Interest rates

[j.sabourn]

#20 Also in Europe before the uk came out of the union . I wonder why that is why all those who didn’t want to come out were afraid they would lose that benefit. ? Or do they still get it ? . They should by rights be treated in the same manner as those in the Commonwealth. And backdated . JS

[Des Taff Jenkins]

I retired at 70, had a new house we built in the Blue Mountains, a few bob in the bank from a small super payout, then we had the heat wave of all heat waves. [Signs of things to come] So we sold up and went to NZ, biggest mistake of our lives, there they even taxed the pension. After three years we came back, sending out furniture over and then back cost us $10,000, plus the loss on two cars.
But we are lucky, as when in NZ I looked up houses here in Cooma, {Where our daughter lived] And spotted this house that we own, bougth for $190 thousand, houses in the country being cheap, it is now worth around $540 thousand,. Money in the bank ? we were lucky to get $30,000 when the mother-in-Law passed away and that is what we have , as everything is paid for we can live off the pension quite comfortably, go out three or four times a week, only a small place so I fill our small car about once a month, not living the life of Riley but quite comfortably.
Cheers Des

[j.sabourn]

The biggest outlay any older person is going to have Des as one gets older is health care. And this all depends on what the tax system is at the time. The tax in the UK was slightly different to here in Oz , you were allowed for a wife and for a mortgage giving a quite substantial difference. Here in Oz you are taxed individually and no tax relief on your own mortgage. I could never understand the morality alone of this , especially when you got tax relief on any rental properties you owned. Doesn’t and still doesn’t make sense to me. Maybe because it takes the strain of any government from building public housing ? I had two rental properties when retired never made any money off them , they were just there to make the tax bill smaller every year.
Cheers JS.

[Des Taff Jenkins]

John.
That has been the ongoing problem with rentals here in NSW, people with quite a few houses can get a loan to outbid a family on a house as they have say twenty rentals, the tax insensitive they get are giving them the money to keep buying, keeping young people out of the market and sending the price of housing further out of reach of young families. The answer from the Govt is to build high rise apartments, what a joke in a country as big as Aus.
Des.
Ps.
There hasn't been a new big city built in Aus since Canberra.

[j.sabourn]

If the government had any morals in that case they would go with the uk system as I knew it and allow the same to owner buyers intending to live in the houses and apply the tax to those wanting to make a killing , and the problem would be solved , doesn’t take an Einstein to work out. Out of interest I never bought a house in the uk where the interest rate was less than 8.5% apart from 2 years when I worked for J.I. Jacobs where I refinanced through them at 4%. And they were Jews .The only British Company I ever sailed with , with any morals. Today at the moment think it is about 6% for home buyers and they are crying hardship. They don’t know what hardship is maybe they think it was like Runcimans. JS

[happy daze john in oz]

Back in 1980 you could off set your mortgage against your tax. Then a Labor gov came in and that was the end of that.

Australia is the only country where the rate of UK pension stays at the rate you first draw at.
Gov here has been attempting to get Uk to change but they say too expensive to do so.
But it was our bloody money that was paid in!!!!!

Oz pension is good, married couple now gets about $1600 per fortnight plus concession on power and gas, water and council rates.
Also half price motor registration which means I can register my two for the price of one

Asset test is generous and the amount you can earn before your pension is affected.
Overall conditions here are better I think than in UK.

Know a couple who thought of returning to UK, when they did the sums changed their minds very quickly.

[Les Woodard]

Something to throw into the mix on the subject of UK pension. If Australia does become a republic does that mean that our pensions will be unfrozen. As for rego it must be different in each state because in NSW we get free rego for each of us so hence the two cars are registered in each of our names plus free drivers licence (why the feck does it say that licence is wrong). As well as all the other goodies.

[j.sabourn]

#26 . My uk pension is round about 70 pounds a week and started in 2002 , and is still the same . Think of some who were earlier than this and much smaller and is the only income they have. Non citizens when I came here , at a later date than most on site , paid tax on every cent I earned and was not given a tax file number until took out citizenship 3 years after arrival. Was still better off here than the uk though , today I take it all for granted , and have to match the two standards before coming down to earth again.However I get riled when I see what so called illegal migrants get today. Even a free mobile phone ? JS

[j.sabourn]

#26 Then John my advice to them would be to put it back to what it was. Or maybe they are like the Chinese and don’t like to lose face ? Maybe that’s why Aberneezi is so keen to frequent China , he has Chinese blood running in his veins. He could make it permanent and stay there , most wouldn’t notice. JS
It would go some way to relieving all those being caught with their pants down and easing a bit of the huge mortgage repayments they are stuck with. JS

[Keith Tindell]

Even bank staff have to suffer as well, remember, this poor women who was in charge of the bank, had to step down, for discussing Nigel Farages account , has only been given 2.4 million severance pay, and not the extra 7£ million she would have got, gunna be a struggle for her now !!!

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-67377140