Banks

[seb1]

So... I give you my money you give me a crap interest rate, charge some other person twice a much (at least) to borrow my money then when I ask for my money back you want to charge me for the privilege, you are having a laugh

My Nana had one bank acc and not much in it [she always said it had enough to bury her] We always thought she was a spend thrift [well she was] and very generous to her Grandchildren, When she died and I was cleaning out the airing cupboard I found £££££ hidden in a cavity block with a note that who ever found it could keep it [I gave it to My Dad and Aunt though]
Would you do that, no interest but no charges either.
Also in case she was broken into she kept a purse with about £70 so she had something to hand over.

[goes off to check nanna's cavities...]

With my luck I would forget where I had hidden it

Seb My Nana had dementia in the end but she always knew where her money was and how much she had to the extent that she gave out my Dad at Christmas when he bought me a pair of boots wither money for Christmas, she told him he had enough of her money to buy me 2 pairs
Seriously though I do wonder did the older people have more sense then totally trusting banks the way we did

Banks are definitely having a laugh at our expense...

Interest rates are totally crap...never been this low.

For instance if you invest say 50,000 for a year in the highest rate bond you'll get about 3% back in interest...

Current account rates of interest are totally laughable.

YANBU. My mother told me yesterday that she put away £5k in a bond last September for 5 years with a guaranteed returns of 10% per annum over the 5 years. I say she has drastically misunderstood the interest rate. She is hunting out the paperwork to prove me wrong

my mum's friend had a shoe box under a floorboard under the bed. I think I'm going to open one of those too.

shoe box under floorboard = very bad idea. You need something fire proof! I hate banks with a passion. When we actually have enough income to be able to save, I will buy some kind of flame retardent recepticle and hide it at home somewhere.

We-e-ll. To put another perspective:

"I give you my money you give me a crap interest rate, charge some other person twice as much (at least) to borrow my money "

Banks are businesses and they only make a profit by lending money out at a higher rate than they pay in interest. The Bank of England base rate has been really low (0.5%) for ages now, so while they are paying crap interest the amount they can charge is also down. They make money on the margin between what they pay and what they charge and those margins are squeezed so even though they may be charging someone else twice as much as they pay you, twice as much of not very much is - er- not very much!

Also:

"when I ask for my money back you want to charge me for the privilege"

Well yes this would be in the terms and conditions of whatever account you have. If you have an instant access account then you presumably wouldn't be charged. But if you have something that attracts a better rate of interest, e.g. an ISA or a Bond, then that extra interest is a reward for not being able to get at your cash so readily.

So actually, even though I know banks and bankers in general are public enemy number one right now, I think YAB a little but U!!!

YABU... It's a 'parable of the talents' thing, isn't it? Keep it under the mattress and you're an idiot. Put it in a bog-standard bank account and whilst you'll never be rich, it'll still be there when you want it back again. But branch out a little, invest, speculate and use your imagination and you might lose the lot but you might also make a killing.

Be interested to know the truth of your Mum's bond, SarahBB ... bet its one of those stock market linked things that doesn't actually garantee any such thing.

5foot5 it is in a current account previously moved from a savings account (no charge)

surely no-one charges for you to take money out of a current account?

If they do - name and shame!