Can You Afford To Save?
While the banks and building societies are still desperate to gain access to funds to lend to customers there are some interesting savings options on the market. However, many of those with attractive interest rates will require consumers to tie-up their capital for a predetermined length of time. This has prompted many to ask whether they can actually afford to save, as strange as that may sound.
If the economy was on the way back up, job prospects were better and the cost of living was under control then many investors would welcome the chance to lock away their savings at attractive rates, but is now really the time?
Each month seems to bring yet more bad news on the economic front with energy prices moving higher, petrol still relatively high and more and more companies looking to cut costs. In this environment it is very difficult to say for certain that you will not need to access your savings over the next 12 months or longer. Even though you will always have access to your money if required, there will be fairly heft penalties if you pull out before the agree date.
How have we arrived in a situation where people cannot afford to save - quite literally!
Share this..
Related stories
FSA extends short selling regulations
The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has today extended the reporting regulations with regards to short selling which were introduced some months ago. Despite originally suggesting that the rules were short-term, ensuring that any short position above 0.25% of a target share capital was reported to the market, it appears this particular rule will continue indefinitely.
At the heig...
Budget 2010: How will the government finance the 2010/11 budget?
The press today is obviously full of information on the budget and how this will impact businesses and consumers in the UK although there is also interesting information about the make-up of the UK budget for 2010/11. So where will the £704 billion needed for government spending come from? By far and away the largest income stream will be income tax which will bring in £146 billion, national...
Read MoreHow will we know the recession has ended?
As UK consumers and UK investors become more and more confused regarding the UK economy, many people are now wondering how we will know the recession has ended. Will there be one sign, a number of signs or will it be a combination of events?
In basic terms, the UK session will end once the UK economy starts to grow rather than shrink as we have seen over the last few months. However...
UK unions want rail network back under government control
In what is fast becoming a government v union battle of wills, it has been revealed that the unions want the UK government to maintain control of the former National Express rail franchise, the East Coast main line.
This is the rail franchise which National Express effectively gave back to the government because of increased losses and the impact it was having on the company's balan...
Are interest rates set to fall by a further 1%?
There appears to be a growing consensus in the City that UK base rates will fall by at least 1% at the next MPC meeting with the potential for further falls if this does not stimulate any type of improvement in the UK economy. Taking rates down to 2.5% is unheard of in recent times and with the potential to move them lower this is a reflection of the serious nature of the ongoing recession.
...