I have used the same insurance broker ever since I had my first car and I needed to arrange cover. They always seemed to work very hard trying to get me the most competitive premiums and the process seemed to take an hour or so and I would always walk away with a hand written [...]
Having always been an advocate of the fixed rate mortgage since buying my first home some twenty two years ago, I have only recently reached the end of a five year fixed-rate mortgage which, in retrospect wasn’t the best deal I have ever signed up for. Although the interest rate was not stupidly expensive it [...]
Health cash plans are a fantastic idea, for safeguarding your future income, should you suffer a difficult time within your working lifetime due to stress, fatigue or other mental health problems. The issue is highlighted by recent news that Lloyds TSB chief executive Antonio Horta-Osorio has been forced to step down from his position through [...]
Working for a building society I had always had it drummed into me about mortgages and how important they were, how important it was to get the right interest rate and how you should fix your rate for two, three or five years. Understandably people thought of little else apart from the loan itself as [...]
Those who consider themselves as financially astute are most likely the same people who are likely to have taken personal responsibly regarding their financial affairs eg. income, saving and retirement. The sight of their country having to adopt a similar approach to its finances won’t be greeted with anything but a sigh of relief as [...]
Sitting in an airport lounge waiting for a flight connection is probably the dullest way of spending time I know, apart from waiting for the AA which is also up there in my list of things I would do less than go to have root canal work done by an inexperienced dentist. The process of [...]
I have managed to get myself into quote a lot of debt previously and I am gradually trying to work my way out of it. My new employer recently ran some sessions on managing debt and looking after your personal finances so I went along to see if I could glean a [...]
The debt management plan is a debt help measure that is designed to help the household with expendable finance at the end of each month, though not enough to cover the cost of their spiralling debts.
An experienced and trusted third party professional is usually responsible for arranging the debt management plan. This agent draws up [...]
After receiving a letter inviting me to an inheritance planning review seminar I decided to contact a financial adviser to review my parents’ potential tax bill. We went through the details of their property and assets in order to work out that there would be a liability of over £300,000. We understood that it would [...]
Banking online has become the quickest growing internet activity, with nearly 4 million users already managing accounts, and paying their bills through a virtual bank. With the convenience and ease of online banking, everyone seems to be in on the newest trend. And there are quite a few other advantages, such as avoiding the lengthy [...]