No time for mortgage panic

Whether or not interest rates will fall further before the end of the year, there is no guarantee that this will benefit mortgage borrowers directly, because what the Bank of England does is currently less relevant than what high street banks think.

Pension death benefits

Nobody wants to think about dying, but if you have a spouse, civil partner or live with someone, you may wish to think about what happens to them, if you die.

Compensation for loss

If you followed the Bradford & Bingley story, you will know that the government avoided the need for taxpayers to cover the loss by ensuring that the firm was seen as being in default, so that the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) would cut in. But what is this and who does it protect?

Educating children

We so often associate the cost of educating children with school fees that it can be all too easy to forget that these are actually in addition to other costs that all parents face.

Avoiding fraud

We recently wrote about ‘boiler room’ fraud, which is a sophisticated scam that aims to relieve investors of substantial sums of money. However, with an economic downturn looming and inflation running at relatively high levels, we can expect an increase in the level of criminal activity, as criminals seek new ways of generating an income.

Planning your exit

The owners of every small to medium sized enterprise need to consider what they will do with the business, when they come to retire. Options might include a trade sale, management buy-in or buy-out, family succession, floatation, merger or liquidation of the business.

Open Market Options

Please forgive the use of a technical term, but this is really important and something you will be hearing much more about over then next few years. It relates to the decisions you will make when it comes to stop putting money into your pension fund and start taking money out.

Helping first time buyers

With house prices falling, now should be a good time for first time buyers. Unfortunately, the credit crunch means that lenders have withdrawn the high loan to value facilities, meaning that most buyers now have to find a deposit of anything up to 20%, to get on the housing ladder.

Investing for the longer term

According to data from the Office for National Statistics, the savings ratio (that is the proportion of household income that is allocated to savings) actually increases during a period recession.

Investments – no time to lose faith

With investment markets reacting badly to the credit crisis, investors could be forgiven for wondering just what they should be doing to ensure that they are getting the best possible returns.

Finding corporate finance

With the credit crunch in full swing, many businesses are not only finding that borrowing is more expensive than a year ago, but also that it can be more difficult to obtain a loan at all.

Check your mortgage protection cover

With interest rates higher than they were just a short while ago, and little prospect that they will fall back for some time to come, it could be worthwhile checking that your mortgage protection insurance is adequate.

Pension planning is essential

In a recent survey undertaken by MGM assurance, only a third of people said they were pretty well prepared for retirement, whereas almost a half were not ready at all.

Capital gains tax explained

Once, mentioning tax was a sure way of getting people to clock off; today we pay so much that this is a topic of interest to everyone. In fact, according to the Adam Smith Institute, Tax Freedom Day this year fell on 2 June (if you take government borrowing into account, the date was really 14 June). In 1963 Tax Freedom Day was 24 April. (Tax freedom day is the notional time in the year, counting from 1 January, that we have finally paid our taxes and can start earning for ourselves!)

Managing debt in the credit crisis

The fact that the Bank of England held base rate at 5% in June should come as no surprise to anyone; the Bank is accountable for inflation and has no other weapons with which to fight it.

Don’t get burned in a boiler room

During the past year or so, the BBC has been drawing people’s attention to a relatively new threat generally referred to as boiler room scams. In this article we look at precisely what the term means and how dangerous these really are.

Disclosing information

Have you ever wondered why it is that insurance companies ask so many questions on applications for life and health insurance? It can seem highly intrusive, but in fact they are not just being inquisitive; your answers could make a massive difference to the cost you pay.

Employees matter

Sitting in the reception area of a motor dealer typing into a laptop, it was surprising to be invited to sit in a private office and work there – in far greater comfort and privacy. This was a great advert for the business because the employee concerned had ‘gone the extra mile’ in securing customer satisfaction.