While most of the not so long ago “upwardly mobile” families are clinging on to logs that seem to be floating rapidly towards a torrent, the baby boomer generation are finding themselves facing an even bleaker future. And one that they might justifiably feel that they don’t deserve.

With the thought of a pleasant retirement looming, bolstered by some money in the bank, a healthy pension and even the thought of “downsizing” their property, one step at a time, they have seen these options dissolve and fade away before their eyes, with an overwhelming feeling of powerless to do anything about it.

Many of the UK’s population in their late fifties and early sixties have been looking forward to their golden years in the knowledge that they had prepared themselves with a “nest egg” that should have been valued at at least

£250,000 , with experts saying that the sum of one million pounds, in a savings, pension and property package not an unreasonable sum to expect after a life time of hard work and relative frugality.

What those approaching retirement age feel that they were entitled to expect was that the UK business and banking communities would provide them was a reasonable framework where their assets and savings would be protected and would also receive a reasonable return. .

What the current situation means now is that most people will be unable to retire at the age of sixty five, and instead will need to continue working and earning an average salary for at eat another two years after their retirement date to have any chance of making up the shortfall in their pension packet.

Recent research now show that, if the current situation prevails, UK citizens will need to accumulate an average of £34billion annually by 2037, in order to maintain their pensions at their current value.

Even more alarming for many , is the warning issued by the National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF) that the Pension Protection Fund, company pension schemes are now showing a shortfall of over two hundred billion pounds, the highest level since the fund was launched.

Savings are also seriously under siege, with interest rates in the last year dropping to a level where they almost non- existent, with very little sign that they are liable to rise to anywhere like a reasonable level anu time soon.

Many soon to be pensioners feel that the UK government hastened to bail out the banks without thinking too long and hard about the welfare of the sector of the senior citizens of the country, and especially those who were about to fall into that category.

Meanwhile Rosie Winterton, UK Minister for Pensions, has defended the government’s actions by saying ” “I certainly have sympathy with people who have saved and have seen interest rates cut. But at the same time what I would say is that remember we have taken swift action to prevent the collapse of the banks, if we hadn’t taken that action then imagine the situation that savers would be facing,” she says.

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Tags: Financial News, Interest Rates, Minister for Pensions, Money Management, Rosie Winterton, Savings, UK

Big government isn’t just expanding in the UK, in the Euro zone and the US as well, the reach of government and it’s control over the daily lives its citizens is reaching Orwellian proportions.

Yesterday, the ITEM club and several other prominent economists sent a letter saying that the chancellor should be lowering taxes, not ramping up spending and risking a hyper inflationary holocaust.

When you try to spend your way out of a recession, the results are as predictable as dropping a snooker ball out of a window….it’s a cause and effect thing…you drop the ball…it falls due to gravity. When you attempt to spend your way out of a recession, soaring inflation, a plunging national currency which we are already seeing and the huge ramping up of national debts, follow. Drop the snooker ball….gravity takes over. Spend your way out of a recession and inflation, increased national debt and a declining currency follow…see how that works? Cause and effect. 

Milton Friedman and his wife have demonstrated this connection clearly and without argument. History has shown this over and over…not one attempt to spend our way out of a recession has ever worked. Jim Callaghan said it in 1976 with his famous quote “in all candour that the option of reversing a downturn by deficit-spending simply “doesn’t exist”.

What is Gordon the Gofer saying? “We are spending more to get the economy moving,” said Brown last week. “That’s the right thing to do.”

It’s not right for the man in the street. It’s not right for future generations, it’s not right for people on fixed incomes…but it is right for a desperate prime minister, it is right for the cities investment bankers and people in the public sector who will benefit from the extra work.

If you’ve never seen someone trying to put out a house fire with petrol….sit back and enjoy a lunatic who believes in fundamentally discredited principles of economic management at work. He’s made some mistakes, but this is by far his most damaging to date….most just don’t know it yet.

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For More information on specific Banks use these links

• Alliance & Leicester
• Barclays
• Capital One
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• HSBC
• Post Office
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Tags: Chancellor, Euro Zone, Hyper Inflationary, ITEM Club, National Debts, Recession, UK, US

HSBC, or the Hong Kong and Shanghai banking corporation was founded after the Opium War with China which Britain won. It forced China to allow Britain to sell Opium to its citizens while snagging Hong Kong and other humiliating concessions from the defeated Chinese.

HSBC was a vehicle for Britain to finance the growing trade between itself and China. Goods from the British Empire, especially India, were sold throughout Asia from its foothold in Hong Kong, which it relinquished in 1997. HSBC is the holding company of the world’s largest company, and it is the world’s largest banking group. Ranked by market capitalisation, HSBC itself is the world’s third-largest bank, though the company has other brands. In fact, it is worth close to twice as much as its five UK-listed rivals combined….as at 9^th October 2008 anyway!

HSBC has a global business, with a high concentration of that coming from Asia, even today. If you are looking for stability and a place to park your money, you could do a lot worse than HSBC.

Of the UK-owned banks, it’s the only one to survive the credit crunch relatively unscathed. While most banking shares are down at least two-thirds since last August, investors in HSBC have actually made money over that period, when you take into account the dividends.

Better still, some of its savings rates are extremely competitive. Its cash ISA, paying 6.25 per cent, is one of the top five on the market – although you will need an HSBC current account to qualify. Meanwhile, its online saver is not too bad – paying 5.25 per cent. Beware, however, that you will lose more than half of this interest in any month where you make a withdrawal. Still sounds better than the stock market to me right now!

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HSBC Current Bank Account gives you more time to be yourself so you can concentrate on the more interesting things in your life.

HSBC current bank account comes with free everyday banking, 24/7 Internet Banking for your convenience and a hassle free account opening guarantee.

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Tags: Cash ISA, China, Credit Crunch, HSBC, UK, UK Banks