This email was sent to Money Box subscribers on 7 February 2009

Dear listener,

The Work and Pensions Select Committee has launched an inquiry into pensioner poverty. Why does it need an inquiry? The solution to poverty is simple. Find the people who are poor and give them money provided by people who are clearly not poor. So if pensioners are poor, raise the pension. Anyway, evidence is being taken after Easter and a report will no doubt be published later this year and then welcomed but ignored by whichever party is in government after the next election. And pensioner poverty will continue. I say that with a rather depressed sigh as my first job was with a charity for the elderly in 1973. And we looked into pensioner poverty then. Thirty six years on it is still a big enough problem to warrant an inquiry by a House of Commons Select Committee. 

*** ON MONEY BOX THIS SATURDAY ***

How low can they go? A month after interest rates reached what many of my colleagues called “an all time low” they’ve hit another. Which shows the importance of adding the words “so far” after such phrases. So what does it mean for savers? Nothing. Literally! And what does it mean for borrowers? Ditto in some cases. And in two different senses.

With the average interest rate on savings hovering around 1% why does the DWP assume it is up to 9% when working out entitlement to pension credit?

The Office of Fair Trading has asked 16 sale and rent back companies to justify the claims made in their adverts. If they do not do so within 14 days they may be prosecuted. In October the OFT called for sale and rent back firms to be regulated. And today the Treasury has said they will be. But not just yet.

Hello. Paul Lewis here. Or is it? Banks investigate voice recognition to verify that you are who you say you are and to make sure you are not who you say you’re not.

Rat to Ox. Quarrymen to Beatles. £2.1bn distributed among a million customers to – well, er, perhaps nothing to no-one. Aviva (did you know that was soon to be the new name for Norwich Union?) has decided to “restructure” its offer for sharing a total of £5.2bn of surplus money between shareholders and policyholders because of “exceptional investment market conditions”. So what might its customers now get? And when? (NB I use the word “surplus”’ to mean what Aviva describes as “This money, known as the inherited estate, is above the expected amount needed to meet policyholder and other commitments. It is not surplus to requirements however, as it is needed to support fund security and investment flexibility.”)

There might be more. There might be less. Find out what’s in and what’s out by listening to Money Box. Saturday at noon. Sunday at nine pm or on the web any time. And of course you can download or subscribe to the podcast through our website bbc.co.uk/moneybox where there is lots of exciting stuff including videos.

Best wishes,

Paul

PS Don’t forget the programme taster on BBC Breakfast between quarter to nine and nine o’clock. If you miss it, you can watch it on our website.


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