Your say: will the rate cut mean a happy Christmas?

While I have sympathy for the pensioners and families with children I think the hand out is unfairly conducted. Does anyone else think (apart from the Goverment) that "the worker" with no dependants, just a wife or husband dont suffer from the price of everything going up. If your a pensioner you get at least a little help, if you had children you also get help of $1000 per child. What does the married couple whose children have grown up and left home get... ZERO We supported our children all through their growing years with little help from any goverment support. Our children were born well before the Family supplements ever came into being, we got nothing when they were born, we just paid for it all ourselves. Now as usual, the likes of us get nothing to help. Food, fuel and Utility bills go up for us as well. I wish the Goverment of whatever persuasion it is, would consider this group of people once in a while. We pay our taxes but get nothing back for doing it.

The RBA is simply doing their job, which is ensuring our economy for the future. Even though the interest rates on the rise in the beginning of the year, i fully supported this, as is was best for ensure the Australian Economy. Now, people are drowning in debts ? Why? People don't have the capacity to be conservative. And should follow the mentality of, if i don't have the money i don't buy it. This issue with credit cards and drowning in debt, i have no sympathy, as people has the capacity to make the decision whether or not to go into debt in the first place. It is simply due to their incompetancy to manage themselves and wanting a reason to always blame someone else. I am 19, i made the right decisions in life, and played my cards right, not buying the nice cars, wasting money on unneccesaries etc. I have 2 investment properties which are currently rented out. And i am doing this on my own. If i can't afford something, i do not buy it.

When is the Government going to do something for the self funded retirees who have worked long hours and saved every spare cent, paid over the top taxes, put children through school etc. etc. We have to depend on bank interest rates for our income now and with it going down so fast we are certainly not going to have a happy time, whilst I feel some sympathy for young people who go into mortgages in huge homes I feel more sympathy for the self funded retirees who are not, up until now, a drain on the Government coffers.

it would be good if the banks passes on rate cuts

Everyone seems to have forgotten the millions of retired people who also spend to support the national economy. With everyone now driven into the government guaranteed bank deposits as a haven, we now find that the reserve bank has wiped out their interest generated income on their term deposits. I believe that there is much more latent damage waiting by the demise of the pensioner than higher rates hurting the home buyer. A medium should be struck where all Australians benefit from a fair rate.

Completely wrong. Paying higher repayments in a fixed loan does not at all mean you will be paying it off quicker or reducing your principal amount any more than you would on variable. You pay higher interest on the fixed rate because you chose to sign a contract that committed you to fixed repayment amount. Personally, I had one loan I fixed 3 months ago at 9.55% with a major lender as I wanted to protect myself from future rises....then the 'credit crisis' hit and I projected a decline in rates so asked my banker for refinancing on this loan and asked for the total costs (ie fines) associated with the early repayment fees to break my fixed rate loan contract. I was happy to pay the $7000 in fines and have now realised its gains as rates have decreased a substantial amount for me to be saving more than that $7000 over the coming year. Loans need to be carefully anaylised frequently and weighing up of the pros and cons when rates rise and fall.

I agree with everyone. Whingers and whingers of the whingers! Its called venting in a democratic society. I don't know many people who are not feeling the pinch in some way or another. How I cope with it - as a single mother - I'm selling my home and downgrading and reducing my mortgage. I stopped using my credit card 6 months ago as I was borrowing to hold my head above water - only making the problem worse. I don't really go out anymore and I try to get the videos back on time to reduce late fees. I take on any extra work that I can. I don't buy clothes and I'm now planning for a better more stable financial future. If I can't afford it I don't get it. I also enjoy the simple and free things in life, like my child, the beach and the people around me.

Well, the rate cuts are great, except it takes a month at least to be passed on to us. But, I do have a question, we have a personal loan with the Commonwealth Bank and when the interest rate rose and rose so did our loan, but since the drops in interest rates the personal loan hasn't changed. Neither has our credit card although it doesn't worry us too much as we have only a small one. But why doesn't the interest rate on personal loans go down too???????And why does it take a month or more for the home loan rate to be passed on?????

Sully, South Gipsland, Vic - I think it's time for you to talk to a financial planner as you clearly don't understand how a mortgage works.

Why would anyone who fixed their interest rate [presumeably at a rate that they could manage] want to pay thousands of dollars to get out of it now? No-one ever mentions the fact that by staying at that higher rate they will end up paying off said mortgage in a much shorter time. Every dollar that you pay over the official rate is a dollar straight off the top of the principal. Some people are never satisfied. Look on the bright side for Gods sake people!