A hundred days of Catastrophe

Words such as ‘second rate’ and ‘catastrophe’ littered the mid-week money sections this week, and unfortunately for the ConDem coalition they refer to their first 100 days in office .
Tricia Phillips opens with a tirade in the Mirror about how the benefit recalculations will hit those suffering with serious illness the hardest. Simon Read, also writing in the Mirror, puts the boot in over scrapped Child Trust Funds. He condemns the scrappage because it comes at a time when parents’ average outlay for children between the ages of 18-30 is currently £30,000 and is only set to increase. 
To continue the haranguing Holly Thomas’ piece in the Express brands the Government’s new pension scheme a ‘disaster’ for many on low and middle incomes, as they risk receiving poor investment returns and could end up worse off in retirement. In light of this George Ladds (Fair Investment Company) says  saving for retirement doesn’t have to be through a pension, but with the Mail’s research suggesting that only 1 in 1528 non ISA accounts offer  a better than inflation rate, there are limited alternatives it seems.
It also appears that our newest graduates might have to tighten their belts with many leaving university this year with debts in excess of £20,000.The Mail’s Charlotte Beugge tried to soften the blow by offering advice on how they should tackle their debts, but today’s overall mood appears to suggest that things must get worse before they get better. In the meantime the coalition must bear the brunt of the blame.
Elsewhere the stories getting the most column inches were as follows: