Should we punish savers to help the feckless?

[Doggy Styles]

Robert Peston's summary, which I stumbled across by accident

He asks a pertinent question about all these interest rate cuts:

What's worse? Failing to pass on all the interest rate cut to hard-pressed families, or slashing the retirement income of elderly couples who live off the interest on their bank and building-society savings?

The elderly are helpless, with no future hopes of working their way out of it, so slashing their income has got to be worse, hasn't it?

[OwlHoot]

.. The elderly are helpless, with no future hopes of working their way out of it,

mostly Tory voters

[TimberWolf]

The old can always save money by turning off their central heating. I think this is what I will do when I get older. The day I can't survive a Winter inside is the day I cash in my chips. Cheap, natural and painless, and a lot better than 20 years of dementia and carping on about the war in a nursing home.

[expat]

Robert Peston's summary, which I stumbled across by accident

He asks a pertinent question about all these interest rate cuts:The elderly are helpless, with no future hopes of working their way out of it, so slashing their income has got to be worse, hasn't it?

ISTM that in Brown's view, saving is not a useful thing to do with money. Giving it to the government is.

PS I started typing "your money" but I removed "your" because I don't think that Brown has that concept.

[rootsnall]

I couldn't agree more !

The problem is we have an election in a year or so and those in debt are in the majority. They are probably going to take us all down in the process.

The only escape from the debt mountain is hyper inflation and that is the route they are attempting to take. Who knows how it will all pan out !?

[d000hg]

Shouldn't the elderly be living off their pensions rather than savings? Or are we talking about richer old people with a lot (£100K+) of savings?

[Doggy Styles]

The only escape from the debt mountain is hyper inflation and that is the route they are attempting to take. Who knows how it will all pan out !?

Well, it worked for Zimbabwe didn't it?

[rootsnall]

Well, it worked for Zimbabwe didn't it?

True, there is no mortage debt problem in Zim.

ps. assuming they took out the mortgage in the trusty Zimbabwe Dollar

[Doggy Styles]

Shouldn't the elderly be living off their pensions rather than savings? Or are we talking about richer old people with a lot (£100K+) of savings?

Nope, we're talking about old people for whom £20 a week extra is a lot, wherever it comes from. Being rich contractors I think we lose sight of the small numbers involved here.

[Diestl]

Nope, we're talking about old people for whom £20 a week extra is a lot, wherever it comes from. Being rich contractors I think we lose sight of the small numbers involved here.

No... we are starting to remember, thanks to tulip agents.