In our last post we gave some pointers on how to go about starting a budget and why budgeting is important. Unfortunately, personal finance is not a subject that you get to learn when you are at school and all too often it is something you have to seek out yourself. Here are some more simple…
Finance Tip – Set up a Budget
One of the most important elements of personal finance is to ensure you are tracking what you are spending and that you have a plan to work towards.
US College Loans Tool
In the US today, President Obama’s office promoted a new online tool to help college students understand a raft of financial information that will likely be of interest to them. The tool advises students on student loans, costs for study and how much they might be able to earn when they graduate. You can find the…
“Dirty” Loans?
The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority has declared that although seen historically as “dirty”, equity release loans are likely to become a “normal” component in the financial planning of the over 55s. In many cases where property is owned (or at least mortgaged), the over 55s can have a significant asset (their home) but be cash poor….
Homemakers & Retirement
A report published by AEGON proposes that homemakers need to buck up their ideas in terms of retirement planning. AEGON’s Retirement Readiness Survey 2015 (titled “Homemakers Are Not Off the Hook How Should They Be Planning for Retirement?”) found that homemakers are in a potentially worse fix than workers, since approximately 67% of them received a…
Women’s Start Up Loans
The UK “Start Up Loans” program, a scheme backed by the British Government, appears to be drawing more successful female applicants than other more traditional business start-up loans. According to the UK Office for National Statistics, 37% of all successful applicants for the Government backed scheme are female compared to 18% for other similar loans schemes. Furthermore, in the first…
Chase Jumbo Loans Changes
Chase announced in early August that it was making its jumbo loan product more simple and also lowering the requirements for FICO and downpayment. What this means in real terms today is that buyers with a FICO of 680 or above (previously a minimum of 740) seeking finance to acquire a single-family property can downpayment…
Financial Freedom & Social Imbalance
Markus Persson, the creator of the the Minecraft gaming sensation who sold his game to Microsoft for a reported $2.5 billion last year, has declared in a Tweet that although wealthy beyond his wildest dreams, he feels isolated because his wealth has created a situation where “human interaction becomes impossible due to imbalance”.
Barclays & “Dark Pools”
The Telegraph reports yesterday on Barclays‘ significant legal victory in the US regarding claims it provided preferential investment services to “dark pools” comprised of selected traders. Read the full article here.
Cash Value Insurance Policies Explained
We have added a new article on term life insurance cash value. If you are interested in learning about cash value insurance policies then have a look, hopefully the article will help you out.