Archive for July, 2009

A Question of Finance: Belfast Telegraph

 
A Question of Finance
 
Q. A friend told me that there is a stronger chance now that my endowment policy will not pay-off my mortgage. Is this true and what should I do about it?
 
A. Sadly, this is true. The catastrophic events in the financial markets have caused the shares in which your endowment is invested [...]

Difficult mortgage choice: Belfast Telegraph

To fix or not to fix, that is the question.
 
 
 
 
Until the last month or so, most mortgage brokers were united on the answer — opt for a fixed rate on your mortgage, taking advantage of historically low interest rates. Since then, the calculation has changed significantly.
Banks’ own borrowing costs increased, leading to mortgage fixed rates [...]

Questions of Cash: ‘Lloyds put me £11m overdrawn’: The Independent

 
Q. Lloyds withdrew £11,520,000 from my savings account in January to place on a three-day fixed-term money market deposit without my knowledge or consent. According to a note from Lloyds, the transaction was as the result of a telephone instruction – which was not from me. My entire savings were wiped out and my account [...]

Building societies focus on profits: Co-opertive News

 
To find the real story about the West Bromwich Building Society’s financial health you must read a fair way down into its statement explaining its latest annual results, which have just been announced. Pass over the stuff on increased savings, higher capital ratios and reduced reliance on wholesale funding.
 
The relevant content is the £65m [...]

Questions of Cash: No credit to NatWest: The Independent

 
Q. I have been waiting for a refund from a company, LarkBay, that I bought goods from online in early January. I returned all four items and asked for a replacement for one of them, which I received two weeks later. I have since been unable to get hold of the company, which owes me [...]

Pensions - the dark clouds hanging over your sunset years: Belfast Telegraph

I hope you enjoy your job: the chances are you will be doing it for many years longer than you once assumed.
 
Many of us — probably most — can forget about finishing work at the traditional retirement ages of 60 or 65. Working into our 70s is much more likely.
There are several reasons why old [...]

Questions of Cash: Barclays earns currency from Connect-ions: The Independent

 
Q. I recently purchased foreign currency at a Post Office branch, using a Barclays Connect card. I bought €220 across the counter at my local Post Office, which cost me £203.44. When I received my bank statement, the amount debited was £207.50. Barclays told me that the additional amount was a 2 per cent commission [...]

California dreaming (of solvency): Local Government Chronicle

Local government in the United States is in a dire mess.  Nowhere is this more true than in the state of California, where counties, cities and the state itself are in absolute crisis.
 
If the ‘golden state’ were a nation its economy would be one of the ten largest in the world. Yet, today, it is [...]

‘House prices on the up’: Primelocation

The latest Nationwide house price survey shows that prices rose by 0.9% in June.  This not only presents further evidence that prices are beginning to recover, but marks the first three month increase in house prices since December 2007.
 
No celebrations yet
 
Nationwide warns that despite the optimistic signs, the trend should not be misinterpreted as a [...]

Prime central London ‘recovering strongly’: Primelocation

Prime central London property prices are recovering strongly, according to two new reports.
 
Three good months
 
Residential prices in prime central London rose 1.7% in June, the third successive monthly rise, according to the latest Knight Franks Prime Central London Index.  Prices rose even more – by 1.9% - in the most expensive sector, those properties that [...]