
2) if you dont have a mortgage/or fixed utilise isa's as much as possible, their are also a few fixed bonds still out there that pay some half decent rates (barclays 9 month bond - 3% under 40k and i believe 3.3% over 40k to state an example, but this is by no means the highest)
3) withdraw all savings - this is the knee jerk reaction, 1% is better then 0% and you also get the added security, altho i must admit, i have my savings in instant access savings and had the interest drop from 20,000 p/a to about 4,000 p/a and it does hurt.

ffacoffipawb

sh856531 wrote: »

- The British Government *does not* set interest rates - the Bank of England does, completely independently of government. S

Like Lord Charles is independent of Ray Allen?

zarazara

spend,spend,spend, at lest it will keep the shops open.

thelawnet

zarazara wrote: »

spend,spend,spend, at lest it will keep the shops open.

Nah.
Other people will keep the shops open. Your individual spending will make no difference.

I'm just completing a form to close my cash ISA. The money is going into my share ISA where it will earn, at minimum, 6%, because I'm using it to buy bonds.

uk_messer

Old_Slaphead wrote: »

Brown a good chancellor - you're living in la-la land. Obviously taken in by the spin meisters.

I always thought that the guy was out of his depth. The only thing in 10 or so years I originally gave him credit for was BoE independance but even thats come back to bite him on the ****.

Tell me, what has GB done to give people the impression that he was any good????

Brown got praise from the Tory press for having given the Bank of England power to set the rate. Now suddenly he's a villain who didn't do enough to prevent the current situation. I'd like to know how the Tories would have done any different. They're normally all for cutting red tape and leaving everything to the wind so they and their cohorts can shut the hell up.

Every time I've looked at a headline for the last x years it's Tory papers (esp the Evening Standard in London) that have had headlines claiming doom and gloom at any opportunity they could. Simply because they have allegiance to a party which isn't in power. They claimed house prices were crashing for the last 7 years. They were the ones alarming everyone over Northern Rock.

And, no, I'm not a fanatic Labour supporter. I have plenty of criticism of Blair and Brown on other matters but it's certainly not out of any allegiance to another party.

unitedwestand

demotw wrote: »

3) withdraw all savings - this is the knee jerk reaction, 1% is better then 0%

Wish people would stop saying that.

Yes if you withdraw your Savings & do nothing there will be 0% interest, in fact you may lose a bit, but at least you won’t have to share the meagre proceeds with HM Revenue & Customs.

I don’t think anyone is proposing that’s what savers do.

Keeping your savings in a bank is not the be all and end all, its one thing people may recommend but its one thing in life no one can demand of you.

Seriously, the banks might not be quick in passing on interest rate cuts to potential borrowers, but they're super fast at slashing your saving account rate.

Its getting boring now.

Personally, I’ll be switching to sensible investing rather than sensible saving, and it wont be in the banks!