Armed Polite Society
Main Forums => The Roundtable => Topic started by: Ben on September 18, 2020, 09:03:25 AM
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Just saw on the TV that the Fed is considering leaving interest at near current rates, possibly until 2025.
I always harp on how much I hate this. These levels are one thing for the short term, but 2025 is not short term, and I once again wonder how negatively affected people, especially those older, retired people who might be afraid of the stock market because they might not be alive to recover from downturns, will be.
It's a significant drop in income for those who might count on a conservative investment like a Tbill. I saw that for myself. I have my brokerage settlement fund in the Vanguard Federal money market. Early this year the interest rate was around 1.8% and I was getting around $500/mo interest in the account. This month (and the last few months) it has averaged $30.
I think about someone old who may have been getting a couple thousand a month in interest that they were living on, and what that amount is now, and possibly for another four years, and that's gotta hurt.
I still say that a stable economy needs interest rates running 3-5%.
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They still occasionally float the negative interest rate idea, effectively taxing savings.