Analysis Topic: Personal Finance
The analysis published under this topic are as follows.
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Why March Madness is Bigger than the Super Bowl / Personal_Finance / Gambling
By: Money_Morning
Jason Simpkins writes: If you're planning on taking a little bit of time out of your work day to watch the first round of March Madness today, you're not alone.
A survey by MSN showed 86% of employees will spend at least part of their workday checking in on the tournament, up from 81% last year.
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Wednesday, March 14, 2012
Cash ISA Season Hots up, but Savers Beware of the Bonuses / Personal_Finance / ISA's
By: MoneyFacts
The 2012-13 ISA season is gathering pace, with providers showcasing their latest tax-free offerings.
Many of this season’s variable cash ISAs include large introductory bonuses, designed to boost the initial rate and attract customers.
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Monday, March 12, 2012
How Savers Can Get 10% Yields Without Buying a Single Stock? / Personal_Finance / Investing 2012
By: Casey_Research
By Alex Daley, Casey Research : The average interest rate for a savings account today is 0.45%. It wasn't that long ago that one could easily earn 5% in a well-chosen savings account, like those offered by ING Direct, or bump that up by a point or two by putting money away in a CD. Thanks to the largesse of our Federal Reserve and the antics of bankers around the country and world, those days are over, probably for a very long time. Interest rates are at an all-time low, and they look poised to stay there for a while. It's just about impossible for a saver to find the kind of yield that will beat inflation, let alone be enough to provide an income one can live on.
Monday, March 12, 2012
Desirable Credit Card Benefits, Far and Few Between / Personal_Finance / Credit Cards & Scoring
By: MoneyFacts
Worldwide travel insurance is often considered a desirable credit card benefit; however, Moneyfacts research has shown that it’s offered on just 6 credit cards out of approximately 220 in the market.
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Wednesday, March 07, 2012
Satander Cash ISA's Paying upto 4% / Personal_Finance / ISA's
By: MoneyFacts
Santander has just launched a new range of market-leading ISAs.
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Thursday, February 23, 2012
UK Savings and Morthage Products Picks of the Week / Personal_Finance / Savings Accounts
By: MoneyFacts
The Moneyfacts Pick of the Week showcases the best of the latest products to hit the consumer finance market.
Brief product details together with independent Moneyfacts analysis can be used with confidence in your finance sections. You can select one or two products to sit beside a relevant story or use them all as a general feature.
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Monday, February 20, 2012
Flexible Pension Drawdown Choice Widens / Personal_Finance / Pensions & Retirement
By: MoneyFacts
Less than a year after its introduction, flexible drawdown is available on around three quarters of SIPP plans, research by Investment Life & Pensions Moneyfacts has revealed.
When the April 2011 start date for the facility was confirmed, providers wanting to offer the option at the earliest opportunity had just four months in which to prepare, leading to predictions that only the more fleet of foot specialist SIPP providers might be able to prepare in time.
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Saturday, February 18, 2012
The Destruction of Savings by Inflation / Personal_Finance / Inflation
By: Submissions
Alasdair Macleod writes: In the past, insurance companies and pension funds have been keen to advertise the benefit of compounding arithmetic for savings. Over the last 30 or 40 years the rate has been lifted by inflation, but to understand the cost inflation brings you have to consider the whole savings cycle: not just the accumulation stage, but also annuity values in retirement. Furthermore, the historical experience of a typical working life should be compared with a theoretical sound-money alternative.
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Thursday, February 16, 2012
Moneyfacts UK Mortgages and Savings Picks of the Week / Personal_Finance / Mortgages
By: MoneyFacts
The Moneyfacts Pick of the Week showcases the best of the latest products to hit the consumer finance market.
Brief product details together with independent Moneyfacts analysis can be used with confidence in your finance sections. You can select one or two products to sit beside a relevant story or use them all as a general feature.
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Tuesday, February 14, 2012
UK Inflation Rate Falls,Cold Snap Lifts For Savers / Personal_Finance / Inflation
By: MoneyFacts
Inflation figures released today show the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) fell during January from 4.2% to 3.6%.
To beat inflation, a basic rate taxpayer at 20% needs to find a savings account paying 4.50% per annum, while a higher rate taxpayer at 40% needs to find an account paying at least 5.99%.
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Saturday, January 28, 2012
HMRC Extends Tax Deadline by 2Days for Self Assessment Online Filing / Personal_Finance / Taxes
By: Nadeem_Walayat
A strike by HMRC staff on the 31st of January 2012 has prompted the Inland Revenue to extend the tax deadline by 2 days to cope with the annual last minute rush by upto 2 million people to complete online personal self assessment tax returns on the last day.
Strike action on the 31st of January may have meant that many of those calling the HMRC for advise and guidance may have not been able to get through.
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Thursday, January 26, 2012
Money-Markets, CDs, and Bonds: The Ups and Downs of Stashing Your Cash / Personal_Finance / Savings Accounts
By: Money_Morning
Don Miller writes:
In today's volatile markets many investors are faced with the same troublesome question - "Where should I park my cash?"
In fact, investors have withdrawn a net total of $328 billion from the stock market since 2007, according to Strategic Insight.
Ever since, a big portion that cash has been looking for a home.
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Thursday, January 26, 2012
Best Cash ISA 2012 to Reduce Stealth Inflation Theft of Value of Savings / Personal_Finance / ISA's
By: Nadeem_Walayat
UK Inflation of 4.2% despite coming off of a 5.2% spike continues to soar at more than twice the official target rate of 2%, which stands against the more recognised RPI rate at 5% and real inflation as experienced by most of the population at 6%. UK savers continue to have the real terms value of their life time accumulated savings effectively stolen so as to bolster the bankrupt bailed out banks balance sheets. Savers can lessen the stealth theft of wealth by utilising their annual cash ISA allowances before the end of the current tax year (5th April 2012) as it is a case of use it or lose it.
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
UK Inflation 4.2% as ‘Hard Times’ for Cash ISA Savers Continues / Personal_Finance / ISA's
By: MoneyFacts
Inflation figures released today show the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) fell during December from 4.8% to 4.2%.
To beat inflation, a basic rate taxpayer at 20% needs to find a savings account paying 5.25% per annum, while a higher rate taxpayer at 40% needs to find an account paying at least 7.00%.
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Wednesday, January 11, 2012
New Year, New Credit Card, But Watch Out for the Fees / Personal_Finance / Credit Cards & Scoring
By: MoneyFacts
Balance transfer cards now offer the longest debt free deals on record, however, the fees charged to move to a balance transfer card are now at their highest level in four years, research by Moneyfacts.co.uk has revealed.
On average, balance transfer cards offer 356 days of interest free debt transfer compared to 295 days three years ago.
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Thursday, January 05, 2012
UK Personal Loan Interest Rates Drop to Lowest Level / Personal_Finance / Debt & Loans
By: MoneyFacts
Rachel Springall, spokesperson for Moneyfacts.co.uk, commented: “Research by Moneyfacts has shown that 6.0% APR on a £10,000 borrowing amount over a five year term is the lowest loan rate on offer in four years. Previously the lowest rates for this borrowing amount and term were: 8.4% one year ago, 7.8% two years ago, 6.8% three years ago and 5.8% four years ago.
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Sunday, January 01, 2012
January Sales 2012, UK High Street Stores and Online Best Discounts List / Personal_Finance / Shopping
By: Nadeem_Walayat
The post Christmas 2011 sales have now morphed into the January 2012 sales with most stores continuing sales discounts as distressed retailers seek to get rid of 2011 stock with further discounts offered to entice customers through their doors over the coming new year days.
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Christmas, January Sales 2012, High Street, Online Best Store Discounts List / Personal_Finance / Shopping
By: Nadeem_Walayat
Discount hungry smartphone using shoppers fuel the continuing sales that began online on Christmas Eve and in part switched to the high streets and shopping malls on Boxing day. The sales are expected to continue well into January 2012 as the post Christmas sales boost is unlikely to make up for what is likely to turnout to be a bad December for retailers. With further potential for high street retailers disappointment as the increasingly more sophisticated smartphone using shoppers use the high streets merely as showrooms before finally opting to buy online as part of the shopping mega-trend of online stores putting the high streets out of business.
Sunday, December 25, 2011
Boxing Day Sales List Upto 75% Discounts at High Street Stores John Lewis, Next and Debenhams / Personal_Finance / Shopping
By: Nadeem_Walayat
Britain's high streets and shopping malls are expected to be full on Boxing day with shoppers taking advantage of advertised deep discounts of as much as 75% as the Christmas Day online sales in part switch to the High Streets, with early starts for many stores such as 6am for Next and 7am for Debenhams. However given the fact that many of the sales are already online for over 40 hours before the high street stores open, there is great potential for high street retailers disappointment especially as increasingly more sophisticated smartphone using cash strapped shoppers use the high streets merely as showrooms before finally buying online as part of the shopping meg-trend of online stores putting high street's out of business.
Sunday, December 25, 2011
Christmas Day Online Mega Sales at NEXT, House of Fraser, Debenhams, Marks & Spencer and John Lewis / Personal_Finance / Shopping
By: Nadeem_Walayat
The high street shops may have closed early afternoon on Christmas Eve but within a few hours the online sales soon went live and will remain live for the whole of Christmas day, most notable in terms of offering deep discounts on a large number of products are Next, House of Fraser, Debenhams, Marks & Spencer and John Lewis, who have a useful tool that allows shoppers to browse by discount level i.e. 30% off, 50% off or 70% off.