Effects of recession?

bryanb

How has the recession affected you and your family?
As someone drawing state pension and a smallish private pension, I have felt very little effect. A small loss of interest on savings (most of savings were in fixed bonds) the rates seem to be rising again just as some bonds are coming up for re-investment.

1984ReturnsForReal_2

Havent earnt a penny since the 3rd Quarter of 2008.

stuartm1

It hasn't really affected me much - I've lost a few hundred quid interest on savings accounts and my stock/shares is current down around around 20% what I've paid in but apart from that not much else.

I do think (as I always have) once we have cuts in the public sector and tax rises then it will affect individuals more especially when we get a new government next year.

When the payback takes effect it will hit me harder and the payback is only round the corner.

mbga9pgf

bryanb wrote: »

How has the recession affected you and your family?
As someone drawing state pension and a smallish private pension, I have felt very little effect. A small loss of interest on savings (most of savings were in fixed bonds) the rates seem to be rising again just as some bonds are coming up for re-investment.

You wil lbe feeling it next year when we get to start paying it all back... Wait for your basic rate to go past 25% and you will start to feel it. You will be feeling it when they massively hike all road duty and increase VAT to 22% and push back the state pension to those over 70.

Dan:_4

So far i've saved a couple of thousand thanks to the 0.5% interest rate.

bryanb

mbga9pgf wrote: »

You wil lbe feeling it next year when we get to start paying it all back... Wait for your basic rate to go past 25% and you will start to feel it. You will be feeling it when they massively hike all road duty and sell off the motorways, increase VAT to 22% and push back the state pension to those over 70.

I don't think they will claw back pension from us 67yr olds. The tax free allowances (at present) for over 65s, keep me just on the edge of taxes.
I'd like to say that road duty etc won't affect me but transport costs affect everything. Also I do drive, so I won't look forward to that.

mbga9pgf

It is one of the big areas they can get an instant boost. Only those with jobs and those with a comfortable retirement drive, looking to the continent, the likes of Brussels, you can see the cheapest road tax going up to 100 quid and upwards of 600 quid top tier. It will also support tory policy in that they can claim it is towards their green credentials. Win win all round, people wont like it, but the Cons have a free ticket, it will be an easy way to help those out.

I can also see Duty going up massively, with a 2 tier system for hauliers and the rest of us.

PasturesNew

I've lost about £10k nett on savings interest I guess. Hard to tell as money's spread all over the place.

Petrol is costing 10% more than a year ago.

It's quicker/easier to drive about as there are less cars on the road - and getting served is quicker in takeaways, with a shorter wait in an empty shop.

My earnt income halved.

Pobby

I also have lost £1,000s in interest. Business bumping along the bottom.

Cleaver

In terms of money, aside from selling a house for a bit less than we paid for it, it hasn't really had much impact on us. We've been lucky enough to keep our jobs, our mortgage got a lot cheaper and our savings were tied up in 2008 at 6%. However, I think that the recession has had more of a physcological effect on me, rather than a financial one.

It's been pretty scary to see how fragile and interlinked the world is, and I think it took the recession to show how dependant we are as a society on just a few basic aspects that, when gone awray, can cause chaos. It's a strange thought now, but just three or so years ago the thought of major banks going bust would have been unthinkable, and yet it would have happened without various governments throwing billions at them.

Like most posters on here, I don't really see much change in the culture, policy and behaviour of governments, fincial institutions and big business and that is pretty scary to me. Obviously, there's not a lot I can do about it so it's best just to get on with life. But to answer the original post, I think the recession has given me a certain cynical, untrusting and uncertain outlook which I certainly didn't have before. On second thoughts, maybe it's this forum that has done that to me?

kriss_boy

Dan: wrote: »

So far i've saved a couple of thousand thanks to the 0.5% interest rate.

Ditto.

Naturally you worry a little about job security but apart from that we are far better off right now. Paying more off our mortgage then we could have ever dreamed of.