Archive for the ‘Bank Savings’ Category

Bankruptcy: What Happens Afterwards?

Bank Savings, Life Assurance, Savings Guidance, Savings Interest | Posted by Admin PAL
May 17 2012

Bankruptcy is often a last resort when debts accumulate and become impossible to pay. When you apply for bankruptcy, a trustee is usually appointed to handle any valuable assets you may have and these are used to pay off any outstanding debts listed in the bankruptcy order. Creditors must apply to your trustee for the money owed. Any further debts outside of the order must be paid separately by you.

You are usually freed from your debts after one year, but your bankruptcy will stay in credit reference agencies’ records for six years thereafter. Any insurance providers you may have and your landlord, your bank, mortgage and pension providers will be informed of your bankruptcy.

Individuals, businesses and partnerships are all eligible to apply for bankruptcy through the courts, but it can have a knock on effect on your financial situation. Here are some of the things that can be affected by declaring yourself bankrupt.

Your Credit Rating

After being declared bankrupt, you must hand over any credit cards, cheque books or bank cards to the trustee. Your bank may freeze any accounts you have and may not allow you to open any new ones with them after becoming bankrupt. You should make alternative arrangements for any outstanding direct debits or standing orders you may have on your accounts. You can open a basic bank account to manage money that does not involve any credit checks.

Any overdrafts or loans you may have with your bank will become part of the bankruptcy order. As your credit file will list your bankruptcy for six years, it will be more difficult to obtain any future loans, overdrafts or credit cards, as your credit rating will be poor.

Your Home

If you are a homeowner, your home can be sold and the money used to pay your outstanding debts. Your share of the property’s value is transferred to your trustee after mortgages and secured loans are paid. The court may order you to sell your home, but you may be able to delay its sale if there are exceptional circumstances or the value of your share after its sale would be less than £1,000. If you rent your home, you may be eligible for housing benefit or a Local Housing Allowance if you are struggling to keep up with your rent.

Your Pension

Your pension may be affected if it is not approved by HM Revenue, but you can ask your trustee if there is any way to protect it. If you are receiving a pension and are declared bankrupt, you may have to pay your debts using some money from the pension. If it is an HM Revenue approved pension, it should not be affected by bankruptcy.

Your Employment

Some companies do not allow you to take employment with them if you have been declared bankrupt. These include law organisations and others regulated by the Financial Services Authority. There are some roles, like company director, that you may not be allowed to take. However, once you are freed from bankruptcy this shouldn’t be an issue. If you are a business that has gone bankrupt, you will normally have to close your establishment and dismiss employees.

As an alternative to bankruptcy, an IVA may be a better option. An Individual Voluntary Arrangement is an arrangement between you and all of the creditors you owe where you pay back slightly less overall than your original debt. This allows you to make affordable monthly payments and clear your debts without going bankrupt.

This guest post was written by Saul on behalf of IVA Expert.

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Is Pension Drawdown a Good Idea?

Bank Savings, Best Savings Rates, Cash Savings, Life Assurance, Savings Guidance, Savings Interest | Posted by Admin PAL
Apr 19 2012

Prior to thinking about whether it is a great idea, it may be useful to take a rapid look at just what pension drawdown is. Swap the word “drawdown” with “withdraw” and it could maybe be most eagerly assumed as the capability to take out money from your pension endowment and leave the stability capitalized, so as to it carries on to cultivate. This capability consequently provides the pension owner an extra choice on retirement: rather than using the pension drawdown for the unique acquisitions of a lifetime allowance, funds could be introverted or drawdown for the acquisition of a pension at an advanced date. And the well ahead the date, certainly, the more striking the pension has to be. This means, however, that you would perhaps need a substitute source of revenue in the intervening time.

Obviously, this will provide you a much better amount of suppleness in using your pension drawdown and conserves the chance of an outstanding pension endowment that you can convey to your children on your bereavement given, certainly, that the endowment is still a sensibly important amount.

If the pension drawdown is adequately big, you can drawdown revenue and carry on to achieve the equilibrium of the endowment, doing any essential asset choices for yourself. In short, it lets you to keep up to speed of an important source of investments and venture.

Pension drawdown can as well give rise to your being capable to upsurge your revenue after you are older. Clearly, this will be contingent not just on there still being a large equilibrium in the pension endowment, but as well that the savings do well. The contradictory is also correct, evidently. If the savings do not do well, then the account can turn out to be extremely exhausted and the revenue in your prime of life could actually be meaningfully abridged.

Pension drawdown therefore provides a suppler substitute to buying a pension as earlier you retire. This will fit those people who think that the unique purchase of a pension drawdown at excessively early, a period bolts them into a preparation which may not show the greatest contract over the longer-term.

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Choosing the Right Savings Account for You

Bank Savings | Posted by admin
Apr 11 2011

People are starting to have a little extra pocket change and it’s time to look at where to put it. Just like you review a payday lender or credit card company before you set up an account to borrow, you should thoroughly review your bank or credit union before you set up a savings account. You want to make sure you get the best rates, can access your money, and that the bank is solvent.

Good Rates

Interest rates on bank accounts aren’t that spectacular right now. The better interest rates are on bank accounts online, but you may have less access to your money this way. Some interest rates go up if you save using specific financial vehicles that tie up your money for a particular time, like certificates of deposits. Look at all the different types of savings account and figure out which will work best for you, not just to get the best yield, but to have the money when you need it.

Accessibility

Bank accounts that are set up at a local bank or credit union are easily accessible by visiting the bank.  You can also get an account with a debit card that lets you use ATMs all over the world to get your money, although it can come with a fee. Take into account what it will cost you to access your money and whether it is worth it to have one savings account over another.

Banks Solvency

Banks were failing left and right during the recession. Luckily savings accounts are federally insured and the average saver did not lose money. You do not expect a savings account to come with a lot of risk because of the FDIC insurance. Make sure that your savings accounts do not exceed the limits set by the FDIC insurance and you stand to sleep better at night.

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Helping Your Money Last… After Your Last Paycheck

Bank Savings | Posted by admin
Nov 13 2010

A look at different ways to afford retirement

Today’s seniors can expect a longer retirement than their parents. That means more years to finally do what you want to do, including travel and hobbies (not to mention spoiling the grandkids). But a longer retirement also means more years of money going out and no paycheck (or only a small one) coming in. That’s why seniors need to be smart about how they pay for their retirement years.

“You really need to have a strategy to make sure your savings last,” said Lee Bowman, National Coordinator of Community Affairs at the FDIC.

To help you set or adjust your own plans for affording retirement, FDIC Consumer News offers this look at some different sources of money, including some potential pitfalls to avoid. But first, remember that this is general guidance only. Your own need for retirement money will depend on factors such as your health-care costs or whether you plan to earn part-time income. As with any major financial decision, be sure to consult with financial advisors and loved ones to decide what strategies are best for you.

Social Security and Pension Benefits: Your first order of business: Determine when the best time is to start tapping this money. For example, if you start receiving your Social Security benefits before your “full” retirement age (which could be anywhere from 65 to 67 under current laws), your benefits will be reduced permanently, and perhaps significantly, from what they would be at your full retirement age. And if you receive Social Security benefits early, but you continue to work and your earnings exceed certain limits, your benefits will be reduced even more until you reach full retirement age. On the other hand, if you delay collecting Social Security until after your full retirement age, you can continue to work and still get your full retirement benefits, or even higher benefits, no matter how much you earn.

Here’s basic guidance from the Social Security Administration (SSA): “As a general rule, early retirement will give you about the same total Social Security benefits over your lifetime, but in smaller amounts to take into account the longer period you will receive them. There are advantages and disadvantages to taking your benefit before your full retirement age. The advantage is that you collect benefits for a longer period of time. The disadvantage is your benefit is permanently reduced.”

Employer pension plans usually have options somewhat similar to those of Social Security. Contact your employer’s personnel department for guidance.

No matter when you decide to start receiving your benefits, remember that it could take several weeks to receive your first payment. Also consider having your payments deposited directly into your bank account so you don’t have to worry about a check getting lost or stolen in the mail.

IRAs, 401(k)s and Other Retirement Savings Plans: As with your Social Security and pension benefits, you may want to delay tapping into your retirement accounts as long as possible so they can continue to grow to cover unexpected medical costs in the future or to protect the inheritance for your heirs. However, if you need to supplement your income, Individual Retirement Accounts (IRA) and other retirement savings can be a good source.

Before you start withdrawing money from your retirement accounts, most financial planners suggest setting a target annual withdrawal rate. Make it low enough to avoid depleting these funds too quickly. You can fine tune your withdrawal strategy each year, preferably with the guidance of your financial or tax advisor. For example, if your personal situation changes, you can adjust how much you should withdraw.

Also review your retirement portfolio your mix among stocks, stock mutual funds, CDs (certificates of deposit), bonds and so on to be sure it’s well-diversified.

Another caveat: If you have retired, every year after age 70 be sure to take out at least the minimum required distribution from your tax-deferred retirement savings plans (except Roth IRAs) to avoid large IRS tax penalties. (If you are still working at 70 or later, you do not need to start taking minimum distributions from your employer’s plan until April 1 of the year following the year you finally retire.)

“Remember, you only have to withdraw the money, you don’t have to spend it,” said Heather Gratton, an FDIC Senior Financial Analyst. “If you don’t need the money you can reinvest it somewhere else, such as in a bank savings account.” She added that, because each person’s situation is different, it’s best to discuss your strategy with your tax or other advisor.

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Grocery coupon Solution to simplify your grocery list

Bank Savings | Posted by admin
Nov 04 2010

Looking for a solution to simplify your grocery list and save some dollars many online sites offers you a free coupon on grocery items. You will find some branded shop where these coupons are accepted and which is helps you to save your lots of money on your daily food items.

Grocery is an important at home and we spend lots of money every time. Because all this is needed at home and we cant compromise on this thing. But now there we can with the help of grocery coupon.

Usually, grocery coupons can be combined with manufacturer coupons. The store offers the savings with the grocery coupon, and the manufacturer gives you savings with their coupon. Grocery coupons issued by the store, can help you to save even more when used at the right time with a manufacturer coupon.

You can easily find out from your nearest grocery store or else your can surf online website where you can find all the option on your shopping and where you can save lots of money.

Some stores offer their own grocery coupon and this coupon can be found in that same store which will help you to save your money on shopping.

This coupon can be easy found in the nearest store or you can find it online where all the list of coupon is provided with the name and place and where you can do you can do your shopping online and save your money as well as time.

Today online go and get it your grocery coupon to save your lots of money on food items.

Anna Josephs is a freelance journalist having experience of many years writing articles and news releases on various topics such as pet health, automobile and social issues. She also has great interest in poetry and paintings, hence she likes to write on these subjects as well. Currently writing for this website Entertainment Coupon Book . For more details please contact at annajosephs@gmail.com

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Gold: A True Barometer Of Public Confidence

Bank Savings | Posted by admin
Oct 26 2010

Gold and silver coins, the famous “old world” currency, are fast becoming the “new world” currency because they offer the missing link in all paper currencies: a store of value.

Today, Americans are facing a pile of unpaid debts. At the helm is a new Fed chief, Ben Bernanke, who has already been nicknamed “Helicopter Ben” based on admitting he’d print enough paper currency and drop it from helicopters to keep the U.S. economy from sliding into a recession.

The Wall Street Journal recently published an excellent commentary, “In Gold We Trust,” by David Ranson and Penny Russell of H.C. Wainwright & Co. Economics. They explain why gold prices are the truest barometer of falling public confidence and of growing inflation. Here are a few key points they bring to light:

* Gold is the benchmark for the value of the dollar – not the other way around.

* The falling U.S. dollar is largely being ignored by Washington and Wall Street.

* Gold’s sharp rise represents an equally sharp decline in investor confidence.

* Gold is the barometer of public confidence in paper money.

* The dollar’s collapse of 60 percent since 2001 is a blow to capitalism.

Bottom line: The U.S. dollar is slowly but steadily sliding into oblivion, taking with it the hopes and dreams of all Americans, along with the value of their savings accounts and investments.

Most Wall Street pundits view gold as just another commodity, which they say is now overpriced due to a growing gold fever worldwide since 2001, causing central banks, hedge funds and others to buy gold for the first time in decades. Not so!

Gold is rising because it is real money. The solution is to convert a portion of your “paper” assets into gold – thus putting yourself on a personal gold standard.

Rising gold prices today are a big red flashing signal of coming inflation, which could take gold prices over $1,000 an ounce. So don’t wait to buy gold – buy gold and wait.

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Getting Smart on a Low – Rate Credit Card

Bank Savings | Posted by admin
Oct 21 2010

The intense competition among credit card companies has squeezed their creative brains hard, as they try to come up with innovative features on their various credit cards. One of the most attractive and substantive features invented by the credit card companies have been the low-rate credit cards.

It is a smart move to take advantage of these cost-saving credit card offers. Potentially, you could actually get the bulk of interest savings from these low-rate credit card offers, especially when you are trying to manage your credit card debt. Indeed, there are people who would advise that you jump from one credit card to another, taking advantage of the 0% apr credit card introductory offers and save yourself a lot of money in interest charges. It would be like getting an interest-free loan every time.

However, as attractive as such offers may seem, it would not hurt to thoroughly investigate the finer details of the credit card terms. The credit card companies, after all, are there to make money, so why should they be giving away their chance to make profits with these 0% apr credit card offers? Being in the business of lending money, credit card issuers earn money by charging interest on credit card balances.

It would be prudent, therefore, to check for hidden costs in these attractive offers before you apply for a credit card. Prudence requires that you study and understand the entire offer. Despite a possible distaste for it, you should read the credit card terms, the back of the offer, and all of the fine print.

You should study these conditions every time consider new credit cards. Its not that you begrudge the credit card companies the right to impose interest and credit card fees; its just that you would not want any surprises and would prefer to get the better end of the deal. Let us look at some of these details.

Interest rate. This will always be the most important factor when evaluating credit cards. You will have no problem finding the nominal rate because it is usually printed in big bold type in the credit card offer letter. The long and the short of interest rate is this: if you want a balance transfer as a means to save money, youll have to make certain that your current rate in your existing credit card is significantly higher than the interest rate in the new offer for credit cards. While other considerations should also be weighed, you will agree that if this condition is not true, there is no way you will save money on the new card.

Action date. This may not be as obvious, as it is buried in smaller print. The offer from the credit card company may specify the latest day for you to take advantage of the offer. Sometimes, the offer will specify different rates for different action dates.

Effective period. You need to know how long the low rate will be applied to your credit cards. The introductory periods on credit cards, vary anywhere from three months to fifteen months, and this obviously will impact how much you can expect to save. The longer the time youre in the low rate, the more money you will save. However, if there are credit card processing fees included as a condition on the transfers, you need to calculate a break-even time, that is, you must be in the lower rate for a certain length of time before you start seeing any savings.

Application of payments. You have to make certain how payments will be applied to your credit card account. Sometimes, the credit card issuer will apply your payments to the balance you transfer from other credit cards, which is subject to the low rate offer, while new purchases which may accrue interest at a higher rate will remain untouched by your payments. However, there are cards that offer the low rate for both transfers and new purchases, which is more advantageous to you.

Allowable amount to transfer. Most credit card offers allow transfer balances up to your credit limit, which is great. This can be a little tricky, though, because they often do not specify exactly how much you can transfer. Its tricky because it is possible for you to go over the credit cards credit limit if there are transfer fees and other charges to be paid, and if you do go over that you will get hit with an over-limit fee. Discuss this area thoroughly with the account representative to be certain you dont break any rules. Remember, if the bank thinks it can charge credit card fees for something, they will.

Balance transfer fees. Now most balance transfer offers do not really impose transfer fees. Just double check to make sure; read the fine print carefully. There could be transfer fee schedules based on the amount transferred, which could be something like: a flat minimum fee for any amount; a 2% fee on the amount transferred; or, a maximum fee to serve as a ceiling. It is not saying that credit card fees are automatically onerous, but you must know so that you can calculate if indeed you will save money when comparing the credit card fees to what you currently are paying.

Different rates for different amounts transferred. There may be a varying schedule of rates for different amounts transferred. This could be present in the credit card offer letter, but then again, it may not. Some banks may graduate their interest rate such that the bigger the amount transferred, the lower will be your rate. For instance, amounts below $3,000 will be at 8.9%, $3,000 to $4,999, 7.9%; and over $5,000, the interest is 6.9%. Again you need to know this to calculate the amount you will save on the credit cards.

Late payment condition. You should really be careful with this condition imposed on credit cards. The advantages of the low-rate credit card offer could suddenly terminate and end up costing you hundreds of dollars if you do not read the terms and conditions. Contract provisions like this usually go to the superfine print area, and could read something like, However, if a minimum monthly payment is not received by the close of the first billing cycle following the payment due date, your promotional APR balances will be 24.9%. Thats a jump to the stratosphere from a very low rate credit card offer, and that is for being late once! This is where you realize that it is costly to be late on any of your credit cards. The bottom line is that when you opt to take the low rate offer, make your payments on time.

Interest rate after intro period. You must know what the rate will be when the introductory period is over. Hopefully, the bank will raise the rate to a fair level, but if you comparison shop, you will find that some rates can reach close to 20%. That can be painfully high. You need to know this rate after the promotion period phases out, to be more realistic in your estimate of savings. This assumes that you will not switch to new low-rate credit cards. If the bank tries to gouge you, you probably will. There are so many other offers on credit cards to choose from out there.

There are benefits to be gained from these low-rate credit card offers. To ensure that you will enjoy these benefits to the maximum, you must do your homework and become credit card smart.

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Getting Close To Retirement Age?

Bank Savings | Posted by admin
Oct 15 2010

If you find yourself getting close to retirement age without a nest egg, do not despair. There are still things you can do during your 40s and 50s to get yourself prepared for retirement. They include figuring out how much money you will need during retirement, income sources like social security or retirement pensions, setting goals, start contributing to your 401 (k), be aggressive, downsize, and eliminate debt to name a few.

The first thing you should do if you find yourself close to retirement with no savings is to calculate the amount of money you will need during retirement as well as what age you plan on retiring. You will find many resources online that will help you come up with this number such as retirement calculators.

Once you have a general number you will need for your retirement, then you should figure out the income you will receive each year in social security benefits, pensions, other retirement accounts, 401(k) plans and the like. Be conservative when figuring this number because you do not want to overestimate. Then, you can subtract what you will be earning each year from what you need to live comfortably and that will give you the money you need to save.

Now that you know how much money you will need on average you can set some savings goals for yourself. There are plenty of ways you can save money from shopping with coupons to taking your lunch to work with you to not buying a new car every year. Wherever you are spending money and can scale back, do. It will mean the difference between a happy retirement or a stressful one.

Next, if you have a 401(k) plan and are not using it, start! Start depositing the maximum allowed so you can get your retirement account beefed up and prepared for your years of relaxation. Also, see if your employer has a match program as well, this is free money and will help your nest egg grow that much quicker.

If you have some investments, consider getting a little aggressive with them. The stock market and mutual funds are a good place to start, and with the help of a stock broker you can likely turn a little money into a lot pretty quickly.

If you are still concerned about making it during retirement consider downsizing to a smaller home, less expensive car, fewer vacations, and less shopping sprees. This might take some effort, but it will be worthwhile to be able to retire happily and not continue working when you are 75 years old.

And finally, eliminate any debt you have. Do this as quickly and aggressively as possible because the longer you wait the more money you will have to pay. So, if you pay it off quickly it might be difficult, but it will allow you to save more money for retirement in the long run.

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Full Service versus Discount Stock Brokers

Bank Savings | Posted by admin
Oct 10 2010

Investing in the stock market has become more popular than ever. And especially since brokerage services now offer Internet transactions that can be placed from home, work, or from the local cyber caf; individuals have begun investing for themselves without the help of a full-service broker. But many find that they either don’t have the time to properly research their stock picks, or they lack the expertise needed to successfully trade the market. For those who want professional help, there are both full and discount service brokers.

The traditional full service stockbroker does more than simply buy and sell stocks for clients. A qualified full service broker will also act as a financial advisor, to help clients choose stocks that are appropriate for their particular needs and investment goals. For example, a full service broker may recommend steady, dependable stocks that pay a quarterly dividend to someone who is on a fixed retirement income. To a younger person trying to grow savings into a nest egg, a broker might take a more aggressive approach, and recommend stocks that carry more risk but also have more upside potential, like small companies in new and revolutionary technical industries. The full service broker will evaluate a persons entire financial situation, and then help pick stocks to enhance ones portfolio. Each time a stock is bought or sold, the broker also handles every detail of the actual transaction, by calling in the order and following up to ensure that it was properly executed. A full service broker is in charge of the day-to-day technical details of buying and selling, but is also a professional who gives stock market advice and educates customers about stock market strategies.

The discount broker, on the other hand, may be equally qualified, but does not dispense any advice to customers. Even if the discount broker can see that a client could use some guidance and personal advice, he or she will refrain from playing that role and will only follow the clients orders to buy or sell specific stocks. In other words, these brokers will assist in doing the technical tasks involved in participating in the major stock exchanges something that ordinary consumers cant do because it requires training, licensing, and certification. But if you are confident that you can make your own stock market decisions without anyones oversight, a discount broker can execute your trades. Because they are not responsible for picking successful stocks for you, they dont charge as much money. A full service broker charges for doing research and giving professional advice, in addition to other brokerage duties. But a discount broker only charges for basic buying and selling services.

Discount brokers charge a fraction of what full service brokers charge, and they are a good and economical choice for those who prefer to do their own research and analysis of the stock market. But you dont have to limit yourself to one or the other. Many investors use both types of brokers. They may have part of their portfolio of investments under the care of a full service broker, and then trade other stocks on their own, through a discount broker.

Choose one or one of each for your own stock market transactions, and see which works best for you once all the fees are paid and you have a chance to evaluate the wisdom the stock picks made by your broker and by yourself.

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