Archive for July, 2007

AVOID AT ALL COSTS

Don’t put any of your money into corporate bond funds at the moment as they are trailing cash in the returns stakes. The best only made 2.46% after 12 months and you would have got 4.09% on your cash. As one City insider said to me: “Corporate bonds are pants in this environment.” So there [...]

Home Information Packs (HIPs) are back from tomorrow (1st August) and there’s nothing anyone can do about them now except shell out your £400-£700 when you come to sell your house.

STUPID COMMENT OF THE WEEK

Each week Yourmoney.com will feature a stupid comment from the world of personal finance. Our first entrant is this pearl of wisdom from HSBC: “This (bank charges) is an industry-wide issue and the size of the refunds that we have made demonstrate our commitment to treating our customers in a fair and transparent manner.” If [...]

There were no real surprises when HSBC announced its £6.7bn half-yearly gain today. Despite problems in America, and the bank’s profits taking a 43% dive there, a Porsche-like performance in Asia and strong returns on investment banking saw the cash roll in like a mighty wave, with senior boardroom members and executives gleefully riding the silver surf [...]

ZERO EQUALS £240m: People switching balances to zero per cent interest rate credit cards are being charged up to 3% of the balance transferred – £150 on a £5,000 debt, for example. These fees became popular with the card companies last year as the Office of Fair Trading cracked down on penalty fees. Banks made £240m [...]

Millions of UK homeowners whose houses are currently built on flood plains may not be able to insure their houses in the future, the Council of Estate Management (CEM) has warned.

Parents and students underestimate the cost of university by at least £3,000, a study has revealed.

Over half of with-profits savers are unhappy with the returns from their funds, according to investment firm Managing Partners Limited (MPL).

Next »