Rant Interest rates

[00dave]

1 bastard %

So in my isa now all I will get is £35, stupid bloody banking morons. May as well spend it hadn't I, that's what gormless brown wants me to do.

 

[Cadelin]

1 bastard %

So in my isa now all I will get is £35, stupid bloody banking morons. May as well spend it hadn't I, that's what gormless brown wants me to do.

I put my ISA in a fixed interest bond for the year so I am still getting 7% on it. Shame that will come to an end in a few months.

 

[Mey]

Use some of it to clear other debts.

Low interest = more capital balance paid off.

 

[Furr]

I don't understand why they are doing this, from what I can understand, people aren't borrowing and banks aren't lending not because of the interest rate but because we are in a recession, and banks just don't want to lend at the moment. So how does this do anything but fuck things up for people who have saving? Pensioners for example are being badly hit. It's hardly going to affect mortgages since most mortgage lenders have a baseline rate that they won't go below which the main rate fell below ages ago.

Stupid government is really stupid, tard fucks.

 

[00dave]

Use some of it to clear other debts.

Low interest = more capital balance paid off.

I have no debts. Was saving for a mortgage but can't even do that because you need a 40% deposit for a decent rate.

 

[old.user4556]

1 bastard %

So in my isa now all I will get is £35, stupid bloody banking morons. May as well spend it hadn't I, that's what gormless brown wants me to do.

So when they were at 5% you'd be getting £175 a year in interest instead of £35.

Better cancel that trip abroad or that second car you were saving up for!

 

[00dave]

So when they were at 5% you'd be getting £175 a year in interest instead of £35.

Better cancel that trip abroad or that second car you were saving up for!

ok so mathmatically speaking I'm overreacting but its the principal of the matter, why hit savers and reward borrowers.

 

[Mey]

I don't understand why they are doing this, from what I can understand, people aren't borrowing and banks aren't lending not because of the interest rate but because we are in a recession, and banks just don't want to lend at the moment. So how does this do anything but fuck things up for people who have saving? Pensioners for example are being badly hit. It's hardly going to affect mortgages since most mortgage lenders have a baseline rate that they won't go below which the main rate fell below ages ago.

Stupid government is really stupid, tard fucks.

I beg to differ, banks are lending the same as before.

The problem is they aren't lending as much to each other.

The govt. dropped the rates to encourage banks to lend more to each other.

 

[old.user4556]

ok so mathmatically speaking I'm overreacting but its the principal of the matter, why hit savers and reward borrowers.

Savers gave the interest rates a hard time when they were at 5%.

The reason borrowers are rewarded is that they're trying to calm down and encourage stability and growth in the housing market. High interest rates aren't the way to go about that, particularly with the banks being so arsey.

Until the toxic assets are all on the table and everyone's cards are revealed after the flop, then it'll take a long time to get back to 90% and 95% LTV mortgages.

It's probably the best situation out of a bag of really shit options and situations.

 

[Furr]

I beg to differ, banks are lending the same as before.

The problem is they aren't lending as much to each other.

The govt. dropped the rates to encourage banks to lend more to each other.

I thought that was to more to do with the libor rate and the fact banks don't trust each other at the moment, stupid banks, this whole thing is like a group of people(banks)with HIV, but they don't know who has the really bad HIVs or the most HIVs and since they don't want the AIDS they aren't shagging each other and its screwing everyone else... damn AIDS, when are they gonna cure that anyway! Big G it's all your fault you should have spotted this years ago and fixed it, the whole world!

 

[old.user4556]

I said years ago that there was no way to sustain the current mortgage lending . This bust is overdue.

 

[rynnor]

I think it was a pretty pointless drop - the % of people who will actually gain from this last drop is very small and the % of savers hurt by it is far larger.

tbh hurting pensioners (many living off fixed incomes/savings) before an election would be a pretty stupid thing to do normally but I guess Labour know they are already doomed so what the hell

 

[Rubric]

the short sighted peeps that make these decisions also think that if its not worth you saving you might spend and help the economy, only thing is everyone thinks they are gonna lose their job so they are not going to spend their savings. Dont worry rates will go through the roof eventually.

And then i will buy all your houses.

 

[Raven]

Do people actually think the useless chair warmers that got us into this mess are going to be the ones that get us out of it?

Its going to get a hell of a lot worse before it gets better.

 

[Wij]

Helps me. I have fuck all savings left since I've got a wee one and my bonuses and share schemes are worth ant-spunk these days. My staff mortgage tracks the base rate though (although it is a taxable benefit) so hooray for this \o/

(Yes, I know it's not a great idea for the economy in general, New Labour couldn't budget for a piss-up in Netto after a lottery win.)

 

[inactionman]

I'm getting next to no interest now, so I'll be withdrawing all my money from my savings accounts, and holding a combination of cash (dollars, sterling, maybe some euros) and gold. Hopefully that will hedge me enough if they start printing money (so called quantative easing) and we become the next zimbabwe!

 

[Moriath]

i'm getting loads off my mortgage now down to 3% after this drop paying over 100 quid less a month is nice .. i know my mortgage only has 75k owing on it but still its nice

Its swings and roundabouts it was nearly 6% a year abo and still you didnt hear the borrowers moan as much as the savers are now..

Perhaps you wish you were in the 80's when it reached 16% ?

 

[Tom]

Hang on. I thought savings were there so you had some money to spend if the shit hit the fan.

So why don't you spend it?

 

[Zenith.UK]

I'm thinking ahead to November next year when my fixed rate ends. Depending on the economic situation, it will be fun trying to remortgage on a shared ownership house (50/50 with housing authority). Only a small handful of mortgage providers will offer shared ownership mortgages.

 

[00dave]

Hang on. I thought savings were there so you had some money to spend if the shit hit the fan.

So why don't you spend it?

Shit isn't anywhere near the fan for me yet, I work in a recession proof industry so I'm still earning good money.

Its swings and roundabouts it was nearly 6% a year abo and still you didnt hear the borrowers moan as much as the savers are now..

Perhaps you wish you were in the 80's when it reached 16% ?

Not the stupidest thing I've read on these forums but in the top 10 at least. Seriously, borrowers had no right to moan, if they didn't want to pay the interest they shouldn't have borrowed more than they could manage, its fucking simple.

 

[Chilly]

Not the stupidest thing I've read on these forums but in the top 10 at least. Seriously, borrowers had no right to moan, if they didn't want to pay the interest they shouldn't have borrowed more than they could manage, its fucking simple.

"But the 40" plasma, two PCs and the PS3 were VITAL to my survival!!!!!!!"

 

[gunner440]

"But the 40" plasma, two PCs and the PS3 were VITAL to my survival!!!!!!!"

Quoted for truth.

 

[dysfunction]

Shit isn't anywhere near the fan for me yet, I work in a recession proof industry so I'm still earning good money.

If you are earning good money and have some good savings why moan?
You are doing a lot better than most other people...

 

[Jupitus]

The aim of this rate cut isn't towards getting banks lending to each other again (they need other plans to help with that, such as this reported insurance against the bad debt) it is to get consumers spending.

These rate cuts have saved me hundreds off my mortgage and that is money which I can now spend spend spend! See?

 

[Trem]

My savings are mostly in premium bonds, is this a good idea or about the worst idea? Are they protected by the FSCS (I suspect they aren't)?

Would I be better off having my money hidden under my bed or leaving it where it is or doing something else with it?

When I bought the bonds (about 3 years ago) I made more on winnings than I would of in interest (interest was about 5.5%) but the last year it seems like I am winning less and winning lower amounts, how can this be or is it just my paranoia? Seems very fucking strange that my winnings dropped as the interest rates dropped.

 

[inactionman]

Except, of course, people aren't spending, they are actually cutting back on spending, as they are worried they'll lose their job. So they want some money put aside to cushion them, and maybe pay off some of their debt. All the while inflation's going up, mainly due to the weakness of the pound.

 

[Chilly]

My savings are mostly in premium bonds, is this a good idea or about the worst idea? Are they protected by the FSCS (I suspect they aren't)?

Would I be better off having my money hidden under my bed or leaving it where it is or doing something else with it?

When I bought the bonds (about 3 years ago) I made more on winnings than I would of in interest (interest was about 5.5%) but the last year it seems like I am winning less and winning lower amounts, how can this be or is it just my paranoia? Seems very fucking strange that my winnings dropped as the interest rates dropped.

Premium bonds are backed by a government guarantee. However, there is a non-zero chance that our government may not be able to live up to that guarantee or that it migh collapse entirely under its own debts. Premium bonds are you lending the government money. What it boils down to is do you trust the government to pay you back? The answer is almost certainly yes but things are getting bad.

 

[Chilly]

Except, of course, people aren't spending, they are actually cutting back on spending, as they are worried they'll lose their job. So they want some money put aside to cushion them, and maybe pay off some of their debt. All the while inflation's going up, mainly due to the weakness of the pound.

Spending is down on luxuries, so what? Some businesses will fail (boo hoo, they are not critical infrastrucuture) and some will prosper from those same failures. This economy could do with a slowdown. There's NOTHING WRONG with zero-growth economies, it means its stable for fuck's sake.

 

[inactionman]

Seems very fucking strange that my winnings dropped as the interest rates dropped.

From what I understand the winings are paid out of the same pot as the interest, so as the amount goes down the winnings pot goes down.

There's no way to save in a bank account and keep your money from not being eroded away by inflation at the moment (even by the goverments own heavily manipulated measure of it). There's basically 2 options for keeping the value of your savings, buy ns&i index linked certificates (they are popular so each issue tends to sell out quickly, plus the premium they offer over the RPI isn't great anymore) or you can take a risk and buy gold (bullion bars/coins).

As chilly says, it's getting near the point where you have to be worried about the capacity of the government to service it's debt. I'm expecting that they'll bring in restrictions regarding foreign currency soon, and may even look at gold confiscation.

And chilly, I'm a big believer in letting falled businesses fail, I think the whole bank bailout was a huge mistake, they should have let the bad banks fail and the good banks continue, and live with the short term implications, it would have been a lot less pain in the long run! But oh no, labour would be out of power, so that couldn't happen. Instead we'll double/possibly triple the national debt and shackle generations to debt slavery! TBH I'm getting out of UK, it's got a serious risk of becoming a total hellhole!

 

[rynnor]

When I bought the bonds (about 3 years ago) I made more on winnings than I would of in interest (interest was about 5.5%) but the last year it seems like I am winning less and winning lower amounts, how can this be or is it just my paranoia? Seems very fucking strange that my winnings dropped as the interest rates dropped.

They have really slashed the prizes - in Dec 07 there were 78 who won 25,000 - in Dec 08 it was 2!

The prize fund is based on the interest rate so the bonds payout a lot less now - I have a load for the kids - am wondering whether to cash em in but then again theres no great places to save now.

BBC NEWS | Business | Premium Bond prize numbers tumble