Analysis Topic: Personal Finance
The analysis published under this topic are as follows.
Sunday, February 15, 2015
Will Pensioner Bonds Election Bribe Lift General UK Savings Interest Rates from Catastrophic Lows? / Personal_Finance / Savings Accounts
By: Nadeem_Walayat
The recent news for the extension of the Coalition Government's 4% Pensioner Bonds election bribe for a further 3 months to at least Mid May 2015 looks set to soak up at least £25 billion of the savings held by interest rate starved pensioners at an estimated cost to the tax payer of at least £1.2 billion. Whilst the bond is only open to the over 65's, nevertheless it will result in a flow of funds away from the commercial banks and to the government run NS&I that should prompt at least a limited rise in savings interest rates, especially for the directly competing fixed rate bonds such as the 3 and 4 year bonds that could now nudge above 3%.
Thursday, February 05, 2015
When Pro Players Fritter Away Millions / Personal_Finance / Pensions & Retirement
By: Dennis_Miller
By Dennis Miller
How is it possible for one man to burn through $400 million and wind up filing for bankruptcy, $27 million in the hole? Boxer Mike Tyson made it happen, and he’s in good company among professional athletes. Yet other professional athletes parlay their sizable earnings into nest eggs that grow and last.
Why the two divergent paths?
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Saturday, January 31, 2015
Self Assessment Tax Return Filing Deadline Today, Last Chance to Avoid £100 Fine / Personal_Finance / Taxes
By: N_Walayat
Britians' self assessment tax payers have just 12 hours left to go (Midnight 31st Jan) in filing online returns and paying any taxes due to avoid the automatic £100 fine and interest due on outstanding tax that could easily see the total penalty mushroom to over £1000!. Whilst those who have put off filing returns maybe thinking it is now too late to start need to realise or recall just how easy it has become to file online returns with the HMRC that includes as you go input validation and automatic calculation of tax due.
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Thursday, January 29, 2015
Are You Sure You Want to Delete This? / Personal_Finance / Pensions & Retirement
By: Dennis_Miller
As I sat in my office with tears streaming down my cheeks, my wife walked in and asked, “What’s wrong?”
After a short sniffle, I blurted out, “I just deleted Dad!” The absurdity of my remark hit us both, and we burst out laughing. Dad had been dead for over two years.
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Wednesday, January 28, 2015
How to Find the Best Offshore Banks / Personal_Finance / Current Accounts
By: Casey_Research
By Nick Giambruno
It’s hard to think of a topic where following the conventional wisdom can be more dangerous.
And that topic is banking.
It’s generally accepted as an absolute truth by the public and most financial experts that putting your money in a domestic bank is a safe and responsible thing to do. After all, if anything were to go wrong, your deposits are insured by the government.
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Saturday, January 24, 2015
10 Reasons Why You Need an Offshore Bank Account / Personal_Finance / Current Accounts
By: Casey_Research
By Nick Giambruno
You may have wondered: “What’s the difference between having a bank account at Bank of America and having an offshore bank account?”
The truth is, there’s possibly all the difference in the world.
Here are the top 10 reasons why you need an offshore bank account.
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Wednesday, January 21, 2015
Can a Doublewide Save Your Retirement / Personal_Finance / Pensions & Retirement
By: Dennis_Miller
The rumors are true: Florida is full of 55-plus communities with rows of doublewide mobile homes. The nicer ones have amenities like golf courses, swimming pools, clubhouses… you name it. As you’d expect, the living cost is modest. But here’s the part that blows people away: many of the people who live in these communities are quite wealthy.
That’s right—not everyone living in a doublewide is a NASCAR fan.
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Thursday, January 15, 2015
The Most Overlooked Threat to Your Buying Power / Personal_Finance / Pensions & Retirement
By: Dennis_Miller
Decades ago, one of the first things I did when I started looking after our aging parents’ money was move a substantial sum from their checking account to an interest-bearing account. When I asked why they had so much sitting in their checking account, they answered, “You never know. We may want to buy a new car.
For a long time, the conventional wisdom was to keep 20-35% of a retirement portfolio in cash. Today holding that much cash in the bank or your brokerage account is like a leaky faucet. It leaves your purchasing power going drip, drip, drip. And a bundle hidden under a mattress? Don’t even think about it!
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Thursday, January 15, 2015
New 4% Pensioner Bonds Election Bribe - Grab it While You Can / Personal_Finance / Pensions & Retirement
By: Nadeem_Walayat
The government in a blatant election bribe for the over 65 pensioner grey vote has today put on sale the 65+ Guaranteed Growth Bonds issued through the NS&I that pay 2.8% for 1 year and 4% for 3 years (gross). Demand has been heavy all day which means website / application access has been sporadic resulting in server error pages. However there is nothing on the market that comes anywhere near matching the 3 year bonds so do persist as the issue could be fully subscribed within a couple of weeks, thereafter the risk is that the government might not release a second tranche (election bribe).
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Wednesday, January 14, 2015
Dependent Adult Children Can Destroy Your Retirement - Five Financial Keys to Fatherhood, Not Friendship / Personal_Finance / Pensions & Retirement
By: Dennis_Miller
My oldest grandson, Justin, has cerebral palsy. When he was in middle school, my daughter and her husband invited me to attend a parent-teacher conference. Justin’s teacher told us that one of his classmates had announced to the whole class that, according to his mother, all of the kids would be moved along no matter what.
Thursday, December 25, 2014
Boxing Day Sales, Next, Debenhams... High Street Full List / Personal_Finance / Shopping
By: Nadeem_Walayat
Its mid-day Christmas day but already millions of shoppers thoughts are turning towards joining in on the Boxing days sales frenzy discounting bonanza, where the likes of retailers such as NEXT (6am) and Debenhams (7am) open their doors to the public. Just remember a cold snap is forecast for much of the UK tomorrow so be careful on the roads out there, especially by the evening and try not to get too caught up by shopping mania and over spend.
Wednesday, December 24, 2014
Christmas Eve Online Sales, Boxing Day High Street Sales Full List / Personal_Finance / Shopping
By: Nadeem_Walayat
The Christmas high street sales frenzy is about to reach maximum intensity on Boxing day with many retailers such as Next and PC World / Curry's having shifted the start of their sales online to Christmas Eve so as to maximise profits from the the army of point and click armchair shoppers. Here is a comprehensive list of sales starting Christmas Eve and Boxing day as well as those already underway.
Monday, December 22, 2014
UK Christmas Sales 2014 High Street Start Dates List / Personal_Finance / Shopping
By: Nadeem_Walayat
Britain's election economic boom is in full swing with the UK economy looking set to bust above a 3% GDP growth rate, further boosted by the collapse in the oil price that is acting to depress inflation (general prices) and put extra money into the pockets of consumers that is manifesting during the holiday season as consumers go on a debt fuelled spending binge at the cathedrals of modern Britain, jam packed with shoppers afflicted with sales fever hunting for bargains as Christmas has morphed into a month long relentless advertisement to spend, spend and then gain spend some more into January.
Friday, December 19, 2014
Retirement Planning - Five Rare Birds Sing a Wise Tune / Personal_Finance / Pensions & Retirement
By: Dennis_Miller
In the spirit of the holidays, I’m sharing a happy truth: many people do, in fact, retire rich. Who are these rare birds and what can they teach us?
Rich Retire #1—The Pension Holder. If you have a large pension in 2014, you likely are or were a government employee. Many government workers receive pensions equal to 75-80% of their working salaries. In some government departments, it’s the unwritten custom for department heads to bump a worker’s salary 20% or so when he or she is a year or two from retirement. This boosts the employee’s base for his retirement pay.
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Wednesday, December 17, 2014
How Inflation Changes Retirement Benefit Choices / Personal_Finance / Inflation
By: Dan_Amerman
One of the most important financial questions someone of retirement age in the United States faces is when to start collecting their Social Security payments ─ and this crucial decision deserves the best possible information to work from.
Recently, there has been quite a bit of publicity about studies showing that for a retiree who lives to an average age, there is a six figure advantage to waiting until age 70 to begin the collection of Social Security payments. That is an amazing advantage ─ but does it hold up under close scrutiny?
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Tuesday, December 16, 2014
UK CPI Inflation Falls - ‘Bah humbug’ Christmas for Savers / Personal_Finance / Savings Accounts
By: MoneyFacts
Inflation figures released today show that the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) fell from 1.3% to 1% during November.
To beat inflation, a basic rate taxpayer at 20% needs to find a savings account paying 1.25% per annum, while a higher rate taxpayer at 40% needs to find an account paying at least 1.67%.
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Tuesday, November 25, 2014
Take Back the Retirement You Dreamed of at 40 / Personal_Finance / Pensions & Retirement
By: Dennis_Miller
Is it even possible today to retire rich? The short answer is “yes.” We all know people who have done just that. Watching your neighbors Bob and Betty Rich live the good life well into their 90s only tells you it’s possible, not whether you’re prepared to do it too. So let’s forget about the Riches and focus on you.
The first question you should ask yourself is: “Do I have enough money for the duration?” Or, if you’re still in your 30s, 40s or 50s: “Am I on track to save enough?”
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Monday, November 24, 2014
How should I select a Binary Broker? / Personal_Finance / Investing 2014
By: Boris_Dzhingarov
When you’re starting out at options trading, you need to consider carefully a range of service providers that will enable you to execute your trades. In this article we will investigate the key characteristics that you should evaluate in order to determine which service provider is best suited to your needs and budget.
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Monday, November 03, 2014
Moral Hazard and Socialism in Collective Security Agreements Such as NATO / Personal_Finance / GeoPolitics
By: MISES
Patrick Barron writes: The economic phenomenon known as the "tragedy of the commons" instructs us that commonly-held resources that are insufficiently protected will be plundered to extinction. The phenomenon was recognized in the early nineteenth century to explain why the commons in England quickly came to be denuded by sheep. All sheepherders had an equal right to graze sheep on the commons. There often was no agreement as to how many sheep each could graze, so it was sheer rational self-interest for each to graze as many sheep on the common ground as possible. In short order the commons came to be overgrazed. What later came to be called "the tragedy of the commons" was a simple and imminently understandable explanation.
Tuesday, October 28, 2014
Investing While in Debt: Reasons You May Want to Think Twice / Personal_Finance / Debt & Loans
By: Boris_Dzhingarov
Thinking about investing in your financial future? Whether it’s the stock market, real estate, or retirement savings, smart investments can definitely lead to financial gain. However, it seems that there is an overwhelming understanding that being in debt while investing is okay…While it would be nice to essentially use our investment opportunities as a method for paying off our debts, the likelihood of that happening is slim to none. You see, you need to have money to invest in order to turn a profit, and if you’re in debt, chances are you don’t REALLY have money to invest. As long as you owe someone, the money you’re investing is not your own.
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