Moneysavingexpert campaign to help savers

HAMISH_MCTAVISH

mcc100 wrote: »

There are seven times more savers than borrowers in this country .......

Impossible.

There are 12 million mortgages alone, many/most held by dual borrowers.

Then there's all the other types of credit, overdrafts, credit cards, car loans, etc.

For that statistic to be correct, the UK's population would need to be around 100 million people rather than the 60 million or so it is today.

Torry_Quine

Cleaver wrote: »

Sorry, but are you saying that people don't differentiate between a savings account and a corporate bond? That's simply not true, they are two completely different things.

To those who are not as financially literate as you then yes many people see all forms of 'saving' as being inherently the same. You put money in to get a return back with varying levels of risk.

Cleaver

Torry_Quine wrote: »

To those who are not as financially literate as you then yes many people see all forms of 'saving' as being inherently the same.

Investing in a corporate bond isn't a form of saving.

HAMISH_MCTAVISH

"Saving" is nothing other than lending through an intermediary.

"Savers" lend their money to the banks, who lend it on to mortgage borrowers, credit card debtors, etc. However savers carry no risk from this lending thanks to both the effects of government (taxpayer) guarantees and also that banks absorb any losses incurred as part of the margin they charge on lending.

To expect high returns from risk free lending in the current financial climate is absurd, IMO, and should "savers" wish higher returns there are plenty of investments out there that will provide them.

But only with the assumption of a proper level of risk.

The days of taking high returns for assuming no risk are long gone, which is as it should be.

ILW

Low returns are expected. The BoE letting inflation run away is not.

HAMISH_MCTAVISH

ILW wrote: »

Low returns are expected. The BoE letting inflation run away is not.

So you think an appropriate response in a time of recession and high unemployment is to increase rates, thereby destroying demand within the economy, raising unemployment further and causing even more businesses to fail?

Your "solution" to combating what is by historical standards a wholly insignificant level of inflation is to turn a recession into a depression.

Interesting.

Graham_Devon

Cleaver wrote: »

Sorry, but are you saying that people don't differentiate between a savings account and a corporate bond? That's simply not true, they are two completely different things.

It's a bit like asking the question "what are you doing today" and the other person replies "I'm doing DIY"

You don't generally then correct them, and suggest that are wrong...as they could be plumbing, doing carpentry, maybe decorating, or building and press then to tell you exactly what they are doing and quantify it.

Same with savings. If someone asks me if I save money, I say yes. I don't turn round and say no, and then suggest "but I do put a set amount of money away for later in a bond".

Would make me look like a bit of a !!!!! in all honesty if I was that anal.

beckythemadcow

Cleaver wrote: »

Is there such a thing as a 'saver'? I.e., someone who saves all their money?

The majority of people, I suspect, have a mixture of secured debt, unsecured debt, savings, investments and pensions. I certainly have all those things aside from unsecured debt, although I do use a credit card. On one hand I'm benefiting from a low(ish) mortgage rate, but my savings are seeing quite a poor return. My investments have recently taken an absolute battering. Should we therefore have a campaign to help investors? Have I 'done the right thing' or not?

I guess the point I'm making is that I don't know anyone who is just a saver. And if you do have everything you own in savings maybe you should consider diversifying your money so that you can generate a better return.

I am a saver, no secured or unsecured debt - I'm SAVING for a deposit. Interest rates, I'm sure, will go up right when I'd least like them too.

beckythemadcow

Sibley wrote: »

I think you will only have one member. Everyone is happy with the low rates. Long may they continue. The brave have been rewarded. The people who did not have the guts to buy into housing should lose out.

Or are not old enough to have had the opportunity?

It's fine, you lord it up in your mansion, while my generation rot in substandard rented accomodation forever... :mad:

ILW

HAMISH_MCTAVISH wrote: »

So you think an appropriate response in a time of recession and high unemployment is to increase rates, thereby destroying demand within the economy, raising unemployment further and causing even more businesses to fail?

Your "solution" to combating what is by historical standards a wholly insignificant level of inflation is to turn a recession into a depression.

Interesting.

I fear that current policy (QE etc) will actually feed inflation which is a bigger threat to savers than low rates. Seems to send out all the wrong messages to me. It was global lack of saving and cheap easy credit which got us all into this mess.