Analysis Topic: Personal Finance
The analysis published under this topic are as follows.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Madoff Financial Scam Billions of Lost Dollars / Personal_Finance / Scams
By: Global_Research
Lawrence R. Velvel writes: I’m probably missing something, in fact I’m probably missing a lot, but as far as I know there has been little in the way of official release of certain crucial numbers related to the Madoff scam. The government has said that $65 billion was lost; I presume that $65 billion is the collective total shown on the November 30, 2008 statements, and it therefore is the number I shall use here for the total loss. It has been estimated at various times, if memory serves, that there were either 8,000 accounts or 13,000 accounts. But these would seem to be the number of accounts listed with Madoff, and, since a feeder fund was but one account, these numbers do not include any of the persons who invested through the feeder funds. It has also been estimated -- with what accuracy I have no idea -- that if you were to count all the people who invested through feeder funds, pension funds, etc., there are 50,000 people who lost money with Madoff.
Monday, April 20, 2009
Why Your Company Pension is in Danger! / Personal_Finance / Pensions & Retirement
By: MoneyWeek
Company pensions are in big trouble.
UK company pension funds are now in the red to the tune of over £240bn - the biggest shortfall ever recorded. And here's the irony. It's partly due to QE – quantitative easing, the Bank of England's cash printing press, which is supposed to be bailing Britain out.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Building Societies Continue to Beat Banks in Cash ISA and Savings Interest Rates Consistency / Personal_Finance / Savings Accounts
By: MoneyFacts
Building societies retain consistency crown - Building societies once again reign supreme, taking 77% of the top spots in the Moneyfacts consistency survey. The string of consecutive base rate cuts has resulted in lower returns for savers and the majority of the most consistent returns are provided by the same providers. Read full article... Read full article...
Friday, April 10, 2009
Nationwide Announces New Tax Year Fixed Interest Bonds and ISA's / Personal_Finance / Savings Accounts
By: Nationwide
Nationwide Building Society announces details of a new range of Fixed Rate Bonds, e-Bonds and Fixed Rate ISA Bonds, which all offer a guaranteed rate of return for savers. With effect from Thursday 9 April 2009, Nationwide’s bond range will include:Read full article... Read full article...
Monday, April 06, 2009
Warning, Beware of Credit and Debit Card Foreign Usage Charges / Personal_Finance / Credit Cards & Scoring
By: MoneyFacts
With the Easter bank holiday nearly upon us, many people will be looking to go abroad on holiday in the coming weeks. While using your credit or debit card may be the easiest way to pay for things while your away, costs can so mount up. Read full article... Read full article...
Thursday, April 02, 2009
Cash and Shares ISA End of Tax Year, Use it or Lose it / Personal_Finance / ISA's
By: Nadeem_Walayat
The 2008-09 tax year is fast drawing to a close by 5pm on 5th April 2009, many UK savers have not utilised their annual ISA allowances due to low interest rates. However as my indepth analysis has consistently pointed out that the current deflation will eventually give way to inflation and much higher interest rates and therefore the ISA's still remain important long-term tax free wrappers . Read full article... Read full article...
Thursday, April 02, 2009
Letter to Bank of America / Personal_Finance / Credit Crisis 2009
By: LewRockwell
To whom it may concern:
I have been a customer of Bank of America since October 2006. In that time I have maintained, in good faith, a checking account, a savings account, an investment account and two credit card accounts.
Read full article... Read full article...
Wednesday, April 01, 2009
UK Savings and Mortgage Interest Rates After Base Rate Cut / Personal_Finance / UK Interest Rates
By: MoneyFacts
Last month the Bank of England cut bank base rate to the lowest level in its 315 year history. One month on and we can see the impact the cut has had on savings and mortgage rates.Read full article... Read full article...
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Nationwide Launches new Fixed Rate ISA Bond Paying 3.25% / Personal_Finance / ISA's
By: Nationwide
Nationwide Building Society announced details of a new four year Fixed Rate ISA Bond, paying up to 2.75% gross p.a. / AER. The new Fixed Rate ISA Bond offers savers a choice of annual or monthly interest and provides a tax-free guaranteed rate of return.Read full article... Read full article...
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Banks Vs Building Societies for Mortgages and Savings / Personal_Finance / Mortgages
By: MoneyFacts
Banks have taken over the mantle from the building societies by offering the most competitive overall deals on both savings and mortgages.
The building societies had offered the best range of products when it came to savings, but it appears that their members have been harder hit than bank customers by the recent cuts in base rate.
Read full article... Read full article...
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Nationwide Says Be Early to Top Up Your ISA and See it Grow / Personal_Finance / ISA's
By: Nationwide
ISA holders could earn an additional £594 million by topping up at the start of the tax year. Nationwide Building Society estimates that people in the UK could receive an additional £594 million on their savings and investments by topping up their existing Individual Savings Accounts (ISAs) at the beginning of the new tax year, rather than at the end.Read full article... Read full article...
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Get an Income Tax Boost From the Obama Economic Stimulus Plan / Personal_Finance / Economic Stimulus
By: Money_Morning
Ron Brounes writes: So what will $800 billion buy these days? At the macro level, the Obama administration's rescue plan will buy some new roads and bridges, 3.5 million new jobs and, hopefully, an economic recovery in the process.
On an individual level, the benefit will come from the mix of tax benefits that are part of the package.
Read full article... Read full article...
Friday, March 06, 2009
Nationwide to Introduce Fee on Debit and Credit Card Foreign Transactions / Personal_Finance / Credit Cards & Scoring
By: Nadeem_Walayat
Millions of British consumers have long enjoyed the benefit of using the transaction fee free Nationwide credit cards abroad both when on holiday and for online purchases. However the Nationwide has now announced that they will be introducing a 0.84% fee from 6th of May which will rise to 1% on the 1st of June.Read full article... Read full article...
Wednesday, February 04, 2009
How Stocks Bear Markets Can Boost Your Retirement Investment Planning / Personal_Finance / Pensions & Retirement
By: Money_Morning
Martin Hutchinson writes: If you save for retirement through a 401(k) plan, or have large IRA or Keogh Plan assets, you probably hurled your last statement in the bin. If you'd been making contributions consistently over the last decade, your last annual or monthly statement probably showed that the current value of your plan was well below the amount you had actually invested. Read full article... Read full article...
Sunday, January 11, 2009
4-Point Survival Guide for Turning Personal Financial Crisis into Opportunity / Personal_Finance / Credit Crisis 2008
By: Submissions
The current financial crisis is driving the world into a global recession. There is no job security anymore. Especially in times of financial crisis you need to be independent, become the CEO of your life and redefine yourself in order to create and attract new creative opportunities. This can be realized successfully according to an innovative four-stage authentic personal branding model, that will be introduced in this article, based on the bestselling book “Authentic Personal Branding:Read full article... Read full article...
Friday, January 02, 2009
Prepare Your Finances for 2009 / Personal_Finance / Money Saving
By: Money_and_Markets
Happy New Year!
Amber Dakar writes: Now that 2008 is one for the history books, it's time to set our sights on 2009. And because what lies ahead for us is unforeseen, it's best to take the necessary actions now to be prepared for the unexpected. Therefore, let's spend a few minutes to go over the “must-do” personal finance actions for 2009.
Read full article... Read full article...
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Financial Crisis Halves Retirement Fund Values / Personal_Finance / Pensions & Retirement
By: Steve_Selengut
Crash! The 2007 thru 2008 financial crisis halved 401(k), IRA, and Mutual Fund values in a matter of months. For many, retirement dates had to be pushed back; for others, new jobs had to be found. The tragic flaw? No income allocation in the investment program. Market value builds egos; income pays the bills.Read full article... Read full article...
Friday, December 26, 2008
Boxing Day Shopping Sales Bonanza Upto 90% Discounts / Personal_Finance / Money Saving
By: Nadeem_Walayat
Distressed retailers sitting on unsold stock are slashing prices to the bone in an attempt to generate turnover, this will result in many shops running sales of 50% with some goods priced at discounts of 90%. In many stores the sales have already begun and expected to intensify today. Read full article... Read full article...
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
UK Christmas Early Sales, 50% Discounts for European Shoppers / Personal_Finance / Money Saving
By: Nadeem_Walayat
UK retail sales are experiencing a Christmas boom that looks set to hit a new record, boosted by buying from our European cousins as distressed retailers bring forward the January sales in the face of fierce competition for foot fall between retailers. The ongoing crash of the British Pound has taken sterling to just a a whisker away from parity to the Euro, now down by more than 30% from its high which means the already liberally advertised 20% discounts translate into a 50% discount for European shoppers, much as Briton's benefited not so long ago from the cheap shopping trips to New York at an exchange rate north of £/$2.00.Read full article... Read full article...
Friday, December 12, 2008
Conquer the Crash, Protect Yourself From the Financial Crisis / Personal_Finance / Credit Crisis 2008
By: EWI
Elliott Wave International (EWI), the world's largest market forecasting firm, has just released a free 15-page report featuring 5 chapters from Bob Prechter's New York Times bestseller, Conquer the Crash: You Can Survive and Prosper in a Deflationary Depression.Read full article... Read full article...