GARRULOUS ex-Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan has been sounding off again, this time about the UK inflation rate. Al reckons inflation will rise to over 3% on a regular basis, putting the squeeze on interest rates, and says the property boom will come to an end. But Americans are always saying the UK property boom is about to […]

Troubled bank Northern Rock extended its branch opening times today (Monday 17th September) to prove to savers that it is ‘business as usual’.
Around £2bn has been withdrawn by customers from the bank’s savings accounts since Thursday when the true extent of its exposure to the credit crunch became known and it appealed to the Bank of […]

KNOW YOUR RIGHTS
IT IS IN everyone’s interest that you get the right life insurance policy but there is a 14-day ‘cooling off’ period available during which time you can tell the insurer you do not want the policy and receive a refund of initial premiums you may have paid. You can of course cancel […]

EXTRAS, EXTRAS - READ ALL ABOUT THEM
LIFE INSURANCE - as we have seen in previous items here - has an important part to play in the financial planning of everyone, so it comes as a shock to learn that a third of people have no life insurance cover at all. It is an important way of financially protecting your […]

BITS AND BOBS
LIKE ANY OTHER financial product, life insurance comes with a range of bits and bobs (or optional extras, if you’re being formal) that may or may not be helpful to you. There are other issues around life insurance too, which we look at here.
You can choose a life insurance policy, for example, […]

THE EDITOR wishes to apologise for yesterday’s report quoting Bank of England governor Mervyn King saying that he would not bail out banks that have over-committed to sub-prime debt. The editor now realises that what King really meant was that he WOULD bail out banks, like Northern Rock, that have over-committed to sub-prime debt - moreover, within […]

THE BANK OF ENGLAND has placed £4.4bn into the banking system to try to calm jangled nerves as the US sub-prime mortgage crisis continues to threaten liquidity. BoE Governor Mervyn King has stressed he will not bail out banks that have over-exposed themselves to sub-prime debts and said the £4.4bn was an effort to cut […]

Chancellor Alistair Darling has weighed in against the banks for providing free and easy credit for too long, a strategy now coming back to haunt them as liquidity dries to a trickle.
Speaking to the Daily Telegraph he suggested that the way forward could be a return to “good, old-fashioned banking”, which many interpreted as a […]