Public sector pensions strike?

[Samdy Gray]

You know he's not really an Oxford fan, right?

[janaage]

I thought it was now going to be based on an average salary not final?

A final salary pension can be based on a range of salary definitions, very few are these days based on actual final salary. More like an average of the last five years salary.  What's important is its a defined benefit scheme and not a money purchase scheme, where you're basically in the lap of the markets Gods.

[ghanimah]

A final salary pension can be based on a range of salary definitions, very few are these days based on actual final salary. More like an average of the last five years salary.  What's important is its a defined benefit scheme and not a money purchase scheme, where you're basically in the lap of the markets Gods.

Ah right, cheers muchly for your reply. I was taking the 'final' bit literally.

A money purchase scheme is what I now have and you're dead right - it's in the lap of the Gods

[oxford_fan]

How did your shite excuse of a football team get on today ?

Forever in our shadow and just love this inferiority complex that appears to get bigger every year you have with us.

Didn't play - got knocked out by Sheffield United in the previous round.

Phrases like 'forever in our shadow' immediately put an image of a chimp sitting at a keyboard into my mind. Do you suffer from a mental handicap?

[yeo]

Ok im going to admit my total lack of understanding of the debt crisis here, so feel free to take the piss I dont mind...

So we as a country owe zillions?

1.who do we actually owe it to?
2.does anyone owe us anything?

[jonny72]

The BBC have got a flashy graphic thingy showing which countries owe what and to whom;

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-15748696

[Arriba]

How the fuck can we owe ireland more than they owe us?

[yeo]

According to that we owe the US 578bn and they owe us 834bn

so we win,whats the problem

but who do we actually owe the money to,who lends it? banks? goverments?

[Samdy Gray]

It's lent to governments in the form of gilts/bonds from investors (banks).

[jonny72]

How the fuck can we owe ireland more than they owe us?

They explain some of the quirks in the numbers in the sidebar text.

but who do we actually owe the money to,who lends it? banks? goverments?

The charts show all the money owed by one country to another, not just the Government debts. So if a UK bank had borrowed money from a US bank, say to fund a mortgage offer, then it shows as a UK to US debt. Hence our total foreign debt is €7.3tn and our total Government debt is €1.4tn (which isn't all foreign debt).

There are other related articles on the BBC website (mainly the blogs) which explain why despite what those figures may suggest, countries like Italy and Spain are really in the shit and we aren't.

[suttonred]

That chart is bollocks as it does not include China, Most of the western world has massive debts to them.