What would a boomer say about saving and interest rates?
Boomers remember double-digit interest rates, usually the good half of them. Here's the Boomer on saving, followed by what UK interest rates really did.
Ask a Boomer: saving and interest rates Comedy, not advice
Four percent?! In 1989 the building society paid me double figures and I still wrote to complain!
Mind you, my mortgage rate was so high I had to sell the Cortina and cycle to work, but let's not dwell on that. Get yourself a passbook, take it to the counter every Friday and watch the cashier stamp it. There's no feeling like it.
Anyway, I used to be a banker, but I lost interest! Lost interest! I bet your lot have never heard that one.
Crypto?! Is that the one where the money lives inside the computer? I don't trust money I can't lose down the back of the settee.
I kept mine half in the Post Office and half in a biscuit tin behind the Hoover. Nobody has ever hacked a biscuit tin.
Anyway, why don't crabs give to charity? Because they're shellfish! That one's going down a storm at the Rotary Club.
Easy. Switch off every light, turn the thermostat down and put on a second jumper. That's what jumpers are for!
We reused tin foil, saved the wrapping paper every Christmas and made one teabag do three cups. By 1985 I'd saved up for a colour telly with a remote control, and I never looked back.
Anyway, why was the maths book sad? It had too many problems! Just like my cousin Gary.
The real numbers
- The Bank of England's official rate fell from 11% in January 1983 to about 9% by October 1983.
Source: Bank of England, Official Bank Rate history (1983) - It peaked at 14.88% from 6 October 1989 until 8 October 1990.
Source: Bank of England, Official Bank Rate history (1989 to 1990) - On 16 September 2026, Bank Rate was 3.75%, where it had been since 18 December 2025.
Source: Bank of England, Official Bank Rate history (16 September 2026)