Guillotine

It’s a good thing to have the courage of your convictions. You also need to be aware that you might not be right and that you are allowed to change your mind. i sat out the market for over 15 years. I literally could not commit largely because I wanted a better house than I could afford. It’s not something I therefore regret. I ended up buying a dump when I was actually in a position to deal with it emotionally and so much notional money had been lost it just didn’t matter anymore. There will be a sharp fall in prices. I’m ready for it and I do hope you are too and things go your way..

This thread has reminded me my mum ‘lent’ us two thousand pounds to pay for some plastering in our cottage which we bought from my parents at market rate- which she insisted was completed and arranged with her Friends son. I should probably pay it back but she ain’t getting no interest.

Is that legal?

Difference is there are now 200 domestic games per season in the 7 available packages whereas previously it was 168. With 120 games in two packages still to be sold they only need to be sold for about £5.5M per game to match the previous subtotal. ( So far the premium packages have gone for £9.5M ‘ish’ per game.) Furthermore, the expectation/hope is the non-domestic packages, which are also up for grabs, will show a large increase in bid prices. Proof will be in the pudding, but despite these headlines the clubs incomes may yet increase.

Eric, I know you have been consistent in your criticism of the immorality of liar loans and so on for many a long year. Beyond reproach for this forum But if you knew we were headed for another ten years of price inflation, would you jump on board? (I'm not suggesting that is probable).

I am being made redundant on 22/12. Has been a long drawn out affair, basically a phased office closure which kicked off over 2 years back. A bit more of a shocker was my wife getting her at risk of redundancy notice out of the blue three weeks back. She will be off at the end of January. Neither instance is ultimately due to a lack of business or work, but relate more to structural and location changes. Being brutally honest the lump sums that come with redundancy are difficult to match by the gradual grind of regular savings. Anyway, this is not a sob story, this stuff happens but it certainly can be confusing and upsetting. We've chosen to take some time off, but I note the phone hasn't exactly been ringing off the hook. I'm 46 and feel pretty worn out!

This Nigel Wilson fella always comes up with these pie in the sky missives when his dubious business strategy hits another roadblock. He has turned a highly responsible insurer into a basket case. Notably he has destroyed the bedrock of L&G by closing the Kingswood office on the basis of costs and rent. Then in the midst of the closure he buys the site from a secretive offshore firm and claims he only had a couple of weeks to plan that, yet doesn't deviate from that strategy, Essentially he has paid off tens of thousands of man years experience at running his business for him to acquire a site where he will struggle to profit from a hundred or so homes in 50 acres due to the site being on green belt and an area of outstanding natural beauty. He tends to disguise his ****** ups as part of a high minded social engineering strategy so be extremely cautious of his motives and that if the pr team at L&G. Oh and his prefabs may not pass muster as of a high enough build quality to qualify as collateral for a mortgage.

Nigel Wilson has a reputation as an asset stripper. At L&G he is shutting offices and casting off jobs whilst he and his cronies pocket millions. He has purchased a house builder Cala so that he can build homes to then rent out. He has a very aggrewsive strategy to concrete over the sputheast of england.He is very nuch in the ilk of fred the shred.

How is that then? 7.5% increases in payment from your mid fifties would have cost a ridiculous amount six years ago, and what's more increase above five per cent have been unauthorised since 2006.

Seeing that Scotland is apparently intent on defaulting on its share of UK debt, what is to stop negotiatons post independence saddling them with more than their fair share? I mean why not let them default on all of it.

I work in the annuity world alongside the actuaries. They were far from happy today, which can only be a good thing for the rest of us! What will remain of demand for annuities will be from those selecting against the insurers, so prices will go up and up til demand is nil. The changes to the trivial limit and small lump sums are good news for a large part of the population. And I will need a new job.

It was over a hundred years back but what happened when the Irish republic was created? They lost the pound, there must have been asset and reallocations and implications for international treaties? I'm not aware of any economic baggage from that breakup...

Well he was born in Dublin.

The somerset level situations have been dominating the news here in the southeast. Weird if other regional news editors are focussing on the Thames.

We have a decent pensions minister in Steve Webb. I am a fan of his recent proposals to reform annuities. He is no friend of the annuity providers. He needs to pass some laws soon though, before they get to him. Very very corrupt marketplace annuities.