Is it time to empty Euro bank accounts?
- Thread starter Kudoscycles
- Start date
The statement about the policy seems to indicate that the tax on savings over €100,000 will be on the whole sum, but much will depend on the finalised implementation once drafted. That may well exclude the first part of €100,000 from the tax.
This is likely since those they are looking to hit are the very wealthy investors with millions rather than thousands invested. Omitting the first €100,000 from the tax will make little difference to the take from them.
I fear that this crisis in Cyprus is only the beginning. Attitude of the troika can only harden after this, even if it kills the Cypriot economy.
Much closer to home, our official interest rate is so close to zero, we should start getting worried.
Much closer to home, our official interest rate is so close to zero, we should start getting worried.
I did mean 101,000 sorry my bad.
They are very worried as to whats going to happen when the banks open if they ever do, I feel so sorry for the honest savers.
There are very few honest savers who will be affected Zebb. How many among the general population either there or here have savings of over €100,000 (£85,000)? The answer is very few indeed, and that's why our government protection of savings is set at that level, to protect almost everyone except the wealthy.
The BBC went hunting to find someone over that level in Cyprus and found an architect whose savings were over that. But as I've posted above, almost certainly only the amount above the 100,000 will actually be taxed since the EU protection level* is also set at that,so even those with rather more will only be partially affected. The main hit will be taken by those with millions rather than thousands "saved". I put "saved" in inverted commas, since what sort of income allows anyone to save millions! Conned might be a better word than saved in many of those cases.
So overall I'm not wasting much sympathy.
*Few realise that our £85,000 protection level is actually an EU ruling, yet another of the many examples of the EU being good for the UK citizen. Our protection level used to be just over £50,000 but that was changed to comply with the EU €100,000 level.
Thanks Flecc
yeah i understand about the savings limit, tis why i spread my savings over different institutes.
Lets just hope it gets sorted.Though i don't hold much hope.
It does seem rather hopeless, maybe the future will be in the Southern European countries being a second tier of the EU operating at a different level to avoid the currency value clash.
Their real level of indebtedness is ACTUALLY much lower than ours.
If you take state pension, welfare provision and bank guarantee into acount, the UK taxpayers are already liable for more than 10 trillion pounds. If we stop printing money, we'll never be able to pay intrest on existing loans leave alone other liabilities. If we keep printing, we'll all going to be a lot poorer.
There is no chance that RBS for example can return a profit (even paper profit) if it was not for the BoE lending it money at nil interest.
Although that's true, our potential to earn our way out of trouble is so much better than most of the Southern European countries, so our position is much more sound. That's why our credit rating is so much higher then theirs. Countries like Greece, Portugal and Spain can mainly only earn with food exports and tourism, both highly competitive and very low earners. In addition they have much larger internal problems, just look at the disastrous property development market in Spain with their country covered with empty or uncompleted new properties for which their is no foreseeable demand. And as I observed earlier, the Cyprus banking mess is akin to the Icelandic one and fundamentally more dangerous than ours.
Its about time investors took a hit rather than tax-payers always bailing out the banks. When you put money in a bank you are lending them the cash! Oh how easy we forget. So a few Russians with over 100,000e will take a hit. Good!
Absolutely. "Can go down as well as up" should mean something, this warning that comes with investment offers isn't there for fun.
So , what about anyone who has just sold a property in Cyprus or was about to buy one and had already transferred the money? Those, about to buy an annuity, a business or had sold a business? When you let your mind wander you will find many, many real challenges to ordinary aspirational people going about their lives and trying to fulfill their dreams.
Make no mistake, this escapade initiated by the Troika is a disaster for many ordinary people.
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Vectra I feel your pain. One thing I found so annoying was that I was continuing to support this family member like you did and yet still payed pay taxes, kinda of a double tax. Obviously anyone who was financially able to would do so, but as I said before I have paid taxes since I started work at 17, well over 30 years ago and yet the benefit system was not there for us when we needed it.
I also have another theory that those employed in the benefit support services are so very poorly paid, leading to a constant turnover of staff, little long term experience and numerous mistakes and over sights are made.
In the end we seemed to get lucky and someone in the service seemed to finally take notice of our plight and really supported us, so thankfully things are sorted now. I do just wonder though how very sick or vulnerable people survive without the support of friends or family. As there are also some great charitable organisations that also assist, but even those are struggling.
Regards
Jerry
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True, but these are very much the minority cases, a tiny proportion. We in the UK also had heavy losses in some of those cases, as an example, those having to buy retirement annuities since the start of 2008 have ended up with a far worse living standard for the rest of their life than most of their predecessors. It's a harsh truth that all financial transactions everywhere at all times carry risks, inevitable when the true value of possession is substituted by the notional value of currency.
Of course I have sympathy for the tiny minority of the innocent who are affected, but as I said above, I'm not wasting much sympathy for the Cyprus situation where it's the rich and often greedy who are almost entirely suffering the hit. They chose greed over common sense as many did with the Icelandic investments, and are now paying the price.
Hi.
You seem to have bought into the propaganda about Russians owning much of the deposits in banks. Also, many of us are asset rich during periods of our lives. At other times we may be cash rich. I really can't see how you equate either state to being "greedy".
I don't know about you, but I feel a responsibility to live within my means, have a financial back up plan should I lose my job and to make some provision for my old age. I don't take out loans to buy things (except for my house, on which I used to pay interest) and if I don't have the cash to buy anything other that the essentials, I take that as an indication that I can't own that particular item, or I save up to buy it. I do not believe that I should totally depend on the state to bail me out should I lose my job or become too ill to work, I have some responsibility to make provision for that. When I get old and if I need care, I should pay something towards that care and not rely on the state.
Of course, there will be people, through no fault of their own, who are unable to make these sorts provisions and will need help and who are completely justified in getting help. There will also be people who could take responsibility for themselves and make these sort of plans, but who choose not to. They would rather spend their money recklessly and irresponsibly relying on state handouts should it all go tits up.
Those who choose to act responsibly usually have little choice but to put their money in a bank. Effectively you are avocating and what the Cypriot governmet is doing, is to punish the responsible and reward the reckless. This sends out entirely the wrong message and it will cause long term and lasting damage.
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I don't know who the, "innocents" the, "rich" or the, "greedy" are, or how many people fall into each group. If I lived in Cyprus, I'd be taking a big hit and that would be because I have always known the value of money and felt a strong sense of personal responsibility. I have gone without things in the past so that I would be in a better position to enjoy other things more responsibly in later life. Does this make me innocent, greedy or rich?
The world banking system needs a overhaul, and create a standard where no offshore havens are allowed to exists, and the likes of Switzerland, and other offshore haven that live off tax avoidance/crime related laundering should have there banking system completely removed from the global financial system and have all assets frozen internationally until they come in line with global standards, just a thought.