Are my savings likely to be worthless?

the_commander

Hi guys I am after some advice. I have been saving for years and accrued about £50,000 Th pound is taking a hammering as we know and I am worried that my savings could be worthless if the currency keeps plunging. I am scared to buy gold as it is so expensive and I'm worried it will drop. Does anyone feel there is any real danger of loosing the value of my cash?

Thanks

Stavros_3

Not at the moment as the rate of inflation is around the same as savings rates . For risk free comfort try to find the best fixed rate savings account that will at least get you some interest on your capital. The Cheshire or Derbyshire building society's are offering 3.75% rates AER for 1 - 2 yr fixes, You'll need to move fast because they are all reducing their rates, good luck

pioneer

Don't follow the herd; its exactly what they want you to do; & they will be out faster than you ever can. That 50K took a lot of earning and paying of tax; do something else with it and don't be a lemming even if gold goes up further. The time to buy is when no one else wants it a bit like sub-prime debt at the moment.

sh856531

Hi guys I am after some advice. I have been saving for years and accrued about £50,000 Th pound is taking a hammering as we know and I am worried that my savings could be worthless if the currency keeps plunging. I am scared to buy gold as it is so expensive and I'm worried it will drop. Does anyone feel there is any real danger of loosing the value of my cash?

Hey,

I'm not certain but surely the value of Sterling only effects the "value" of your savings if you are planning on using your savings to purchase stuff in other currencies?

If you spend your money in the UK, you should be more worried about "inflation" as that is what will erode the value of your savings. Thats not to say that currency exchange rates don't effect inflation - they do, because they effect the prices at which we can buy and sell things from abroad. However, I think inflation is the number you should be interested in, unless you are planning on plowing all that money into, dollars, for example.

HTH

S

uih039

the_commander wrote: »

Hi guys I am after some advice. I have been saving for years and accrued about £50,000 Th pound is taking a hammering as we know and I am worried that my savings could be worthless if the currency keeps plunging. I am scared to buy gold as it is so expensive and I'm worried it will drop. Does anyone feel there is any real danger of loosing the value of my cash?

Thanks

Absolutely no danger whatsoever.

Please relax! The pound is down about 25% from its peak against the dollar in recent years and is still about 50% stronger than its low in the eighties when £1 was worth about $1. The UK did not disintegrate then and it won't now! OK, so holiday spending money will be a bit more expensive but that's not going to kill any of us. Also, imports will be cheaper so imported goods will reduce in price.

The interest rate on your savings has dropped but is still ahead of inflation. Rates will increase again on a 1-2 year timeframe. Just look for the best rate you can get and spend money sensibly in accordance with your total income.

There are so many threads at the moment about the end of civilisation as we know it - please relax - we have seen many recessions before and we will see them again!

Andrew.

stv1x

Stavros wrote: »

Not at the moment as the rate of inflation is around the same as savings rates . For risk free comfort try to find the best fixed rate savings account that will at least get you some interest on your capital. The Cheshire or Derbyshire building society's are offering 3.75% rates AER for 1 - 2 yr fixes, You'll need to move fast because they are all reducing their rates, good luck

Each to their own but I would say 'fixing' at, or near bottom, is probably the worst thing to do right now. A lot of things suggest a rise in inflation and potentially a rise in interest rates to combat it.

Just imho of course
:beer:

dunstonh

Th pound is taking a hammering as we know

Is it? Sterling took a hit in 2008 but in 2009 it is one of the strongest for gains.

As uih039 says, it came down from a point where it was far too high. So the size of the drop looks big but in reality the point its at is nowhere near panic stations.

There are so many threads at the moment about the end of civilisation as we know it - please relax - we have seen many recessions before and we will see them again!

Spot on.

liebe911

The situation will surely change in the long run may be a year or two.

soulsaver

uih039 wrote: »

Absolutely no danger whatsoever.

Also, imports will be cheaper so imported goods will reduce in price.

There are so many threads at the moment about the end of civilisation as we know it - please relax - we have seen many recessions before and we will see them again!

Andrew.

Wouldn't disagree with the last statement, but ... makes our exports cheaper, yes, & our imports more expensive.

uih039

soulsaver wrote: »

Wouldn't disagree with the last statement, but ... makes our exports cheaper, yes, & our imports more expensive.

Whoops, yes, of course you're right . And I have the cheek to call myself an Accountant!

Interesting then that most imported electrical goods seem to be cheaper than ever, e.g. TVs. Obviously other factors having an effect.

jzi19

Just wish things like camera lenses would come down in price. Canon lenses have gone up quite a bit. If you bought some high end glass before christmas, you can make quite a bit of profit in the second hand market right now. but back on track.. I wouldnt say the current situation renders the OP savings worthless. For me it opens my eyes to new opportunities - exploitation? well, who knows - dont care to be frank.