I bet Gordon Brown wished he still had our gold reserves to sell on today's markets .. . .
And why are all the local councils complaining about losing money in Icelandic banks? They seem very surprised. Why?
I took my money back several months ago at the first whisper of a downgrade in the stability of the Icelandic banks. I know we are unable to 'trust' any financial institution in todays market but at least I've kept my money in the UK and just hope the Govt will continue to safeguard my precious savings.
Showing posts with label banks. our money. Show all posts
Showing posts with label banks. our money. Show all posts
Thursday, 9 October 2008
Wednesday, 7 November 2007
Apologies
I apologise for not posting an entry for a few days. I've had a bit of a s**t week. Nothing major just minor but time consuming irritaions that have disrupted my days this week. And the week isn't over yet. Even though I no longer work for a living - well go out to work - or paid work (I always seem to be working at some chore or other) the week for me still seems to be Monday to Friday. I still love Friday evenings which always feel full of promise with the weekend ahead. I'm just relieved I no longer have that horrible Monday morning feeling anymore. Retirement does have its good points.
Now since Blogger started to misbehave a few days ago; everything else seems to be following suit. The oven ended up producing a few inedible burnt offerings. I know - I agree, I may not have been concentrating - but it's not all my fault. The cooker clock seems to stop/go without warning and it no longs trills at me when the time is up. I've also had post go missing and been chasing around trying to sort out various minor chores made worse due to expected mail not arriving as promised. I was beginning to disbelieve the sender. Then I arrived home one morning to a polite missive from the local NHS to ask exactly why I had failed to attend for an appointment. I have never ever had an appointment marked down as Did Not Attend. I rang to apologise and explain. They were not surprised. It's happened to many. In fact the staff sat around twiddling their thumbs for many an hour over the last fortnight. Why the NHS continued to post out letters with appointment times in the middle of a week long mail strike, I do not know. Surely it would have been far better use of staff time to ring round and advise everyone of the appointments date and time. But no - that is probably too much like using basic common sense.
If you are expecting a letter and it doesn't arrive you can take action. But when you don't even know it should be arriving then you are 'up the swanny'.
I had been expecting to hear from the Northern Rock Bank. I had Fixed Term Bond reaching maturity. I was keenly anxious to liberate it as soon as possible. I contacted them to ask when I could expect to hear from them. Once again I was impressed with the response. Because of the postal strike and backlog of letters in Royal Mail's system they had extended the deadline for instructions to reach them on maturity. impressed or not I took my money out as soon as possible and am relieved to have done so. But I still feel like a rat deserting a sinking ship. I'm now trying to play safe by forgoing the high interest rates and splitting my savings into a smaller piles and depositing in building societies or National Savings. I'll wait for the troubles to shake down and see which banks are safe. I'd feel far happier with a gold bar under my bed though. Has anyone told Gordon Brown what the price of gold is lately? Just compare this to the price at which he sold off our gold reserves.
Now since Blogger started to misbehave a few days ago; everything else seems to be following suit. The oven ended up producing a few inedible burnt offerings. I know - I agree, I may not have been concentrating - but it's not all my fault. The cooker clock seems to stop/go without warning and it no longs trills at me when the time is up. I've also had post go missing and been chasing around trying to sort out various minor chores made worse due to expected mail not arriving as promised. I was beginning to disbelieve the sender. Then I arrived home one morning to a polite missive from the local NHS to ask exactly why I had failed to attend for an appointment. I have never ever had an appointment marked down as Did Not Attend. I rang to apologise and explain. They were not surprised. It's happened to many. In fact the staff sat around twiddling their thumbs for many an hour over the last fortnight. Why the NHS continued to post out letters with appointment times in the middle of a week long mail strike, I do not know. Surely it would have been far better use of staff time to ring round and advise everyone of the appointments date and time. But no - that is probably too much like using basic common sense.
If you are expecting a letter and it doesn't arrive you can take action. But when you don't even know it should be arriving then you are 'up the swanny'.
I had been expecting to hear from the Northern Rock Bank. I had Fixed Term Bond reaching maturity. I was keenly anxious to liberate it as soon as possible. I contacted them to ask when I could expect to hear from them. Once again I was impressed with the response. Because of the postal strike and backlog of letters in Royal Mail's system they had extended the deadline for instructions to reach them on maturity. impressed or not I took my money out as soon as possible and am relieved to have done so. But I still feel like a rat deserting a sinking ship. I'm now trying to play safe by forgoing the high interest rates and splitting my savings into a smaller piles and depositing in building societies or National Savings. I'll wait for the troubles to shake down and see which banks are safe. I'd feel far happier with a gold bar under my bed though. Has anyone told Gordon Brown what the price of gold is lately? Just compare this to the price at which he sold off our gold reserves.
Monday, 17 September 2007
Northern Rock Debacle
I just cannot believe what I am seeing on the news. The queues at Northern Rock Banks of hundreds of people patiently waiting to get access to their money. The whole tribe of leaders, bankers, experts, politicians wheeled out to tell us all that our money is SAFE in Northern Rock. No problems. Don't panic. The website is running as normal - it 'maybe a bit slow' as so many people are trying to get online to transfer their money out. Does anyone know of anyone who has managed to log on to even look at their balance? You can't even get online to open an account - if you should wish to do so - if you wanted to show your faith in the bank.
I am so sorry for all the staff at Northern Rock. From staff at HQ, to the IT Dept, and all the counter staff. I expect they are getting a lot of flack and aggro from anxious savers. At the same time they will be worried about their own jobs. The standard of staff and paperwork at Northern Rock has been exemplary. Far superior to any other bank I've had dealings with. That's why it is such a sad ending to a fine institution. It's the bosses who are to blame - and the shareholders along with the FSA and Govt.
Now I'm a saver and so is my husband. We can't afford to lose money. But as our accounts are postal and have penalties attached for cashing in early - then there is no easy access to our money however much I would like to panic and take it out. Unless the bank and its obligations are taken over we are likely to lose some of our savings. The FSCS scheme only pays 100% on the first £2k and then drops to 90% for the subsequent amount to a maximum of £33k. This sum was set up with the scheme a few years ago. I don't know whether it will ever be reviewed. Some people have had far more than £35k invested - perhaps they weren't told of the maximum re the FSCScheme as a last resort if a bank fails - perhaps banks should be required to do so in future.
Now - I also have a smallish sum - my ready cash savings in the Silver Saver On-line. There is no way I can access that at the moment. I did try at 3.30 a.m. But I am reluctant to anyway because what would happen if I arranged a BACS transfer and while my money was out there in that mysterious world of the etherbank - that strange place where I get no interest on it - while it has left one bank and takes 3-4 days to arrive at the destination bank - what would happen if the Northen Rock bank suddenly ceased trading? Would I be covered then by the FSCS scheme? Or if the NR Bank sent my money to me as a cheue through the post. My money in a cheque. But before it was paid in and cleared as cash in my current account - would I be then be an unfortuante creditor only or would I still be covered under the FSCS scheme?
Knowing how this Govt. has refused to help out pensioners with collapsed pension schemes and the Equitable Life customers; also the FSA seems very toothless when dealing with this - then are any of these schemes worth the paper they are written on? At our age we can't afford to wait xx years to find out if we will get compensation should a bank collapse and cease trading.
This latest panic on the high street just shows how none of us trust our leaders when they tell us we have nothing to worry about. They have squandered our trust over the last 10 years and are now being hoist by the petards [whatever they are!]. I hope it's painful for them all.
18/09/07 - Well said Libby Purvis : http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/libby_purves/article2477756.ece
I am so sorry for all the staff at Northern Rock. From staff at HQ, to the IT Dept, and all the counter staff. I expect they are getting a lot of flack and aggro from anxious savers. At the same time they will be worried about their own jobs. The standard of staff and paperwork at Northern Rock has been exemplary. Far superior to any other bank I've had dealings with. That's why it is such a sad ending to a fine institution. It's the bosses who are to blame - and the shareholders along with the FSA and Govt.
Now I'm a saver and so is my husband. We can't afford to lose money. But as our accounts are postal and have penalties attached for cashing in early - then there is no easy access to our money however much I would like to panic and take it out. Unless the bank and its obligations are taken over we are likely to lose some of our savings. The FSCS scheme only pays 100% on the first £2k and then drops to 90% for the subsequent amount to a maximum of £33k. This sum was set up with the scheme a few years ago. I don't know whether it will ever be reviewed. Some people have had far more than £35k invested - perhaps they weren't told of the maximum re the FSCScheme as a last resort if a bank fails - perhaps banks should be required to do so in future.
Now - I also have a smallish sum - my ready cash savings in the Silver Saver On-line. There is no way I can access that at the moment. I did try at 3.30 a.m. But I am reluctant to anyway because what would happen if I arranged a BACS transfer and while my money was out there in that mysterious world of the etherbank - that strange place where I get no interest on it - while it has left one bank and takes 3-4 days to arrive at the destination bank - what would happen if the Northen Rock bank suddenly ceased trading? Would I be covered then by the FSCS scheme? Or if the NR Bank sent my money to me as a cheue through the post. My money in a cheque. But before it was paid in and cleared as cash in my current account - would I be then be an unfortuante creditor only or would I still be covered under the FSCS scheme?
Knowing how this Govt. has refused to help out pensioners with collapsed pension schemes and the Equitable Life customers; also the FSA seems very toothless when dealing with this - then are any of these schemes worth the paper they are written on? At our age we can't afford to wait xx years to find out if we will get compensation should a bank collapse and cease trading.
This latest panic on the high street just shows how none of us trust our leaders when they tell us we have nothing to worry about. They have squandered our trust over the last 10 years and are now being hoist by the petards [whatever they are!]. I hope it's painful for them all.
18/09/07 - Well said Libby Purvis : http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/libby_purves/article2477756.ece
Thursday, 21 June 2007
Fiver, Fivers, Go and Get your Fivers
I heard that Mervyn King, boss of the Bank of England, said they have millions of crisp new £5 notes awaiting distribution. But that as the banks don't like them and refuse to put them in the cash dispensers there is no way of getting them to the public. But then I heard a patronising, obnoxious and abrupt woman on Radio 4 Today programme this morning. Her name was Angela Knight from the British Bankers Association. She seemed to think that she would be blamed for the state of the nation's teeth. I don't quite know where she gained this impression. But the poor deluded lady did go on to say that the banks customers did not want £5 notes from cash machines. That if they wanted £5 notes they could go into the bank and change notes for £5 ones.
Now I know that shopkeepers have been complaining about the lack of good clean £5 notes. Some of my local small businesses are under the impression that banks don't like to give them out and they have to hoard the few they have in their tills overnight. I am fed up passing over £10 or £20 for one loaf of bread or a newspaper. It seems to me - that if we want nice new crisp clean £5 notes we should all be going into the banks and asking for them. I don't know about you, but I have no intention whatsoever of queuing twice [1] at the cash machine and [2] inside the bank to change it for the notes I want. Angela Knight CBE [I assume this stands for Caneye Be Evenruder] said that the public do not want to walk around with £100 in £5 notes. Well this member of the public does. And I know a few more who would like to be able to do so.
My plan is to go into the bank and write out a cheque for £100 and ask for it in £5 notes every week. If we all did that once a week then our banks would have to request that the Bank of England supply them with some of those unused new £5 notes languishing in its vaults.
As you can see from my reaction I wasn't impressed by Angela Knight CBE.. But some people have been at some point. Maybe I heard her on a bad day - but no when I mentioned her to others they say she has been rude, abrasive, with a patronising tone on TV's Working Lunch as well. She must get up a lot of people's noses.
Update: I apologise for originally calling Mr King Melvyn - a typo error.
Now I know that shopkeepers have been complaining about the lack of good clean £5 notes. Some of my local small businesses are under the impression that banks don't like to give them out and they have to hoard the few they have in their tills overnight. I am fed up passing over £10 or £20 for one loaf of bread or a newspaper. It seems to me - that if we want nice new crisp clean £5 notes we should all be going into the banks and asking for them. I don't know about you, but I have no intention whatsoever of queuing twice [1] at the cash machine and [2] inside the bank to change it for the notes I want. Angela Knight CBE [I assume this stands for Caneye Be Evenruder] said that the public do not want to walk around with £100 in £5 notes. Well this member of the public does. And I know a few more who would like to be able to do so.
My plan is to go into the bank and write out a cheque for £100 and ask for it in £5 notes every week. If we all did that once a week then our banks would have to request that the Bank of England supply them with some of those unused new £5 notes languishing in its vaults.
As you can see from my reaction I wasn't impressed by Angela Knight CBE.. But some people have been at some point. Maybe I heard her on a bad day - but no when I mentioned her to others they say she has been rude, abrasive, with a patronising tone on TV's Working Lunch as well. She must get up a lot of people's noses.
Update: I apologise for originally calling Mr King Melvyn - a typo error.
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