What this meant ... to us - as regular people !! :noidea: BBC NEWS | Business | US rates slashed to nearly zero
It means that the fat-cats will benefit even more, and the ordinary population won't gain much. What's the point of lowering the interest rate when people are losing their jobs and have no money to spend anyway? In this country, it took major pressure from the government and an outcry from the public for the banks to pass on similar cuts by the Bank of England to the population. I still don't undertand why public money is being used to bail out banks when they got themselves into this situation in the first place. If I spent all my money by gambling it away with no thought would I get a bail-out by the banks? Not bloody likely. And the latest farce is the Madoff fraud, and the fact that banks have lost billions. What happened to the regulators, both external and in the banks? Again, if I got involved in a similar scheme and then was out of pocket and needed money, would the banks help? Fat chance
I don't want to deal with banks anymore !!!!!!!! ..... here - the regular people who pay their bills on time ... who have a line of credit at the bank are being told that 'due to the present situation .... lines of credit will be discontinued ' !! What a load of bull .......... !! :croc: under the mattress is looking pretty good right about now !!
For us the lowering of the bank rate has meant that our meagre savings are also affected, as are the share investments and the value of our house. So our plans to provide for a reasonably comfortable retirement have been shot to pieces. I would be the first to admit that we have been very, very fortunate but since plans A B & C are blown, what do we and millions like us who thought that we had drawn a balance to provide for our old age, do now? The most frightening statistic that I have read (in the Telegraph) said that it took until 1954 for the stock exchange to reach pre-crash values again. Since I have no hope of surviving another 25 years, guess I'll never see it happen!!!
I'm sorry to say it ... but for some older adults - suicide is one possible outcome ..... each year more than 6,300 older adults take their own lives - which means nearly 18 older Americans kill themselves each day ! Suicide is rarely if ever - caused by any single event or reason - actually it results from many factors working in combination which produce feelings of hopelessness and depression Right now they are starting to feel hopeless about not being able to have the comfortable retirement or to improve their lives The distress they are starting to feel is alarming ..... I have a seminar coming up for this very subject .... and I've already had some discussions with some mental health personnel - my heart goes out to the men and women who have survived all the pain and heartache of wars etc and who should be enjoying their "Golden Years"
Exactly the same here with our Reserve Bank cuts but we haven't had any bank bail-outs yet. Not more than six months ago, we were being told to slow our spending down because inflation is starting to pick up. Now, well, six weeks ago, the government pays out $10 billion to "eligible" persons (i.e. not me and Jodi or anyone else we know!) as a stimulus package to spend. So, don't spend, ooh, hang on, we're in the poo, spend, spend, spend! Jodi and I are both fed by mining which has fallen over severely around the world so we're both a little edgy about what our respective employers will do. Early days yet but...
Being an aged pensioner , My wife and I were lucky enough to benifit from the government grant. It will be a big help over Xmas and the New Year. Things are not looking crash hot for the mines. A couple of months ago they wanted to bring boats loads of migrants to work in the mines, but now they are talking about putting people off. I think Australia will be OK but I think some nations are in serious trouble.
Mining Andy, sorry to hear about your problem. Mining was my profession for 35 years until Political upheaval put an end to that. Although my pension is a mining one it was massively overfunded due to being a "dying"scheme. So much so that the Government has taken several hundred millions from the surplus. In exchange they guarantee rises according to inflation.
Thanks Brian. We'll get through it but I can't help but feel a bit jaded at present. Have already been daydreaming about what I could move into if it all goes pear-shaped. Still, head down, bum up and work away to ward off the negatives! Good to hear you benefitted, John. At least I know someone who has!
