Category Archives for Uncategorized

Considering Refurbishment Instead of Redevelopment in Difficult Economic Times

The following is a guest post. Enjoy!

Of course, a redevelopment project is always attractive for businesses who like to stay contemporary in an ever-changing market. But, there’s a compelling argument for opting for refurbishment, when money is tight. Companies have to be cautious about spending cash on superfluous projects, as we head further into a double-dip recession. So how can a refurbishment help you when the chips are down in tough economic times?

Remember That You Have a Pre-Existing Asset

Instead of investing money in new projects, consider this: have you modernized and enhanced your existing asset? You’d be amazed at how effectively refurbishment can add value to your current property. It would seem a waste to pool all your money into a completely new project, when you can give your property a complete overhaul and make it more desirable. Get the most out of your properties.

Speed Is Of The Essence

Nobody wants to embark on a costly and lengthy redevelopment, if there are other viable options available. Refurbishment could have your property looking good as new, between 15% and 70% times quicker than a new build. When time is money, speed is your best friend.

Risk and Return

In this current economic climate, it’s not wise to start taking giant risks. Instead, enhance what you already have. This will give you a greater balance between risk and return. There’s no need to put your business in jeopardy at such a financially tumultuous time. Investing doesn’t have to make you vulnerable. Already existing assets deserve your attention.

Reduce Carbon Footprint

If you go down the green route, this is a great opportunity to make your property more energy-efficient. Sustainability is a cost-saving and attractive path to take. It also makes your company look great.

A completely new build isn’t exactly the most environmentally friendly option open to you. Reuse what you have by refurbishing. There’s no need to widen your carbon footprint and it’ll attract socially conscious tenants.

Affordability

At the end of the day, refurbishment will mean cheaper bills coming through your letterbox. At a time where your business is cutting costs, extravagant invoices aren’t really what the financial doctor ordered.

Refurbishment is a more fiscally viable option. Wait until the market picks up to consider new builds. Refurbishment could save you between 10% and 75% the total price of a redevelopment. Don’t over-extend your coffers.

Make Use Of Space

By refurbishing your current property, you can really open up rooms to make use of space that wasn’t there before. Any tired, uneconomical buildings can be revamped into stylish, profitable, and efficient venues.

Before you begin, understand what tenants want. This will mean talking to people and getting your head around what they value the most. This could be anything from more natural light to fantastic storage options. Every property is different, so play-up its strengths. Use your time and money wisely during the recession!

Understanding the complexities of the current economic environment can help businesses advance their operations and systems, increasing workplace productivity at the same time.

***Photo courtesy of http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d8/

When Can You Cash In On Your 401k?

 The following is a guest post. Enjoy! 

Financial turmoil is likely to hit us all at some point throughout our lives and having a fund like a 401k saved away can be a tempting option to dig you out of a hole when it’s most needed.

A 401k is a retirement fund that you take out with whatever company you are working for. They then, usually, match whatever you put into it, up to the value of around 3-6% of your annual salary. The money invested into the 401k is put into stocks, shares, bonds, and many other different facilities to aid in its growth over time. You are not taxed on the money that you invest until you withdraw it during retirement.

However, one of the downsides of a 401k is that you can’t access your money, even in an emergency, until you are 59 ½ unless you are willing to incur the charges that come with cashing it early, and they aren’t cheap.

Firstly, you will lose 30% of whatever is in it due to taxes. So, for example, if there is $5000 in your 401k, you will lose $1500 of that straight away, before any penalties have been applied. Doesn’t sound like such a wise move anymore, right?

If you are still employed by the company that you took the plan out with, ie the people who are matching your contributions, you cannot take out your 401k. Once you have left the company, you can then opt to withdraw your 401k, which is usually the time that people start playing around with the idea due to being out of work.

There are a few scenarios where you won’t have to pay your 10% fee if you withdraw before the designated age and these are deemed as a period of hardship in your life, but again, if you are still employed by the company your began the plan with, you can’t.

Situations of hardship include:

• If you incur medical bills equal to over 7.5% of your salary
• You become permanently disabled
• Your work is terminated  in the year you turn 55 or older
• In the event of your death; the 401k is then paid to your designated beneficiary
• You have to pay a tax on the 401k yourself

Financially, it is a poor decision to cash in your 401k, and it should always be seen as an absolute last resort and not a pot to tap into if you feel like going on holiday. It is a relatively wise investment, and it should stay that way until it has matured properly.

In short, if you want to cash out your 401k early expect the following factors:

• 20-45% taxed as ordinary income.
• A 10% penalty fee

A key point is to always try and remember why you took out a 401k in the first place; for your future. If you cash in early, that future won’t look as bright.

How about you all? Have you ever taken a withdrawal from your 401k or other retirement account? Do you regret the decision, or do you think it was the right thing to do?

Share your experiences by commenting below! 

The Road to Good Credit

Building and maintaining a good credit history and/or score can be quite challenging. Some of my favorite techniques are to 1) take out a small secured personal loan from a bank, 2) pay all your utility bills in your name (not your roommates’), and 3) use a credit card wisely.

How to Get Started Attacking Your Debt

The following is a guest post. Enjoy! 

If you are trying to get your finances on the right track because you’ve struggled with some mistakes in the past, one of the first steps you want to take is to tackle your outstanding debt. Whether you racked up debt from using credit cards, buying a car, or borrowing from family members, there are a number of steps you can take to start reducing the amount you owe.

• Get organized. The key first step to debt reduction is knowing how much you owe and to whom you owe it. Track down all of the paperwork or online access you need and neatly list out the outstanding balance, minimum payment and interest rate for each of your loans. Not only will this give you clarity about your financial situation, it will also help you develop a plan for which debt to attack first.

• Reduce your interest rates. Whenever you are paying down debt, you want as much of your money as possible going towards reducing principle. Reducing the interest rates on your loans is one way to make sure that more of your payment is going towards principal rather than interest. Call up each of your lenders and see if you can negotiate a lower rate on your loans. This can be an especially useful tactic when you have credit card debt or high interest loans. If you can’t negotiate with your lenders, using a loan with a lower interest rate to pay off your higher interest rate loans is another way to reduce your overall interest rate.

• Decide which debt to attack first. The general rule of thumb is to start paying as much as you can towards one debt and then, once that is paid off, move onto the next loan. The first loan you attack should either be the one with the smallest balance or the one with the highest rate. By paying extra on the loan with the highest interest rate, you are getting the best return on your money as you are ridding yourself of high-interest debt. However, if you start with the loan with the smallest balance, you could be motivated by the accomplishment of reducing the number of loans you have which will help make your commitment to paying off all of your debts stick.

• Cut expenses. Now you want to find the extra money to throw at these debts. Look everywhere you can to cut expenses – give up cable, start packing your lunch, cut back on eating out – and instead of letting your savings slip through to other spending, throw every cent at your debt repayment.

How about you all? What was the first step you took to start paying off your debt?

Share your experiences by commenting below! 

***Photo courtesy of http://pixabay.com/p-37557/?no_redirect

Barclays Pulled Into Money Laundering Case

The following is a guest post. Enjoy! 

Just when Barclays was trying to rebuild its reputation, its name gets dragged through the mud once more. But this time, it’s not their fault. After a notification from the US authorities, Barclays has been helping the investigation of America’s biggest ever recorded money laundering business. Using 45 bank accounts in total, Liberty Reserve successfully laundered more than £4bn in criminal cash.

It’s estimated that millions of users worldwide used Liberty Reserve to launder money. 200,000 were from the US. It processed more than 12 million financial transactions a year. Barclays is not being blamed for this offence by the US authorities. In a statement, Barclays said that it’s doing all that it can to aid the investigation.

Transform?

This case has occurred while the current chief executive, Antony Jenkins, is trying to clean up the bank’s public character, under a new ‘Transform’ programm. This is bad timing to get linked with one of the greatest money laundering businesses ever seen.

An International Project

Seven people were involved and helping criminals conduct illegal fiscal transactions. 17 bank accounts were held in Cyprus, and Liberty Reserve’s founder, Arthur Burdovsky, held a personal bank account with Barclays in Spain, from 2009 (and was suspended a week ago). Hence, why Barclays is getting involved.

Burdovsky (born in Ukraine), had been charged in 2006 in the US with running an unlicensed money transfer service. He had been given a suspended five year sentence.

The Liberty Reserve project laundered the illicit funds that were linked to a whole host of contemptible crimes, from child pornography to developing hacking software for breaking into banks.

Everyone Has Dirt On Their Hands

Many Eurozone members have long considered Cyprus a tax avoidance haven and a hotspot for money laundering. Even so, Cyprus was bailed out earlier this year to the tune of £8.4bn by the EU nations and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Last June, Barclays was fined £290m by UK and US moderators, after they were found guilty of manipulating Libor. This led to three resignations at Barclays, including that of chief executive, Bob Diamond. When even the church is denouncing you publicly as a morally corrupt institution, something has gone horribly wrong.

Money Laundering

So, what is money laundering? It’s the process whereby criminals hide their illegal activities by making it seem as if their cash has emanated from a legitimate source. Not only can you face severe criminal sentences if you partake in money laundering, but you will face severe ramifications if you even have the slightest suspicion that it’s taking place and you don’t report it to the police. For further information, view this site for more information regarding money laundering and how you can protect yourself against it.

Yup, the authorities come down hard on anyone even remotely involved…regardless of whether they’re truly aware of the illegal process. Even suspicion can condemn you.

The amount of money that’s laundered through the UK every year is thought to stand at £48bn. That’s 2% of Britain’s total GDP.

***Photo courtesy of http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5024/5857345827_361755da6a_o.jpg

Charity Finances in Uncertain Times

The following is a guest post. Enjoy! 

Warning! The following statement may be entirely unsurprising: charities have been affected by the recession…badly.

A drop in income has been matched with a rise in demand for charitable services, after the government continues to cut important aid to vulnerable families and individuals throughout the world. Matched with job scarcity, the bedroom tax, and fewer welfare benefits, many people have found themselves leaning on charities that just don’t have the resources to support them.

Charities have been attempting to reduce costs, as a result of the recession, and many are boosting their fundraising efforts, in a bid to recuperate their losses. In order to keep humanitarian efforts running, staff members have been made redundant in many organisations. All the while, the number of people who need aid increases.

With such a large challenge ahead, a minority have considered joining forces, to ride out the recession storm. This is surprising, considering that pooling resources and skills can help keep charities healthy, during financially difficult times.

Although things got off to a good start at the beginning of the recession, the amount of individual donations has fallen in recent years by 20% (which accounts for a several billion Dollar reduction in funds for charities across the country).

As things stand, two out of five charities face closure by next year. One in three fear they will have to cut services, just when the public needs them most. The government is increasingly letting charities catch the public’s fall, but without support, these organisations don’t have the financial means of giving families the help they need.

In the coalition’s first few years of office, an additional 900,000 people fell below the poverty line, including 300,000 more children – all from working households. As the seventh richest country in the world, we’ve seen those living in poverty increase by almost one million. And charities are taking the strain.

What’s The Government Doing?

Charities largely rely on the financial support of the government, but with £5 billion cut from their third sector spending budget, not-for-profit organisations are struggling to balance the books.

As a result, the NSPCC has launched an emergency appeal, because levels of domestic violence have increased, while their income has dropped by 15%. Food banks have seen an unprecedented level of families needing aid, as many people drop below the poverty line.

The chancellor, George Osborne, has expressed a wish for the public to up their donations. He hopes that it will become de rigueur for people to leave 10% of their wills to charitable causes. The inheritance tax has also been lowered for those who leave money for not-for-profit organisations, from 40% to 36%.

However, with years of austerity grinding the public into the ground, and rising resource prices continuing to cause financial difficulty, can we expect the UK to dig into their pockets, when the state – that is responsible for the current levels of national poverty – continues to slash welfare and third sector aid.

How about you all? Has the recession since 2008-2009 affected the amounts that you donate to charity each year?

Share your experiences by commenting below!

***Photo courtesy of http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3c/Charity_work.JPG

The Help to Buy Scheme

The following is a guest post. Enjoy! 

Since the UK budget announcement in March, there’s been a lot of buzz surrounding the Help to Buy Scheme – which, for many, came as a surprise when announced by the Chancellor. With low lender confidence meaning that high deposit requirements have scuppered the chances of many getting on the property ladder, as well as leaving many unable to move up a rung, could this get the housing market moving again?

What is Help to Buy?

The scheme comes in two parts.

The first, which started on April 1, is equity loans to help people buy new build properties. The second comes into effect in January 2014, and will guarantee some of a borrower’s debt when they take on a mortgage with a bank or building society. In both cases, borrowers will only need to find a 5% deposit, with the government scheme offering a loan for a further 20%, on an interest-free basis.

Who can apply?

Help to Buy is designed for those who find it hard to save the large deposits needed in order to get a mortgage. It’s open to both first time buyers and those already on the ladder, and is available on properties worth up to £600,000. There is no upper earnings limit criteria to qualify.

Those interested in the first part of the scheme should contact a participating builder. It’s unclear at the moment what products banks and building societies will offer when it comes to the second part of the scheme – and whether the rates for this products will be cheaper or more expensive.

Potential borrowers will still need to fulfill lending criteria – with those with a bad credit history or unstable employment are still likely to find it difficult to borrow without a large deposit. You can check your credit report online.

Will it work?

As the figures for mortgage lending for May are at their highest level since October 2008 (according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders), some may argue that the scheme is already having the desired effect of getting the property market moving. However, other factors, such as the ‘spring bounce’, increased confidence and slow and steady increase in-house prices are also likely to be playing their part, making it difficult to attribute any improvement to one factor.

It’s clear though, that the Help to Buy Scheme will be of use to many who had thought themselves stuck in the rental trap for a long time to come – unable to save a deposit due to increasing rental prices. If that sounds like you, now may be a good time to think about looking into buying your own home.

How about you all? How is the housing market looking these days in your area? Do you think a program like this will be effective in jump-starting the market?

Share your experiences by commenting below! 

***Photo courtesy of http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7128/7846926570_28320bd2d9.jpg

The Importance of Good Customer Service

The following is a guest post. Enjoy! 

It cannot be denied in the current economic and regulatory climate that excellent customer service is crucial.

Where previously, a customer was at the mercy of bank policies and charges, the current focus (especially in the press) is certainly on treating customers fairly. It is difficult to go two days at the moment without the banks being in the news for mis-sold products, complaint volumes, public apologies and system failures.

Here lately, the large financial institutions have been blighted by continual payouts on high-profile issues. Primarily, this has been due to the sale of an insurance product provided with lending called Payment Protection Insurance (PPI). In the 1990’s and 2000’s, banks made significant levels of non interest income.  However, the High Courts ruled that customers had not been appropriately informed of the costs and most customers were deemed to not require the product in the first instance. This has lead to Banks having to provide high levels (c£10bn total in UK banks) of profits for potential refund and uphold cases.

This has lead to a wildfire in other banking products with continued regulator focus on the suitability of products and information provided to customers. Non retail small and medium enterprises are the latest group looking to the banks for refunds after the sale of loans incorporating interest rate hedging products. These are products that intended to cap the interest on a product if the interest rates rose further. Unfortunately, most of these products were provided when the UK base rate was 5% (compared to 0.5% at present) hence when the rates fell the associated costs on the hedging products rise in correlation to the interest base rate fall. Similarly, this has lead to the public ensuring products are sold appropriately to fully knowledgeable parties.

Naturally, this has led to many banks reevaluating their marketing strategies to protect their brand image and make their products simpler, more transparent with features that are beneficial and easy to understand. Account switching is also being made easier in the UK to allow customers to take advantage of greater competition in the marketplace. In any case customer service is in the forefront of both the industry and public mind.

***Photo courtesy of http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ea/First_Customer.JPG

How Do Payday Loans Work?

The following is a guest post. Enjoy! 

We all have times in our lives when we’re a little short of cash. Unless you’re very fortunate, there might be one or two occasions where you find yourself a little short. There’s no reason, however, why this has to turn into a long-term financial problem.

If you find yourself saddled with a couple of significant bills at the wrong time of the month, there is a chance that you could fall behind with your payments,  finding yourself playing “catch-up” for long periods of time. With a payday loan, you can borrow the money you need to cover your bills and the lender will set a repayment date that is advised to be convenient for you. This may be more sensible than getting into debt for the sake of a few days.

How Are Loans Arranged?

Payday loans are generally uncomplicated and easy to arrange. There are less stringent credit or bank checks to go through. Simply apply online, and you can get ahold money by emailing, or in some cases, texting when you need it. Check your account as little as fifteen minutes later and the money is there, waiting for you to use it as you see fit. The only thing you need to concentrate on at this point is establishing a repayment structure, which can be where many folks get caught up.

This is not a long-term financial solution, but then again, not every financial problem is long-term. Sometimes, it is the short-term that can cause the problems. Being flexible and having the ability to deal with money problems when they arise will help you greatly in the long-term. Why let debts build up and get on top of you when you can deal with them straight away?

You can find out more information about getting a payday loan online. They make it easy for you to arrange and provide loans to deal with short-term problems. This might be just the solution you are looking for to solve your money worries. Find out more about text loans by clicking here. Imagine a time when you don’t have to worry about waiting for pay-day to sort out the bills and debts. A payday loan could be a do-able way to help you enjoy the rest of the month without the prospect of debts hanging over you.

***Photo courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/68751915@N05/

Are Small Loans Necessary?

The following is a guest post. Enjoy!   

It’s a couple of weeks since your wages got paid into your bank, but you’re running dangerously low on cash and still have another week or two until your next payday. This might be a familiar scenario for many, as your options when faced with this dilemma may seem limited. Short-term cash loans can provide the answer, but just what can you do with a small loan loan?

Short-Term

People consider turning to short-term loans to keep them afloat until payday as their incomes are squeezed even further by financial cutbacks. Whether you’ve had a huge bill land on your doormat or you’ve just spent a bit too much this month, sometimes, a helping hand is desired now and again.

When you’re short on cash, it can be a nightmare trying to juggle your bills but a small loan could help. Most of the time, short-term payday loans can be paid into your bank account within the hour which is great for people who are desperate for extra cash (however, they often have +1000% APR interest rates, so watch out!).

As with all financial matters, there are both pros and cons to a small loan. This makes it important that you weigh up both before going ahead.

Pros and Cons

These short-term and fast approval loans save you the embarrassment of asking your family or friends for cash and also mean that you’ll be able to cover your expenses, but they can be an expensive way to borrow.

Although credit checks are still performed, they may be more relaxed than with applications for long-term credit. This means small loans are available to most people; even those with poor credit scores and repayment histories.

You’re advised never to use these loans for superfluous purchases, but when emergency situations arise then can offer a real lifeline to those strapped for cash. The important thing is to borrow responsibly, only applying for the amount of money you need and not relying on these short-term loans as a long-term debt management plan.

Impartial Advice

If you’re looking to boost your cash position this month, then it’s important you research all of your options. Are you considering a £100 loan? Even though £100 may not seem like a lot of money to borrow, it’s still worth taking the time to seek advice and there are plenty of great resources online who you can consult. Short term cash advances are an possible way to get a bit of extra money, but they aren’t designed to solve long-term debt problems. A £100 loan could be a financial alleviator, but it’s still recommended that you take the time to understand it fully before applying so that you’re sure it is what you need.

***Photo courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/bfishadow/4237025430/