Rates are at 2.25%, and could double by next year. Bad news if you have a mortgage; but spare a thought for those who need the money and can only dream of having a mortgage. I now listen to commercial radio, to which the BBC has driven me by shedding most of its decent presenters. I’ve heard two adverts for ‘and no credit checks, nothing to pay for six months’ loan schemes this week, which hurriedly say in the small talk (radio equivalent of small print) ‘representative APR 36.5%’ and, get this, ’46.7%’. So here we go again. The last lot of austerity brought us the payday lenders (the at-that-time legal ones, that is). Both of these new versions sounded like sophisticated pawn brokers, offering to take a charge on any and all of your worthwhile possessions. And I’d guess, until these schemes are regulated away, some or many will have to resort to this to pay the gas bill and feed the kids. A sorry state of affairs.
“The true impact of inflation on cash savings and pensions”
Leaving your money in the bank or building society has always meant that its ‘real value’ after inflation will go down. Although rates go up to, supposedly, control inflation, any chart you look at will show that, apart from a few very short-term blips (N Lamont, I’m looking at you) they are never more than inflation.
