Entries Tagged 'Saving Accounts' ↓

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If you have just moved to the UK or you are not all that familiar with financial offers and tools that are available to UK residents you may have never heard of an individual savings account, or you may have heard it called by a different name, such as an ISA. An individual savings account is something that is only available in the United Kingdom and its purpose it to offer citizens an opportunity for investment or savings with favorable tax status, which is important to many.

Individual savings accounts are relatively new to the financial world as they were introduced in April of 1999. The ISAs replace the personal equity plans as well as the Tax Exempt Special Savings Accounts of the past. ISAs are available to most citizens and they appeal to a larger portion of the population than the programs that they replaced since many complained that the older programs only appealed or benefited the middle class.

Before the 2008 tax year there were two different types of individual savings accounts to choose from and those were mini ISAs and maxi ISAs but as of the 2008-2009 tax year the difference between the two has been done away with and no longer applies to the accounts. The only difference between the two types of accounts was that the limits for the maxi accounts were higher than the cash and shares limits for the mini accounts.

The benefit of this type of account is that it can be used both as a savings account as well as an investment account. In addition to being able to use it as either a cash or investment account, many people take advantage of the fact that all of the income, including dividends, interest, and capital gains are tax free. The only fee or tax that people will see when they have these individual savings accounts is a flat 20% charge on the stocks and shares component of the account.

Many people are left scratching their heads wondering why the government would allow people, even encourage them to open an individual savings account when they don’t make any money on it. The answer is simple, the government is trying to encourage people to save money and this is working. More people than ever before having money in an account, so the scheme is working and it is benefiting people.

There are many different banks and providers of these individual savings accounts. You will want to shop around to see which provider can offer you the account and the services that you want most. Be aware that while there is not a charge to open the accounts many will charge to transfer money from one account to the other, so you’ll want to do business with the provider that can give you the best features and benefits with the smallest or no charges at all. There shouldn’t be any charge to open the individual savings account, so keep this in mind when shopping around, too.

It is with great pleasure that I announce the relaunch of Mungo Money UK.

Both Mungo Money and  the Money Saving Blog (Money Talks) have been redesigned and updated to offer a better slection of credit cards, personal loans and saving accounts.

The look and feel of Mungo has been totally re-engineered so that you can find the product you need quicker and easier. We’ve got a brand new star rating system in place so users can review products that they have applied for, letting new customers know the real deal!

So Happy New Year from Mungo Money UK and enjoy the new website!

If you get money for Christmas, save it! Don’t spend it all in the January sales, by saving your christmas money you’ll be able to benefit from the months of accured interest that you will get. Here is the List of some Top Savings Accounts:

Instant Access Accounts: If you need money instantly, then you may surely access the Instant Access Account. By accessing this account you can meet the unexpected costs that have been posing a threat for you. Money shall be there at your disposal within 24 working hours. There are obviously, some limits into the amount that you can withdraw. Another advantage of this process is that, you can surely access any one of the branches which are located close to your home. If you need emergency finance this is one of the best options. Some of the best banks which offer Instant Access Amounts are provided with Internet. This is advantageous because of the fact that it ensures that your time is saved and you do not have to wait for a long period when you are urgently in need of money.

Notice Accounts: these accounts are created in order to provide your balance a boom. If you keep your accounts for a long time with this account, then you may surely enjoy the bliss of monetary increment. The most significant aspect of the Notice Account is the fact that you can withdraw your money by giving a notice of just three months.

Cash ISAS: Cash ISAS is also known as Cash Individual Savings Accounts. You can use this account only if your amount of deposit matches with the existing norm of the Bank Account. In the market of savings account, Cash ISAS does not offer you the highest rate of interest, but the rate of interest would be sufficient to make you feel happy with your increasing capital.

Regular Savings Account: If you wish to put some of your hard earned money into the savings account for every month, then you may surely opt for the Regular Savings Account. As an incentive, this account pays a high rate of interest in return. The highest endeavor of the bank authorities is to build the loyalty of the customers. In the long run, we can as well say, that they have acquired that end. Sometimes a regular annual bonus comes as an additional boon to the customers. This is added to the interest rate and the sum is rewarding.

National Savings Account: There is a wide range of accounts and bonds that comes along with National Savings Account. It is completely safe and people need not worry for their hard earned money at all, once they rely with the National Savings Account. The main advantage of this account is that the investors get money at any point of time they require. This ensures maximum security for the investors. Thus the National Savings Account pays sufficient heed to the needs and demands of the investors.

Thus, with the help of any one of the above savings account, you can enlarge your capital to a colossal sum. Since, it is money that decides your lifestyle, you may better opt for any of these, to lead a better and secured life.

Debt can never be good. Furthermore, saving and having debt at the same time is like a dual edged sword and one which must be avoided at all costs. It is principally true that debt will always cost more than what you will make with your savings and thus it makes sense to pay off your debt with your saving and get out of the typical trap that banks and other financial institutions promote it indirectly and lend the same money back that you saved, making a buck for themselves!

Some of the exceptions to this rule are in situations when there is a penalty to pay back the loan in advance. Other exceptions include when you have an almost interest free loan…in this case it makes sense to stick to this debt.  Though it might sound surprising, there are a number of options to get to this stage….and the 0% interest credit cards are the most common option.

Keeping an emergency fund is important but not at the cost of debt. An emergency may or may not arise… and when it does you can fall back on your debt-free status and take on debt to service this emergency. Debt free credit cards come in very handy in such situations and then it is a debt which can be serviced over a period of time. Hanging on to savings for an emergency which might never arise is not a financially wise decision. This logic is based on the assumption that you will be able to get credit cards to take on your emergency requirements.

The cost of debt should be evaluated and the ones which are most costly should be paid off first so that you can actually save interest. Once that is done, you can start looking at your lower interest rate debts and see if they are beneficial to maintain. Financial discipline of managing the interest rate earned and spent result in good debt/savings management. So don’t focus on the principle but take a look at the yearly cost of the debt as compared to the interest you earn on your savings.

Knowing your personal habits of spending also help in paying off debts…if you feel paying off credit card debt will result in more spending in the next couple of months then you should just go ahead and get rid of them. After all, this is the best traditional advice which can be given when it comes to debt management!

UK Savers who are willing to invest a lump sum for a long period of time can grab a great high interest rate thanks to a number of UK savering bonds currently available on the market.

Despite the Bank of England deciding to keep the UK interest rate static, many Banks and Building Societies are getting increasingly competetive and are offering savers some great high interest rates via their saving bonds.

Saving bonds are good places to put your hard earned cash as they are safe and return an excellent rate of interest. Ideally suited for savers who are looking to invest their month for a prolonged period of time - think at least three years - bond saving accounts are currently offering some of the highest interest rates in the market.

Check out the list of high interent bond saving accounts here.

Abbey National has been on the news from the very beginning of 2007 following the launch of many attractive schemes. In the stuffy financial sphere where dealers are continuously raising the rates, Abbey National’s new saving plans have brought in some fresh air.

The first scheme introduced by Abbey National was a new product, a 50+Saver plan. This new product aims to capture the above 50 age group who reportedly control sixty percent of total savings and almost 40 percent of the entire consumer demand is generated by them. Research conducted by Abbey National reveal that around 4.5 million people above 55 have not yet planned their retirement and a million people above 55 have to work well beyond the retirement age. Moreover, about three quarters of people within the age group of 45 to 54 have shown no initiative to start a pension plan.  According to Mr. Attar-Zadeh, Abbey National’s 50+ Saver plan hopes to propel investors towards a “culture of savings at this crucial time for those approaching retirement”.

The scheme offers an unparalleled 5.8% interest rates and provides customers with an ATM cashcard. An investment of £1 is enough to open the account. However, the interest rate varies with the deposited account. For amounts from £1 to £49,999 the interest offered is 5.25%, which increases with the amount. For 5.8% interest, the customer should have over £200,000 in their account.

Another scheme introduced by the Abbey National is the Isa Competitive. Launched on May first, the scheme offers an incredible 8.1% interest rate on investment for a whole financial year. The Abbey National group claims that this interest rate is 1.6% more than the current highest in the market. The new interest offer includes both new and existing customers and would last till first May 2008. A minimum investment of £500 in the ‘guaranteed growth plan’ is required to avail this fantastic opportunity. Furthermore the customers are not charged with any withdrawal fees. The Abbey Isa interests are calculated on daily basis.

Another interesting scheme is the Abbey Mortgage no up-front cost mortgage package. Survey reports suggest that annually around £28 billion was spent in the year 2006 in Britain for moving home. This is an average of £16,000 per family. With the new Abbey Mortgage package that excludes all up-front costs related with the legal fees, sale and purchase of property. This is a very attractive scheme for families planning to move at least three or four times in their lifetime.

If you’re a young entrepreneur using the internet (or even just your computer) to help you make money whilst still at school or college or university then, firstly, well done.

You’re one of the new entrepreneur elite leveraging the (relatively new) power of the micoprocessor and the global reach of the internet to sell and promote your wares.

Having been an entrepreneur myself since my teens and having made it my mission to soak up as much business know-how as possible, the following top ten is a list of things I would do again if I could go back in time to my university days; as each and every one would have helped to shape my business as it stands now.
So no matter how established your business you may find the following ten tips can help you to improve your business practices, stretch your financing reach and increase your net worth!

Tip 1 - Reality Check

The first tip for a successful business is to stop and take stock of how far you’ve come so far.

It doesn’t matter if you’re just doing a little web design on the side or even serving up a few web pages of your own to concentrate on arbitrage, the first step to releasing your full potential is to check where you are, appreciate how far you’ve come and then to plan the route ahead.

When I was at Uni I was all over the place, doing a little web design here and there but not really cncentrating on any one thing.

To make your plan bulletproof you need to research your choosen business field to see what other opportunities are open for you. Ask yourself these questions:

• Who is your target audience?
• Is there a niche you can grow into?
• If you dedicated an extra two hours to your business each day what else could you acheive?
• What ideas have you put on the backburner that now need to be actioned?
• If you had a member of staff (!) what else could you acheive?

Some of the questions, particularly the last one, might frighten you, but in order to grow your successful business you need to always be aware of what you’ve done in the past, what has worked and what the next step will be.
Tip 2 - Money for Nothing

You may not be familiar with the Dire Straits song Money for Nothing (fear not, Im sure it’ll be remixed soon with a deep, thumping beat) but a student loan offers you just that; free money.

It’s not completely free, of course, but you can play the system to earn yourself literally hundreds of pounds over the course of your education.

Student Loans come with an extremely low interest rate; usually the cost of inflation. Have a look at your highstreet banks or search the web and you’ll find several local/online banks offering saving accounts with rates 2 - 3 times the national rate of inflation.

All you need to do as a young businessman is borrow the money in the form of a Low Rate Student Loan and then invest it into a high rate Saving Account; or better still, a tax free ISA.

The discipline to this ingenious scheme is that your leave the money to accumlate in the saving account and do not spend it; not even a penny of it. The second caveat is that you pay the Student Loan back as soon as you leave education, keeping all the interest earned for yourself.

Tip 3 - Multiple Bank Accounts

I’ve had friends who fought with their girlfriends over money, constantly! For me money has never been an issue. I don’t mean Ive never been skint or in desperate need of a few extra pounds! I mean money management has never been an issue. My secret is that I’ve always had multiple bank accounts. As a young entrepreneur, multiple bank accounts are your friend!

By using multiple bank accounts you can keep your bills and your spends seperate. Using multiple accounts you can easily see at a snapshot what money is disposable, what is reserved for bills and taxes and what is invested for your future (read saving accounts). Read more about manageing multiple accounts here.

Tip 4 - Use Student Credit Cards Wisely

When I was a student I had only one student credit card and I hammered it regularly! Big mistake.

As a young entrepreneur you need to realise that the money you spend on a credit card is not your own and that delaying repayment (or worse still failing to repay) can land you in hot water.

Student Cards can, however, be used to help you grow your business. If you need a short term loan then a student credit card is ideal. Most credit cards give you between 30 and 50 days worth of free credit before they require repayment. This means that if you need to buy some more stock, some incredibly priced advertising and extra server space, you can place it on a credit card and have 30+ days to make the money and repay the debt interest free. Only if you don’t make a repayment in full will interest start to accrue on your debt.

This trick, which can also be applied to non student credit cards, allows you to borrow money for short periods of time, for free. Thank you Mr. Credit Card!

Tip 5 - Managing your debt

Debt, especially for a student businessman, is practically a fact of life, but managing that debt can set you apart from the rest.

The most important issue when trying to manage your debt is to know how much you owe, what interest rate you are paying and to know that you wont be adding to that debt with any irrational purchases!

The key to managing your debt is to consolidate your debt into a single amount with a single (low) interest rate. For example:

If you have three Student Credit Cards but have not headed my advice about using them as short term interest free loans, then you could find yourself with debts such as:

Card A: £500 @ 18%

Card B: £700 @ 14%

Card C: £150 @ 19%

A quick solution is to transfer your debt from Cards A & C to Card B. Card B, despite having the most debt currently on it, has the lowest interest rate meaning that you will pay less in repayments.

Next, think about getting a Student Loan, not necessarily from the Gorvernment (with their low, inflation based interest rate) but from a High Street Bank. You’ll be able to get a much lower interest rate and, if managed properly, will see the loan repayment leave your bank account before anything else; meaning that you wont accidentally spend it!

Tip 6 - Using your position

As a student you already get discounted CD’s, DVD’s and movie tickets but you’d be surprised what else your student discount will get you!

One of the best Money Saving Tips I have discovered is the haggle the price of a product or service down. For me, this isn’t always easy as the vendor is often thinking “Why should I give you a discount?” But if you are a student you’ve got the perfect excuse as to why you need that extra few percent shaved off the price of the new stock you need. So be pushy and show them your NUS card!

Tip 7 - Free Business Seminars

As an attending student of a college or university you’ll know how easy it is to cut class! As a lecturer this means that your class size is fluctuating to such a degree that so long as you have an audience, you’ll preach your topic.

If you are running a business but have only basic business acumen then you can take advantage of this system by turning up for the business lectures and recieving a little free schooling!

Most faculties have a timetable of when their lectures will be and on what topics. Simply find your Business Faculty and locate a timetable. Make a note of all the lectures on which you could benefit. They might include:

• Book Keeping
• Profit and Loss Systems
• Business Ethics
• Business Principles
• Employees Rights

and if you’re trading internationally on the internet might also include

• International Business Strategy
• Taxation Systems
• Importing and Exporting Duty

Soak up all of this advice for free whilst you can. Once you leave education, you’ll pay a pretty penny for it.
Tip 8 - Using your resources

My Student Union was constantly a hive of activity. We had printing shops, internet access, coffee shops, a magazine publishing company, secretarial offices, butty bars, conference rooms and hundreds and hundreds of students!

As a young entrepreneur you need to know how to use your resources in order to reduce your business overheads. This involves making the most of your surroundings.

If, for example, you are a web designer, you’ll need to think about how to promote your services. Firstly, who is your target audience. If it’s small businesses then you need to think how you can attract them.

• Can you print flyers (using your student discount) and give them to employees on their lunch break at the local cafe?
• Can you have professional letter heads printed and contact the HR depatments (Universities tend to keep a list of these to help their graduates find work) of local businesses promoting your services?
• Can you offer your services to fellow students in other departments? All it takes is an eye catching poster placed on the Faculty Noticeboards and you’ll soon find out.
• What about that first meeting? Do you want to hold it in your dorm (that answer is NO!)? Can you make use of a conference room attached to your student union?

How about if you’re a club night promoter?

• Can you use the onsite printing facilities to get your flyers created cheaply?
• Can you use the masses of bored students to hand out flyers on your behalf? Can you target them as a potential customer?
• Are their attractive girls from the Sports Faculty that could help you promote the night?
• Is the Student union itself available for hire so you can host the night?

Using the resources ‘in house’ will save you an incredible amount of money.

Tip 9 - Outsource to grow

One of the lessons you’ll soon learn is that as a small business you can’t do everything. If you are a lone entrepreneur making a living online then the thought of outsourcing may seem a little scary. But the fact is that very few one man bands can manage to grow a sustainable business over the long term.

Outsourcing repetetive or complicated tasks can leave you free to concentrate on the core of your business (making money or advertising to help you make money). The beauty of your current environment (and this goes back to Tip 8 - Using your resources) is that you wil be surrounded by people with talent who, because of their inexperience, will work for very little. As a college entrepreneur you need to make the most of this opportunity.

The English Faculty - You’re new copywriting team

The Math & Accounting Faculty - You’re new book keepers

The IT Faculty - You’re new SEO link builders, web page designers, researchers of new and upcoming trends

The Business Faculty - You’re new learning centre!

Tip 10 - Manage your wage

The final tip is the most important of all. In order for any business to grow it needs funds. Funds to get more stock, funds to hire more freelancers, funds to market your products and services to a wider audience.

Have completed Tip 1, you’ll have a good idea of what you can do to improve your business and, perhaps more importantly, whether you want to.

Some entrepreneurs will funnel all the profits earnt back into the business to help it grow; sometimes going without a wage whilst the business gets established.

Other entrepreneurs will use the entire business profit to fund their lifestyle, knowing that if business dries up, they’ve had a blast whilst they could and have no regrets.

Having analysed your business you’ll know which one of these two camps you most closely associate with. You now need to manage your wage accordingly.

If you are all about growing your business then you can’t take a huge wage. You can treat yourself every now and again but you can’t starve the business of funds so that you can live the high life; your business wont survive.
Similarly, if you’re living for today you shouldn’t keep vast sums of cash tied up in stock or advertising. Experiment with stock levels and advertising budgets so that you can bring in the same amount of work with decreased spending. This way, if your business folds, you wont be out of pocket.

One Final Tip

Money is important but it ain’t everything. You should use your time at college to grow friendships that will last a lifetime. Friends, Family and Health should always be put above making a (quick) buck.

Most people have one current account, one saving account and a slew of credit cards. When it comes time to balance the books and account for what you have spent in the course of a month and what you have left to spend for the next month most people find their accounts a mess and prefer to bury their heads in the sand! Stop! This saving method can help …

The answer to better budgetting and clearer accounts is simple; open up more saving accounts! If you balk at this idea and think that having just a few accounts is bad enough then consider the following list:

Advantages of having just one Current account and one Saving account

• Money comes into and goes out of the same account
• Only have a few cards for your wallet
• Only receive a few statements each month
• Know where you money is (or is suppossed to be!) at all times
• Don’t have to juggle money between accounts

Dis-Advantages of having just one Current account and one Saving account

• Money, allocated for different parts of your lifestlye, come into and go out of the same account. If you spend more on the shopping one month, you’ll have no easy way to track
• Your accounts show credits and debits left right and centre. Why did you withdraw money last Saturday and what did you spend it on?
• Keeping money in just two accounts can limit your interest earning capability; loosing you money over time

If you were to open several new saving accounts you’d be surprised how much easier it would to manage your money.

Each month, when your salary is paid into your current account, you can setup standing orders to immediately transfer this large sum of money into several accounts. Each saving account would have a different purpose and thanks to the wealth of saving accounts available, you could benefit from different interest rate.

One saving account can be used for short term savings.

Look for a saving account with immediate access to your cash such as the Cahoot Saving Account

One saving account can be used for long term savings.

Look for a saving account with high interest and a notice period on withdrawls. This will prevent you from dipping into your growing pot of cash whenenve you feel like it! Try the Alliance and Leicester Saving Account.

One saving account can be used for regular monthly purchases; such as food shopping, petrol money etc.

By paying slightly more then you think you’ll need into this account not only will you be able to easily track any overspending, but, more importantly, if you get your spending under control, you’ll soon start to see the pennies left over each month turn into pounds. before long you’ll be able to move additional savings from this account into your short term saving accounts. Look at saving accounts with good, immediate access to your money - perhaps via a card. Try the HSBC Saving Account.

With your money now allocated into different pots, the remaining money in your current account is your spends for the month.

this is an easy budgetting method which will give your surprisingly quick results and help you save money.