2014 - the year of recovery

[Kendhni]

ps - the best rate available is on Carnival shares. Invest £2000 plus and get about 20% return tax free. You have to do 4 cruises a year though.

True .... A must have for the frequent cruiser ... I just have to figure out how to take more cruises.

BTW don't forget RCI does a similar deal as well ... Pity the price is quite high at the minute.

[Dark Knight]

as is the norm on this microcosm of middle England, people forget that some people, didn't see a recession, in fact their earnings rose far ahead of inflation, they took advantage of the low interest rates and upsized by some considerable margin and had no cause to tighten anything

sometime people on here need to remember they are not speaking for anyone but themselves

[Kendhni]

as is the norm on this microcosm of middle England, people forget that some people, didn't see a recession, in fact their earnings rose far ahead of inflation, they took advantage of the low interest rates and upsized by some considerable margin and had no cause to tighten anything

sometime people on here need to remember they are not speaking for anyone but themselves

You are correct .. the best thing that happened to me was being made redundant ... it forced my hand and made me do that job search I had been avoiding doing for years. However I would say we are in the minority and we have to think more about the wider impact rather than just focus on ourselves. It has been a tough time for many but, in the majority of cases, the slack was in the system if people simply pulled in their belts and prioritised correctly. They had to forego many luxuries that they previously took for granted.

In 2010 I never for one second thought that any government would be able to turn this economy around in one parliament term ... I was wrong and despite my concerns over a coalition government this one has done a reasonable job (so far). There is still a long way to go but if there are genuine and sustainable shoots of recovery before the next election then whoever gets in next is going to have a much easier time of it ... many of the hard decisions have been taken, the recovery will gather steam, so all the next government has to do is not screw it up.

[david63]

as is the norm on this microcosm of middle England, people forget that some people, didn't see a recession, in fact their earnings rose far ahead of inflation, they took advantage of the low interest rates and upsized by some considerable margin and had no cause to tighten anything

sometime people on here need to remember they are not speaking for anyone but themselves

As Ken says - that is true. However there is a possibility that for some the pain is yet to arrive when, as is inevitable, interest rates rise - an the impact of "help tp buy" kicks in.

[davecttr]

as is the norm on this microcosm of middle England, people forget that some people, didn't see a recession, in fact their earnings rose far ahead of inflation, they took advantage of the low interest rates and upsized by some considerable margin and had no cause to tighten anything

sometime people on here need to remember they are not speaking for anyone but themselves

You are correct .. the best thing that happened to me was being made redundant ... it forced my hand and made me do that job search I had been avoiding doing for years. However I would say we are in the minority and we have to think more about the wider impact rather than just focus on ourselves. It has been a tough time for many but, in the majority of cases, the slack was in the system if people simply pulled in their belts and prioritised correctly. They had to forego many luxuries that they previously took for granted.

In 2010 I never for one second thought that any government would be able to turn this economy around in one parliament term ... I was wrong and despite my concerns over a coalition government this one has done a reasonable job (so far). There is still a long way to go but if there are genuine and sustainable shoots of recovery before the next election then whoever gets in next is going to have a much easier time of it ... many of the hard decisions have been taken, the recovery will gather steam, so all the next government has to do is not screw it up.

Maybe it is not quite as simple as that. some time ago there was discussion on the TV about how the recovery would progress. Apparently it will not be a smooth process and there will be times when progress is good and progress is bad. At the moment we have a good period but this does not mean that in say 5 years time we are in a bad period.

Remember, a lot of those cuts are still to come!.

Coalition governments. I quite like the moderating influence the LibDems have had on the right wing tory crazies. I don't fancy a bunch of Labour crazies either. Maybe we should all vote LibDem!

UKIP? horrifying

[Dark Knight]

David
the head Honcho at the bank of England said he would not raise interest rates till unemployment fell to a certain level, cant remember the number exactly, but makes sense to me, given that once this number is reached the country may well be in a sustainable period of growth, with lessons learnt about boom and bust. Interest rates will rise but I suspect at a managed rate and not at a ridiculous rate
Also, it is time interest rates on savings increased but one must follow the other I suppose
there are many positive signs for the economy and hopefully the powers that be have learnt from experience

[davecttr]

David
the head Honcho at the bank of England said he would not raise interest rates till unemployment fell to a certain level, cant remember the number exactly, but makes sense to me, given that once this number is reached the country may well be in a sustainable period of growth, with lessons learnt about boom and bust. Interest rates will rise but I suspect at a managed rate and not at a ridiculous rate
Also, it is time interest rates on savings increased but one must follow the other I suppose
there are many positive signs for the economy and hopefully the powers that be have learnt from experience

The problem is when that unemployment level is reached the politicians will stick their oar in to try and stop an interest rise because it will hurt all those potential voters who have mortgages.

[david63]

David
the head Honcho at the bank of England said he would not raise interest rates till unemployment fell to a certain level, cant remember the number exactly, but makes sense to me, given that once this number is reached the country may well be in a sustainable period of growth, with lessons learnt about boom and bust. Interest rates will rise but I suspect at a managed rate and not at a ridiculous rate
Also, it is time interest rates on savings increased but one must follow the other I suppose
there are many positive signs for the economy and hopefully the powers that be have learnt from experience

The problem is when that unemployment level is reached the politicians will stick their oar in to try and stop an interest rise because it will hurt all those potential voters who have mortgages.

... untill after the next General Election

[towny44]

The unemployment level, which was 7%, has already been reached, but the governor actually said he would not envisage increasing interest rates until the level had at least reached 7%. There was never a cast iron guarantee that rates would be increased as soon as the level was reached, and with the current benign level of inflation there is no real necessity to increase them. In additiion Sterling is already at 3 yr highs so any increase in interest rates would only tend to push it higher.
So savers will just have to grin and bear it, or take higher risks by investing in shares.