0.25% cut in BoE base rate

Treadmill

Generali wrote: »

And, presumably given !!!!!!'s post, the happier !!!!!! will be.

I love capitalism - a free exchange in the market means that both parties' total happiness rises.

Yup its a positive utopia lol

chinatown_2

!!!!!!? wrote: »

Some of us haven't borrowed to the point where we are so up to our necks in debt that 7.50 quid a week is the difference between financially sinking or swimming.

In fact, some of us actually have things called 'savings' and as a result of interest rate cuts aimed at bailing out the banks who made stupid loans (and cheered on by the financially illiterate that did the borrowing) are going to see our returns eroded even more.

Plus, since we are in an environment of growing inflation the interest rate cuts will have the effect of worsening this ... further attacking our savings. And also incidentally making everyday stuff like food, heating your house and driving a lot more expensive.

Many people may well find that they are worse off in a month or so's time if they actually have the braincells to sit down and do a statement of accounts.


If you borrowed massive amounts of money wihtout doing your sums first, to the point where 7.50 a week now matters to you then you have zero sympathy from me.

The people who do have my sympathy are those on the breadline through low incomes who face spiralling food and heating costs.

Youve really annoyed me with this assumption of my life and the way we choose to deal with our finances. Peoples lives change. We didnt realise that my H would more than likely lose his job in a few months as he works for a major bank whos in deep !!!!!! at the moment. So dont dare make out that we didnt do our sums, and yes £7.50 a week will help us out if worst comes to worst.:mad:

EdInvestor

Generali wrote: »

For ali007 (and anyone else that is interested)

Total mortgage debt in the UK = £1,129,000,000,000 (link)
Total UK liquid savings = £1,100,000,000,000 (link)
Total UK savings* = £4,500,000,000,000 (link)
*Includes illiquid things like pension policies, equity ISAs, endowment policies etc.

If you look at the first link you'll see that over the years the value of household wealth is split roughly half and half between property and savings/pensions. If one gets too far out of line with the other, it's often an indication that a market is overvalued.

The picture is a bit more confused at present as unsecured debt has risen ( though not to anything like the level believed by the ill-informed) and some of the pension/savings money may have been diverted into property via BTL.

The only illiquid savings are pensions BTW: endowments and ISAs are liquid. Possibly the "liquid" savings category applies to cash deposits and the other category would be better descibed as pensions and investments.

Generali

EdInvestor wrote: »

If you look at the first link you'll see that over the years the value of household wealth is split roughly half and half between property and savings/pensions. If one gets too far out of line with the other, it's often an indication that a market is overvalued.

The picture is a bit more confused at present as unsecured debt has risen ( though not to anything like the level believed by the ill-informed) and some of the pension/savings money may have been diverted into property via BTL.

The only illiquid savings are pensions BTW: endowments and ISAs are liquid. Possibly the "liquid" savings category applies to cash deposits and the other category would be better descibed as pensions and investments.

I would define liquid as money that you can get back by the end of the day on Friday if you ask for it on a Monday morning without having to take a penalty or reduce the price you sell for. By that definition, endowments and houses are illiquid investments. Most shares and bonds are liquid (at least in the sort of quantities most individuals are likely to buy them in).

At work I define a share as liquid if it's less than 2% of average daily volume.

MrSafeGaz

Treadmill wrote: »

Maybe for some, for others being proved right about a house price crash is bordering on obsession and thats not healthy.

I agree with you there but I think that the same is true for those who believe the opposite. People forcasting the crash have been wrong for many, many years now. However, ignoring the bias of those obsessive with crashing, surely you admit that right now things are looking the most unstable that they have for a long time? Unstable enough for buyers, especially first timers, to take a step back and see how things pan out in the near future.

JoJoArmani

mpsavuk wrote: »

Lets face it, you can all argue until your blue in the face, but theres no getting away from the facts:

House prices are toast
The economy is toast
Recession just around the corner

Get used to it!

But doesn't recesstion mean job loses and companies going bust etc?

Will we all feel smug and content then with our newly purchased property on the back of the HPC? Or will we be worried sick that we will lose or job and therefore our home?

frank.hopper

But doesn't recesstion mean job loses and companies going bust etc?

It means MISERY to almost every one in this country.


The only people that would wish that, are the HAVE NOTS! you know the type, they have " no get up and go" ........" lazy losers" ........."let's blame my miserable life on someone/ something else" ...........................sad, but true.

gallygirl

Generali wrote: »

For ali007 (and anyone else that is interested)

Total mortgage debt in the UK = £1,129,000,000,000 (link)
Value of house stock in the UK = £3,540,000,000,000 (link)
Total unsecured lending (incl credit cards) = £224,000,000,000 (link)
Total UK liquid savings = £1,100,000,000,000 (link)
Total UK savings* = £4,500,000,000,000 (link)
Total UK Government debt = £618,800,000,000 (link) (as of Dec 2007)
Total UK Government unfunded liabilities** = £2,000,000,000,000 (approx)

The thing that worries me most on that list is the last figure. There is no way that the UK government can meet its unfunded liabilities as to do so it'll have to raise taxes to levels that will destroy the economy and thus be unable to meet its liabilities!

Thanks Generali. So, put bluntly, as a whole we don't have enough liquid assets to pay off our debts. But we're more capable of meeting them long term than it appears the government are of meeting theirs . Oh great, wish I hadn't asked

Just read this on whatsthecost.com:

'Of the £54.80 billion credit card debt, approximately 74.2% is ‘interest bearing’ (eg, £40.66 billion is carried over each month). Which means that the UK is paying around £602,130,527 every month in credit card interest (that's about £13,747 a minute). And that's not including loans, mortgages, or other types of debt.'

What is going on in this country

izzybusy23

Treadmill wrote: »

So whats the alternative then, wish your life away frantically scouring news reports looking for signs of a crash and hanging around on forums plucking up the courage to buy when everybody else tells you the markets bottomed, lifes to short.

I'd much arm myself with as much information as I can rather than mortgage myself to the hilt, cr&p myself about redundancy/sickness etc or even worse, watch as my house slids down into a negative equity whilst some FTB snaps up the house next door at 40% less than I paid for it. That would depress the hell out of me.

I am getting so fed up with people on here slating FTB for hoping for a crash whilst they are desperately trying to talk the market up knowing the inevitable is just around the corner. I can only imagine they have vested interests or are mortgaged to the hilt and are coming on here to soothe their own worries.

These people really need to get a life. They wouldn't be on a forum talking about house prices if they weren't actually worried themselves. Instead of them 'hanging around on this forum' maybe THEY should sod off and leave all us to it then, yes?

izzybusy23

Treadmill wrote: »

the longer you rent the happier your Landlord will be ;-)

And the longer we all rent the happier the bank will be with all the savings we have, instead of paying massively over inflated mortgages on really inadequate little shoe boxes, and in deep debt due to ever spiralling credit cards for those desperately trying TO KEEP UP WITH THE JONES'. :rolleyes: