Give me my money
Rang up a bank yesterday, asked for a settlement on one of my endowment policies (we switched to repayment two years ago and interest on it is now 0.99%). "Are you sure" they asked "you stand to make a loss, but if you keep it in for another 10 years you could double it"
"No i'd like a settlement"
"Right so you paid in £2x,xxx, but you'll only get £19,xxx if you cash it in"
"Splendid, send me the forms"
"Are you sure, you've made a loss"
[thinks: Yes but I don't have to pay capital gains tax]
"I'm sure"
[thinks: I understand the concept of Net Present Value]
"Have you considered not cashing it in but instead transfering it to some over vehicle"
"I have considered that"
[thinks: right now the best investment I can make is sending my kids to private school and this should pay the fees for a couple of years, besides the grandparents have set up a trust fund to pay for university in the form of a house each to rent out]
"...."
"I'll pass you on to closure
"...."
"funds will arrive in your bank account 7-10 days after receipt of the signed form" Mr Closure said. "I'll send out the forms"
"Great" I said, "could you send a miss-selling form too, or do I get that from the FSA?"

Now you tell me just how the credit crunch is affecting people in the UK? Trailer trash midwesterns perhaps, but as far as I can see it's had absolutely no effect on the vast majority of people here, quite the opposite. Can't get a plumber, can't get an electrician, can't get a decorator till at least september, the poor guys are rushed off their feet and quoting high just to try and stem the demand.

Lovely people bankers, well their customer service people are anyway.

Mind you I'm not looking forward to paying 70% tax come 2012.
( buffet_the_appetite_slayer ٩(●̮̃•)۶ jacked in to the ICE on, Wed 22 Jul 2009, 9:09, 3 replies)

Then what should arrive this morning in the post?
A sample cheque from Barclaycard for £18,500 saying "what could you do with this money"?

I reckon they talk to each other you know.
( buffet_the_appetite_slayer ٩(●̮̃•)۶ jacked in to the ICE on, Wed 22 Jul 2009, 9:16, closed)

Debt
defaults only come when countries have to raise their interest rates to attract investor capital, having exhausted other avenues - [tax and new debtors]. At the moment we've been given free smack samples, payback comes later.
All those people on trackers whose payments have fallen will notice the credit crunch when interest rates rise.
Seems to be a consensus that "the can" (i.e. debt problem) can be kicked down the road for a few more months before the maths kicks in, but not much more. SVR/tracker based debt is about to become very expensive.
(Countryslicker, Wed 22 Jul 2009, 10:41, closed)

You said it
Higher interest rates, higher inflation (unless every agrees to pay freezes) would make any endowment policy/savings worthless soon anyway.

Meanwhile I'm gonna spend spend spend (within my means that is) and I'm gonna spend it her.

Bring back jumble sales thats what I say!
( buffet_the_appetite_slayer ٩(●̮̃•)۶ jacked in to the ICE on, Wed 22 Jul 2009, 12:46, closed)