up Trumping Trump

[Johnny Kieran]

I think that's gone on in the UK for donkeys years, they've made borrowing far too easy. Fatcat bankers love it, loadsamoney rolling in from interest, and houses being sold off to pay off default mortgages.
When we wanted our first place, the bank wouldn't give us a £200 loan because we were short on a deposit. Best thing that ever happened, we saved for a few more months and ended up with a better place than the first one.
Turns me up when I hear the youngsters talking about loans for fancy cars and things. Never happened in my day, you just got what you could afford. It's all been created by the fatcats, keeps prices high and people constantly owing. I think our generation had the best time ever.

[happy daze john in oz]

As much as they may moan about it the brokers make a fortune out of the market going down.
When shares ae sol the seller has to pay to sell, the broker then holds the shares and when they start to rise sells them on again charging commission, so almost a double dip situation.

But in all fairness to super accounts.
We began in 2008 drawing a pension from ours.
To date only some $34,000 of the capital sum we began with has gone.
The growth factor over the years has seen good returns.

[Les Woodard]

A good indicator that shares are going down is when there is a hell of a lot of short selling shares on the market. Not to bad with the super there John but it still has declined with very limited ways of topping it up mate. Hate to say it but it starts of slow and picks up speed rapidly as that is the way it is constructed. On another note. If living on ones pat malone and owning the home. Might pay to look at putting one or all the kids on the deeds. Here in Oz. If I end up going into a care home they will take over the house but if there is someone else on the deeds it is hands of for them. Got this not from relo, friend, or the bloke down the road but from a solicitor who handles my crap. Just a bit of useless info but handy to know. Of course it take a bit of cash to do it. Get valuation done then pay stamp duty on it. Bloody lot cheaper than letting those piranas take it all. Personally would much prefer putting the nuts in a vice doing it up. Throwing away the handle then setting fire to the shed. Than going into one of those places.

[j.sabourn]

As regards comparisons for seafarers on Australian versus British ships in the era starting 1991 and quoting salary’s and super. When I left the Uk October/November 1991, granted I was on the rag tag mob of the offshore stand by vessels , but in one of the higher paid companys believe it or not , I was on 32 pounds a day , the same as I had been getting 15 years previously on foreign flag vessels as mate. However even on FF vessels did get leave etc. offshore no official paid leave as such in the Uk. My first vessel out here was $ 70, 000 per annum and 6 months paid leave per year. So the 70,000 was for 6 months work.There were 2 offshore rosters A and B , A you were considered a company employee and B you were considered casual. If on the B roster you received 26.5 % loading on top of the basic salary , but received no monies in super payments , sometimes it paid you to be on B roster and had that choice more or less , you also paid only 50% union fees. As soon as you stepped out your front door to join a vessel you were on pay , same as leaving a vessel on pay until stepped through the front door unless of course the wife was waiting for you with the frying pan, then you snuck round the back. The swings were 6 weeks on and 6 weeks off , they were always short of people so could more or less work at will and cash in leave , only problem then you were paying tax at 49%. The only year I ever paid less than $30,000 tax was the first year I was here as only worked that tax year December to June which was the end of that tax year. I certainly cannot complain about the maritime world of Australia which I was part of until 2002. Cheers JS

[happy daze john in oz]

Saw our financial guy today.
As he stated much of the inflation today is a result of the Pandemic, companies attempting to catch up with what they lost.
Something I had already though of but he made a valid point.
During the Pandemic crude oil as at about $67 a barrel and petrol was going cheap, as low as $1 a liter a one time.

Crue today is still at around $67 a barrel but petrol anywhere from $1.699 to $199.9.
Someone is making it big time.

[j.sabourn]

Think it was 37 cents a litre in 1991 and didn’t have to get out of the car , got the windscreen cleaned as well. JS

[Johnny Kieran]

I think great advantages were made from the pandemic in almost every aspect of life. Huge changes were made where finance was concerned, like working from home, on line shopping, working practices and lots more, all to the ordinary peoples loss.
How life has changed for us all since, and caused, by the pandemic.

[happy daze john in oz]

Think it was 37 cents a litre in 1991 and didn’t have to get out of the car , got the windscreen cleaned as well. JS

Here in Melbourne 1980 it was only 29 cents a liter.

[James Curry]

Drivers across the UK are set to benefit from falling fuel prices in the coming weeks, according to new data from the RAC. Petrol prices are expected to drop by at least 6p per litre from the current average of 139p, while diesel should fall by at least 3p per litre from its current 146p average.

But a government spokesperson did say they hoped the retailers will pass on the savings to motorists, the retailers never did pass on the 5p reduction in fuel duty that was announced in 2023. The retailers decided to up thier margins.
The government could not really give a toss what price petrol is as they get 20% VAT along with the 37% Government fuel duty levy.
Also as the UK is help bent net Zero % well think Ed Milleband needs a reality check. He says grants of £7500 are available if you fit a new ECO friendly Air source Heat Pumps. The thing is most of the housing stock in the UK is not new so unless the grant covers new windows and insulation a heat pump is not efficient enough so a waste of money. The restrictions on getting a grant to replace an old Gas boiler are such that you really do need to be on the bones of your aers. £7500 grant likely going to the better off what a waste of government money especially as the government is crying poverty as it is.
Real clever move by the chancellor , fuel winter heating allowance removed from all but the less well off. The Gov must have been crapping themselves if we had had a really cold winter. Last thing they would have needed was old age pensioners and others who could not afford to pay for heating was the bodies to start piling up from those who died due to freezing to death at home.
Concerning Heat Pumps, I wonder how many are made in the UK / most seem to be Japanese or Korean?

[happy daze john in oz]

Here in Oz the tax on fuel is set at one rate, currently 50 cents per liter.
It is indexed according to inflation twice a year, March and September.
Grog is also indexed in the same manner