I make no apologies for returning to the problems of the young. Not only, as I pointed out yesterday, have they been worst hit by covid but years of ultra low interest rates are hitting them too.
I am thankful to a reader who sent me their thoughts (by post how nice) pointing out, that the IFS has been warning for ages that ultra low interest rates make saving long term for a pension very difficult, if not impossible. Other than that, many people’s solution is to desperately struggle to get on the housing ladder in an attempt to ride that tiger. But as the FCA pointed out this week, now many young people are being tempted by the likes of bitcoin.
Sheldon Mills, FCA executive director for consumers and competition says “We are worried that some investors are being tempted — often through online adverts or high-pressure sales tactics — into buying higher-risk products that are very unlikely to be suitable for them.” Many, it says, could not afford the losses if these “investments” went wrong.
The obvious answer is for the FCA to ban such products, adverts and sales tactics, I would like to see someone ask it why it doesn’t do that. But the long term solution shows no sign of being solved, not least because the electorate is sharply divided. The older voters vote and already have the pensions; the younger ones don’t vote and are decades away from worrying about affording retirement.
This is one of those ticking time bombs which is not only years away, but with no obvious easy solution. Governments can and will ignore it, but once again the young will suffer.
https://jonty.substack.com/
Pensions? HA! There goes the greatest long con swindle in history. Convince everyone to squirrel away a significant proportion of their salary (the plebs can't be trusted with their own money, only smart rich people know what to do with it - see also ISAs) that only a third will actually live long enough to receive. Then when its time to cash in; uh oh, the share price collapses, or a decorated knight of the realm steals it from you and faces no consequence.
Oh please! So these young are the very rich ones that can afford to invest in bitcoin? So not your average young restaurant worker on minimum wage with a runny nose then?
There has always been get rich quick schemes out there of varying shapes and forms! The old adage is don't invest in high risk investments money that you cannot afford to lose in its entirety. The best way to learn the markets is to do exactly that lose your shirt on an investment.
I had a friend economist who talked a good talk about playing the markets but he was an investment virgin, once he had lost his investment virginity his whole outlook changed. Suggest you learn about Bitcoin by playing the market with real money of your own & review if your opinion changes?
"The obvious answer is for the FCA to ban such products, adverts and sales tactics, I would like to see someone ask it why it doesn’t do that." If you need to do that Jonty why not do it, don't wait for someone else.