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Don’t bury your head in the financial sand…

As the ongoing recession continues to bite, the impact on savers, investors and borrowers continues to provide much uncertainty and confusion. Conscientious savers, borrowers and investors could be forgiven for feeling they are being made to pay for other’s mistakes.

For savers, The Bank of England has confirmed Base Rates stay at 0.5% for the present, meaning that, for those savers who make the mistake of not shopping around; interest rates of 1% or less are common.

For Borrowers, those on existing trackers have generally done well as their interest rate has tracked the fall in the Base Rate. However, these deals were quickly withdrawn as interest rates fell. New borrowers now find themselves needing much larger deposits and facing higher rates relative to the Base Rate.

For Investors, the market volatility of the past 18 months continues. The FTSE All Share has gained over 25% in the last three months, although this still leaves the Index down 21% over one year.). Whether this recovery will continue or whether the market will fall again is impossible to predict. Government Bonds have had a positive year with the average sector fund up over 6% in one year. However, the impact of Quantatitive Easing is unknown. (Source Trustnet 09/06/09).

Whilst it is tempting to bury one’s head in the sand when faced with the above, at MJB we feel that a return to good old fashioned values is the best protection against the current level of uncertainty and confusion.

If you are a borrower or a saver, it has never been more important to search the whole of the market to ensure you are accessing the best deal around.

If you are an Investor (and you may be even if you don’t think you are. For example, everyone with a pension fund is investing even as you read this article!), fully independent advice not associated with a bank or product provider’s influence has never been more important.

Whilst there are never any guarantees in life or in finance, why not see for yourself how we can help. Initial consultations are always free, and there’s no obligation. For a genuine independent view from a local adviser, contact us now.

Individual Tax Rates for 2009/2010