28 October 09 - 19:56Savers now seek investments
The way people save has undergone a fundamental shift, but not a lot of people have noticed the change.
Traditionally, savers would put their money away into a savings
account, where the interest rate would be reasonably competitive, could
vary from time to time, with higher rate accounts offering higher
returns the less you touched your money (ie, notice accounts).
Those people with a lot of money to save would often look to save their
money in multiple accounts with multiple savings providers, and those
in the higher income bracket would probably focus more on saving into an offshore bank account.
While there were additional options for tax-free saving, such
as TESSA's, PEP's, then ISA's, and variations on savings such as the
premium bonds, that was as complicated as it got. ...
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20 October 09 - 16:22Changing broadband supplier
Well, it looks as though I'm finally moving ISP from Zen back to BT broadband, as I just called Zen for a MAC code.
It's a shame, really, as Zen has a far better reputation for service
and support than BT, but the problem of wireless interference is a
constant and annoying problem.
Plus BT are offering mobile broadband with their new broadband packages, and free BT openzone minutes, which will be very useful for business travel.
The caveat is that the pricing on the BT website is quite
misleading, as those shown only apply to certain exchanges (apparently)
plus they include ...
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20 October 09 - 15:31Economic problems continue
The more I read about the impact of the financial crisis in the UK,
the more it feels that the UK is doomed economically, and that the best
option now while you have cash in Great British Sterling is to cash out
and move aborad to somewhere more financially sound - ie, not
threatened with collapse by the weight of its own debt.
That may seem somewhat alarmist, but despite the claims of "green
shoots" earlier in the year, we have not seen any signs that the
economy is returning to normal. In fact, anything but, and that at best
we're moving into a "lost decade" similar as to what happened to Japan.
Britain's debt to GDP is spiralling out of control, and even
measures to reduce costs being mooted by Labour and the Conservatives
...
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21 August 09 - 21:30Broadband connectivity issue
I don't normally write about technical issues. Though I can use
computer technology, it all goes over my head and I don't have a clue
how it all works.
I've come across an interesting problem while setting up my home office, though - wireless interference.
I was originally with BT as my ISP for broadband, but after previous
problems with the company I decided quality of service was more
important than price, so I moved to Zen Internet.
They sold me a Thomson TG784 router with the package, and all seemed to be running fine.
Until I bought a nice cordless phone, a ...
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30 July 09 - 13:24Finding a decent savings accounts
One of the more highlighted features of the financial crisis is that
savings rates have plummeted on savings accounts. Anyone who has
diligently saved over the past few years now faces being punished by
existing low interest rates for savers. However, now that the threat of
financial collapse is receding, savers are reportedly worrying less about how safe their money is, as much as getting decent returns on savings. This is especially important because the volume of savings in the UK has actually gone up, even though many current accounts are paying little interest - with some ...
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30 July 09 - 12:13UK economy still in danger
This spring's green shoots are being increasing shown to have
misplaced optimism,
with economic conditions continuing to worsen within the UK - GDP
continues to fall, and expectations of a recovery for next year
remain muted.
While it's easy to just look at the UK in isolation, there are a couple
of major economic pointers on the horizon that suggest the world's
economy could suffer major set backs -
even before a recovery has begun.
And this is likely to bode ill for Britain, with existing downbeat
expectations potentially proving to be optimistic if these factors play
out. ...
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11 June 09 - 17:29Recession over? Rubbish!
A lot of interesting stories coming up today, showing the continuing turmoil in the financial world.
Edmund Conway in the Telegraph
claims the recession is over, which is about as outrageously optimistic as you can get.
Much of this unfounded optimism seems focused on the fact that the
property market has seen a positive bounce over this spring - mortgage
lending is up, buyer enquiries are up, and the DCLG
reported a 1.1% rise in house prices over April.
The problem is, spring has always been prime home buying time, so to extrapolate this into some ...
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16 May 09 - 20:59Journalists wrong to criticise Nationwide
It's unfair to see the recent criticism of the Nationwide Building Society's changes to its mortgage rates.
Yes, it's unfortunate that the Nationwide will
no longer be putting new borrowers on it's existing Base Mortgage Rate (BMR), currently at 2.5% - but let's face it, the Nationwide has been pushing harder than any other mortgage lender to continue to provide mortgages to the market.
And no other mortgage lender was even coming close to beating Nationwide's BMR.
Despite the fact that the Royal Bank of Scotland, Halifax, Bank of Scotlant, and Loyds TSB, all have direct government support through part-privatisation.
This is not least receiving government money with the aim of improving lending to to mortgage and loans market. ...
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