Interest Rates

geepster

bristolleedsfan wrote: »

Sadly those who were able to get 100% + morgages took no financial risks and were willing to pay anything for a house due to apparent fact they werent putting anything down on it. ( no risk)

Apart from those who inherit wealth those with their morgages paid off + have savings are not "fortunate" they worked to be in the situation they are now, Many had no holidays and little luxuries when they had their morgages.

Are u saying that im "fortunate" to be living morgage free with savings after I took out a morgage when I was 18, didnt go out drinking, worked numerous hours over the top, had no holidays and little social life. :huh: ( and btw I have a 25 year endownment policy maturing in 2009 i guess due to me being "fortunate" to keep paying into it despite having no morgage.

Struggling to pay a morgage due to "interest rates" you say, many of us didnt have morgage rates less than 10.25% with the highest being 15% +.

I remember these high interest rates only too well!!:eek:
I got my first mortgage in the early 70's and the manager of the bldg society would only give me 2.5 times my salary. He said "I could easily give you 4 or 5 times your salary but it would be totally irresponsible of me as I know you couldn't afford to repay it" Very wise.
We also had to go without. No carpets, no car, very basic holidays. I'm not complaining by the way. It's just that IMHO it's a pity society has moved to a culture of "I want it all and I want it now!!!"
Let's not forget, that the banks aren't doing anyone any favours here - either savers or borrowers. All they are interested in is making as many billions in profits for the benefit of their shareholders and so they (the directors) can pay themselves huge salaries and, in some cases, obscene bonuses.:mad:
Having said all this, I do sympathise with anyone trying to get on to the property ladder for the first time but remember, you may have to do without some of life's luxuries for a little while but it will be worth it:j

bristolleedsfan

geepster wrote: »

[ "I want it all and I want it now!!!"

And rather than people tighten their belts and cut back, in february credit card spending soared again. :wall:

earlgrey_3

geepster wrote: »

I got my first mortgage in the early 70's

Us too. There's a current idea that it used to be easy getting a mortgage. Like hell it was.

Before we could be considered for a mortgage we had to join a building society as savers. We started saving with the Portman. Most building societies then wouldn't consider giving a mortgage to anyone who hadn't been a saver with them.

After two years of mad saving and living on fresh air we had an interview with the branch manager. I was getting a thousand a year, decent money, and they'd let us have 3x my earnings. The cheapest house we could find was £4600 for a tiny terrace which meant we had to find over 33% for the deposit - 18 months total wages before tax. Building societies then usually refused to lend on flats or leaseholds.

They lent us £3000 but then retained £200 until we painted the house and rendered the chimney. Being £200 short meant we moved in without a cent and had just a double bed and a cooker. No sofa or dining table and lived like that for 6 months.

Based on that was mildly amused to see someone on telly complaining that now he could only get a 95% mortgage. If someone is too strapped to save up 5% for a deposit, how can they expect to find paying a mortgage easy?

All that 100% mortgages and huge multiples have done has been to push up the prices first time buyers can offer and therefore pay. They've made big profits for the banks but ultimately have done nothing for buyers. Would be pleased never to see them back.

The difficulty of obtaining mortages in the '70s was what kept house prices relatively low. That little terraced house we bought for £4600 in 1970 recently sold for £350,000, totally nuts.

nilrem_2

bristolleedsfan wrote: »

Not being cheeky Nilrem u could enhance your savings income by transferring your ISA cash out of NS&I.

That is very true, in fact it gets worse I also have a lot of cash in Smile ISA's too! I am always moving my cash around but one thing that I am dubious of is moving an ISA?

bristolleedsfan

nilrem wrote: »

That is very true, in fact it gets worse I also have a lot of cash in Smile ISA's too! I am always moving my cash around but one thing that I am dubious of is moving an ISA?

Only a case of filling in 2 forms...Nationwide 6.15 ( fixed for 1 or 2 years) Halifax 6.20% fixed for 4 years or Abbey 6.25% variable rate includes 1% bonus for first year ............... all of these fully backdate interest on transfers in to ensure no loss of interest.

Speculator

and here's the Nationwide ISA transfer form.

http://www.nationwide.co.uk/savings/ISA/C115A_ISA_transfer_in.pdf

You will also need an application form which you can get at a branch.

kingmonkey

Is it worth putting all my savings into gold?

Aegis

kingmonkey wrote: »

Is it worth putting all my savings into gold?

In a word, no.

Putting all of your money into a volatile asset would be a ridiculously bad idea in this volatile climate. Would you be happy seeing your entire holding drop suddenly overnight?



Or was this another one of those jokes that have been flying over my head lately...?

MiserlyMartin

Risky. But potentially good look at the great gains you could have made over the last 5 years. Just ask Gordon Brown - who sold a lot of our gold when the price was low. How the dithering idiot ever got allowed near anything economic, let alone PM is beyond me.

nilrem_2

MiserlyMartin wrote: »

Just ask Gordon Brown - who sold a lot of our gold when the price was low. How the dithering idiot ever got allowed near anything economic, let alone PM is beyond me.

I am beginning to agree with that TBH, he seems to disappear when a problem occurs! For example had he acted quickly (as he should have done) when people started to queue up to draw their cash out of NR it may have saved the taxpayers a lot of cash and NR might still be doing business as a private company.