Expensive bank accounts..££££s

Do you pay a fee a monthly fee on your bank account? Yes? You probably do not need to.

Banks like to offer "premium" bank accounts to their customers which have a monthly fee ranging form £5 to £40 per month. You are paying for travel insurance and mobile phone insurance, which you can get elsewhere more cheaply if you want or need them.

15% of the population have accounts like these. If you have one of these accounts, seriously consider moving it to a fee free account.

Posted by Sean Wilson, APFS, Independent Financial Advisors (IFA), Swindon, Wiltshire.

Buy to Let Property...big tax hike?

One of the dilemmas facing the new government is how to raise money by increasing taxes. Politicians do no like increasing income tax because it is unpopular.

One area which is being considered is Capital gains Tax which affects Buy to Let Property amongst other things. It is being suggested that the tax on the profits of selling such a property could be raised from 18% to 40 or even 50%.

It is one area where it could be vital to talk to a financial planner.

Posted by Sean Wilson, APFS, Independent Financial Advisors (IFA), Swindon, Wiltshire.

Tax Free Cash...Pension Age Changes

This year you will have seen discussion about whether to take tax free cash from pensions, especially if the person is between 50 & 55.

The minimum age you can take pension benefits goes up from 50 to 55 on 6th April 2010.

This has prompted debate on whether to take tax free cash. Should you take it?

The answer is..it depends on your personal circumstances, tax status and your other assets.
It is a complicated issue.

Please do not take the decision without taking professional advice, it could save you £1000s.....

Posted by Sean Wilson, APFS, Independent Financial Advisers (IFA), Swindon, Wiltshire.

What happened in Dubai?

Last week there were sensational stories about financial collapse in Dubai.

What actually happened?

Dubai has set it elf up as a financial centre and simply there was overexpansion, over investment, unoccupied office towers and empty shopping malls. There was nothing to sustain development. Unlike its neighbour Abu Dhabi, it has no oil wealth or natural resources.

A source there noted that one of the reasons for the flow of money into Dubai was that banks did not ask too many questions about the origin of the money....

Will I get a mortgage?

The answer is maybe...

It depends on how a lender sees you as a financial risk. It's much more difficult than the pre-credit crunch days of 2 years ago.

The outcome will depend on

1 Your salary
2 Your outgoings
3 Existing credit commitments
4 Past credit history
5 Size of deposit you can put up

#4 is particularly important. People always look surprised when I reveal to them a lender will be reluctant to give them them £150 000 because they struggled in the past to pay a relatively small credit card or mobile phone bill!

Big salary, low level of outgoings, decent sized deposit.....no problem
Low salary, big outgoings, big debts, no deposit...no comment.

It's worth remembering, the credit crunch began when US banks lent to people who could not afford to make repayments....

Posted by Sean Wilson, APFS, Independent Financial Advisers (IFA), Swindon, Wiltshire.

Simply Thrifty Recommends Money Swindon

Frugal Living site Simply Thrifty has also recommended the Money Swindon haggling posts.(3 tips: Where & when to Haggle, 7 Tips: How to Haggle)

It describes itself as: "Learn to live simply, wisely, and with frugality. Simply Thrifty is a blog that appreciates the important things in life"

Related: LifeHacker Recommendation

Lifehacker recommends Money Swindon

Thanks to the reader who recommended my Haggling Articles (Part1: where & when, Part 2: How to) to Lifehacker.

Page Views went through the roof! Lifehacker is an excellent site with lots of technology & lifestyle tips.
Recommended.


Related: Thrifty Living Recommendation

"Free" Landline Calls

Want to make “free“ landline calls? Have a BT line?
Then get free calls from Call 1899. You register online & then pay monthly by credit or debit card.

You pay a 3p connection fee then calls are free to 01 & 02 numbers. at all times.
(The basic BT deal only operates at evenings and weekends plus the connection fee is 5p)

Again Thanks to Martin Lewis & his newsletters
Tags: free phone calls, ifa, swindon, uk
Related: Call mobiles 1p/min, Free Calls: VoIP, How to Slash your Fuel Bills

Civil Partnerships: financial implications

Civil Partnerships mean gay couples will have the same financial rights as heterosexual married couples.

This means they can benefit from pensions if their partner dies & have inheritance rights to property. They can also divide up assets to reduce income & capital gains tax liabilities

However there are some downsides too, in the event of a “divorce”.
A court can order maintenance payments to paid, property transferred and pensions agreements altered.

Further information is available by emailing me or visiting Swindon Gay Men's Health site.