MSE News: Hung parliament - how will it affect your finances?

Prudent

PasturesNew wrote: »

Reading the linked article:
Interest rates might go up - good, my savings generate me nothing these days
Holidays - not relevant to me
Pensions - not relevant
Shares - not relevant
Mortgages - not relevant

Very succinct

Following on from your lead:

Interest rates - good news as better savings returns

pensions - in a final salary scheme topped up with a private pension. Possibly a good time to put more into private pension if stockmarket low.

holidays - all wins anyway

mortgages - not relevant - paid off

carolt

How the hell do you win all that stuff, Prudent?

Your name is a misnomer - you're either Lucky or Cheating.

Prudent

I am persistant. I genuinely enjoy the process of comping as much as the prizes. I have an illness called SLE which leaves me really tired, especially at the end of a teaching day. I don't like watching TV, am sadly too tired to read a book or to socialise much in the weekday eveings, so comping fills a gap. It passes the time, doesn't need much concentration and there are some lovely people on the comps board.

I lived very frugrally when paying off my mortgage. I am a single mum and didn't want my daughter to miss out too much on some of thethings she would have had if we had still been a two parent family. Comping let me give her a good standard of living.

globalds

Peston seems to be hearing the sound of an approaching run on sterling.


http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/robertpeston/2010/05/a_coalition_forged_by_a_sterli.html


Last 4 paragraphs

Here's the big question.
Will it take a collapse in the price of gilts and the pound - will there need to be almost a full scale sterling crisis - to persuade the party leaders that there's no alternative to some kind of entente that allows the public finances to be fixed?


The smart solution would be to somehow depoliticise what's known as fiscal consolidation, or the process of cutting spending and raising taxes such that the public sector can again live within its means.


Quite how decisions that have a differential impact on different parts of the population can be depoliticised is beyond me.



Which is why senior bankers and investors tell me they fear that the pound and gilts are in for a hairy few days, and possibly something even worse and more enduring.

I have shaded one paragraph in red ...Can any one explain what he means by this ?

Is it something like giving control of interest rates to the bank of England ?

treliac

I like the idea of raising the personal tax threshold, especially as neither of us is getting a pay rise this year (and barely got one last year and probably same again next time).

I think that would go down well with 'hardworking British families.'

Alan_M_2

I'm an importer, which means the non decision effected me more than any decision at all.

I buy goods in US$ and Euros - so my costs increased overnight.

I would have prefered any outcome other than hung as it's sent the markets into turmoil and effected currencies in a manner not helpful to a country that's a net importer of goods.

Out of preference I'd have prefered Conservative, long term it's likely they would have done less damage to business, especially small business.

Labour are expecting Business to pick up the tab, I find that hard to swallow when the promised compulsion to make banks help businesses never materialised.

Lib dem were never going to get elected, that's just not going to happen until there is an electoral system change.

My interest in this is purely selfish and solely from a business perspective. I have no moral or historic draw to on party over another and simply vote for those who I feel will do me least harm.

Paulgonnabedebtfree

From a purely personal point of view, my main concern is that interest rates will rise sooner rather than later. I need lowish mortgage payments for a while as I fight to reduce my other debts.

carolt

To be fair, you've had lowish - well, v low - mortgage payments for quite a while.

Those of us who rent have had no such luxury.

I'm personally rather fed up of subsidizing people like you paying off your debts...

Paulgonnabedebtfree

carolt wrote: »

To be fair, you've had lowish - well, v low - mortgage payments for quite a while.

Those of us who rent have had no such luxury.

I'm personally rather fed up of subsidizing people like you paying off your debts...

I'm not biting madam.
Go pick a fight with someone else.

carolt

Paulgonnabedebtfree wrote: »

I'm not biting madam.
Go pick a fight with someone else.

I'm not fighting, just stating simple facts. You appear to have a problem with accepting that bailing out people in your situation has had a huge economic cost for the country, and that other people are footing the bill.

Not surprising you don't wish to discuss the matter.

If you posted on here more regularly, you'd know I'm no troll - I do, however, have very strong feelings, as someone who rents, re the huge handouts given by all taxpayers, to bolster the ailing housing market, AND IT MAKES ME VERY CROSS.

If you can justify why people like me, who are priced out of the housing market, should continue to support people like you, who already own, then I'm listening, I really am.