Muddling through

[peterbirks]

There was an interesting piece from James Mackintosh in the FT on Saturday, where he acted the grim reaper for equities. He observed (and I paraphrase here) that if we recovered and interest rates went up, the appeal of equities relative to gilts would collapse, whereas if the economy did not recover, current dividend levels were unsustainable,

Comments

[jellymillion]

I could see the cash-in-and-leg-it option becoming viable for me in a minimum 5 years, continuing employment permitting. Seven is easier - both kids done with school by then. Crikey - I'm thinking about the kids finishing school - doesn't seem that long ago I didn't have kids.

[geoffchall]

On the property front it was ever thus. The cash-in and leg-it option was one we took 25 years ago, converting shitty terrace for 4-bed detachedness on lower incomes. I can see Steph following down the same road of suffering London for a finite period and then getting out to a civilised part of the country.

I remain wedded to a slow process of converting savings into high-yield equities which is generating sluggish capital growth (haven't seen many shares duller than Vodafone) but 5-6% yields. I don't see there being any great economic recovery in the next 3-5 years. Just a laggy 1% growth, very low interest rates and stable house prices for the same period.

[peterbirks]

Hi Geoff : I think that the gap has widened quite a bit in the past four or five years, and the only question is whether that increased gap will regress to the "old" gap, or whether it is a permanent shift

[geoffchall]

This one looks nice (no pun intended) http://www.chezriviera.com/property-details/beautiful-2-bedroom-apartment-for-sale-in-nice