Johnny Debt

Are you having problems living up to the cost of daily life following your retirement? In today’s age of economic crisis and increasing prices of commodities, chances of most retirees answering this question with a yes is quite high. However, what tends to come up as the sad truth is the fact that people going through financial crisis hardly tends to worry about the crisis, until it hits their economic condition hard. Retirees who have just entered the phase or who are about to enter the phase must consider taking up a wise move to fight the financial odds with élan.

In such situations, the best road that you can take for dealing a stress free retired life is to opt for the financially benefiting scheme of equity release. After all, it allows you to cash in some extra income by investing in your property alongside the benefit of living in your own house. Releasing equity against your property is considered to be one of the most beneficial cash-saving options that seem to offer great benefits for asset rich, but cash poor individuals.

Why Go with Equity Release?

This particular plan that is often stated to be a financially rich plan allows the retiree to bring out some cash by either selling the property at a certain amount or by borrowing a certain amount against the property. Well, the benefit lies in the fact that you get to stay in your house for a lifetime or until you move against the plan of both selling the property for cash and borrowing some cash against the property. However, what you must remember is to understand the financial plan properly, prior to going ahead with the same for the simple reason that investment and finances always need to be dealt with care.

So, What Can Help you Go Ahead with the Plan with Confidence?
Well, the answer tends to lie with an equity release calculator, which extends a helping hand in understanding the plan better. The application offered by various equity release providers is extensively used by individuals opting for the scheme to estimate the equity amount that might be released against the value of the house. Estimating the amount with the online tool allows individuals to know the equity amount and determining the benefits of going with the plan. In general, the online tool acts as a guide for the retirees willing to cash in some monetary benefits against the property value.

How to calculate the Amount?

Well, it’s simple; just answer some basic questions and the online tool will calculate the amount for you. Questions usually include –

• Your name
• Your Age
• The Approximate value of the property

Some providers offering an advanced calculator might include some additional question for a better estimation. However, the answer that you receive is entirely subject to the information provided by you. Furthermore, you must also remember that the equity release calculator is not designed to offer accurate results and provides just the estimation and can vary in compliance to market rates.

Financing a business with no money is not an easy task; however this challenge can be achieved with creativity and intelligence. The owners usually have to pay high interest rates for the funds that have been borrowed, along with an appreciable per cent of ownership in their business when they seek for financial support without any investment from their side. Have a look at the below mentioned ways through which this can be achieved:

Bank loans:

There are many financial institutions that offer loans for business start-ups; you just need to provide the plan of your venture with the required documents and collateral. This process can be simple but the loan repayment period and the interest rates are relatively high. It is advised that you could secure a payday loan instead of a traditional loan, as it offers many benefits when compared to others; such as short loan repayment period, which needs no collateral, no credit check with instant approval and also improves your credit history.

Angel investors:

These Angel investors (AI) have been funding many large scale businesses today; including Google, yahoo and so on. The AI are group of people or individuals  who assure you with their own money investment in the start-up companies and also the existing ones with that are still in the early stages of growth. They are filling the financing gap in an accelerated mode that secures them a certain per cent of ownership in the business. Although they are motivated by their returns they usually expect 20 to 30 per cent Return on Investment (ROI).

Friends and family:

They are the first people that usually come to mind when you are in need of financial support. As friends and family are responsible for their continuous support that makes you incline towards them. This way of borrowing money will also give you a good support that your friends are with you in your start up business. The amount can also be negotiated and repaid as per your convenience. However when reputation comes into consideration this method should to be avoided.

Venture capital:

It is a financial capital that is provided to early stage companies that possess high potential and high risk in their business growth. They make money by owning equity in the company they invest in, that is a typical seed funding procedure. They are suitable for the companies that have limited operating history and are too small to raise capital in the markets including the angel investing and other seed funding choices. They usually differ in their approaches depending on the requirement.

Grants:

The government usually provides grants for the companies that possess good technology and those that are dynamic in their approach. These grants get sanctioned, resulting in the required money that is needed to start-up the venture without any financial hurdles; however the approval for the grant is a lengthy process that can be opted for the companies which don’t need fast setup.

Group funding:

Through this you can ask a few people to join in with you on your venture; they act as your business partners and also financial sponsors that provide you with the amount needed in setting up the business. They are eligible in getting more profit as per their investment.

My name is Alicia. I am a tech writer from Manchester UK. I am into Finance. Catch me @financeport

Are you thinking of building a stable portfolio across various asset classes? The asset classes could be financial asset classes such as stocks and bonds and non-financial or tangible asset classes such as real estate or gold.
The following tips would help you to start building a solid portfolio over a period of time:

1. Start early

Do you remember the famous saying “The early bird catches the worm”. The same is truer when you start constructing an investment portfolio.

If you invest $100 in a bank deposit carrying 7% interest per annum, at the end of 5th, 10th, 15th and 20th year, this amount would respectively grow to $140, $197, $276 and $387. Notice that during the first 5 years, your investment would grow only by $40 while during the last 5 years the investment would have grown by $111. Thus you have to work much less during later part of your career if you have started early.

2. Invest regularly

Even if you don’t have a lump sum readily available for investment, you can use even your limited surplus to invest on a regular basis. Investment strategies such as Dollar Cost of Averaging and Value Cost Averaging can bring down the average cost of investment.
These strategies have known to harness the power of compounding to deliver superior results over a period of time.

3. Spread your investments

Again remember the famous adage: “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket”.
In investment parlance, it is popularly called asset allocation. If you invest all your money in one asset class say real estate or stocks, sudden fall in that particular asset class might wipe out your hard-earned savings in a jiffy. Hence by judiciously spreading your investments across various asset classes in appropriate proportion based on your risk profile, you can comfortably enjoy your journey towards building a solid investment portfolio.

4. Have realistic expectations

Building an investment portfolio is a lifelong process. During this process, you might realize that events beyond your control such as inflation, changes in interest rates or stock markets would affect your accumulated investment.

Hence if you want to build a stable investment portfolio, your return expectations from various asset classes should be realistic. For instance, during the recent past, Gold has provided extraordinary return. You should not base your future investment decision keeping only this sudden aberration in the price movement.

5. Rebalance your investments

When you spread your investments across various asset classes, it would be common to see some of the asset classes such as real estate or equity investments would have provided super-normal return during a particular year(s). Hence you should ideally review your investment portfolio at least once a year and rebalance the portfolio by shifting money from high-return asset class to the lower-return asset class.
This would automatically help you maintain your asset allocation consistently year after year.

By adopting the above simple techniques, you can easily start building a robust portfolio that can help achieve your future goals.

Allan has been blogging about investment for the last 3 years and reviewed numerous financial products at Ubank. Allan holds a BA in Business Administration with a speciality in banking and finance.

Free software that could help your business

For those of you who run small businesses, saving money on overheads is priceless. Every discount you can get is important, but at the same time, you won’t want to compromise on quality. This is where using free software could come in. It might seem strange, but if you want to save on fees for accountants, designers and the like, this could be the answer. Some free programs offer exactly the same services as their full-price rivals; here are some examples:

Continue reading “Free software that could help your business” »

Since the economy took a downturn, it’s probably even more important to you to watch every penny. And if you’re finding your way out of debt, you have probably even taken cost-cutting measures and eliminated some of the frills from your budget. But before you cut any more major purchases, take a look at these helpful ways to save — and make — money to balance your budget.

Continue reading “The Little Things Add Up To A Lot” »

Where to Get Good Free Debt Advice and Remain Anonymous?

It takes a lot of courage to seek out debt advice.

There are many places where you can seek advice about your debts, from charities to professional advisor’s. My advice would be to seek advice from as many different places as you can. Continue reading “Debt Questions? Confidential Free Debt Advice” »

So you find out that your debt has been sold onto another company!

Credit Services Association say on their site:

“My debt was purchased; can I know how much it was purchased for?

No, this is commercially sensitive information so members are not obliged to divulge this. It is not the case that a debt purchased for less than the outstanding amount reduces, the full amount is still legally outstanding therefore knowing the purchase price does not make a difference.”

You bet this is commercially sensitive information!! Do you think they really want you to know how much they paid for your debt?

Link Financial Debt Collection Agency (DCA), say the following on their website:

“Through our debt purchase offering we unlock value in non-performing loans for our clients. Since 1998 Link has acquired more than 1,000 NPL portfolios across Europe alongside its financial partners for a total purchase consideration of close to €1 billion.

Our expertise and transparency means that we are trusted both by investors and clients  in a part of the market that is difficult to access and where there is a premium on compliance.”

I wonder how many non-performing loans there are to one portfolio?

Will transparency go as far as telling the individual how much their debt was purchased for?

My understanding of when a portfolio is purchased the portfolio is made up of different debts. The purchaser will be well aware of what risks are contained within a portfolio. They will know in advance of purchasing the portfolio what percentage are: payers, non-payers, missing, home owners, etc. etc.

So from that information, they will have a very good idea of what the true value of a portfolio is – or what profit they are likely to make from it!

1stLocate Debt Purchase:

“We are actively looking to purchase consumer or commercial debt portfolios across Europe (particularly UK, France and Germany). We will only consider portfolio with comprehensive supporting/original documentation in our preferred sectors.

We will purchase written off ‘goneaway’, trace or skip accounts complete with supporting account/debt information. Our expertise in this sector enables us to purchase accounts that other organisations decline. One of the largest costs to any lender are losses associated with accounts that have ‘disappeared’. Our expertise in accurately tracing goneaway accounts is second to none and we are often able to trace the debtor and restore relations with the customer resulting in the resumption of repayments.”

Intrum Justitia (DCA)

“Why Sell?
The collections side of financial administration is an area which is heavily labour intensive.  IT investment to aid collection is often difficult because there is almost always a range of other key projects which are prioritised where returns are seen to be greater.
By outsourcing this area of your business, you will be able to:

• Access a unique product mechanism to maximise cash flow without outsourcing or re-assigning accounts – and deliver an immediate injection of cash to your bottom line;
• reallocate staff to more creative areas of your business and maintain your headcount;
• release valuable IT resources in terms of people, hardware and software;
• reduce or remove the administrative costs of having a collections team;
• return to your core competencies rather than having to expend time and skills on in-house debt collection whilst maintaining control throughout the sale process.

Debt sale should be thought of as part of an overall debt collection strategy – one tool that can be used when appropriate in a balanced approach to receivables management.”

So how much is you debt worth?

1st Credit (DCA)

“The sale of overdue debt has long been a part of the credit and debt management process in the US. In the UK, debt purchase is a relatively young market that has grown rapidly.

1^st Credit has played a major role in the growth of this market in the UK. Since 2002, we have spent more than £300 million buying portfolios with a face value in excess of £3 billion. We purchase various types of consumer debt from a range of lenders, including banks, credit card companies, telecoms, retailers and utility companies.

Why sell debt?


Selling consumer debt to 1st Credit provides clients with:

• immediate returns on overdue debt
• certainty of financial planning

• reduced operating costs from administration and collection of debt

• the ability to focus on core business and free up the workforce
• a reduction in cost of capital as loan resources are no longer required

• direct bottomline benefit for written off debt”

So back to the question How Much is My Debt Worth?

Looking at the figures above:

£3,000,000,000 (3 Billion) Face Value

£300,000,000 (300 Million) Purchase Price

They paid approximately £0.10 in the Pound for the debt.

Of course when it comes to collecting, they will be looking to collect 100% of the debt, and maybe even add interest?

We separate the wheat from the chaff to unearth the best freebie treasure troves around.

Britain’s ‘freeconomy’ is thriving, according to new research from Halifax Home Insurance.

The study shows that Britons now save some £51 billion a year with freebies, discount codes and special offers. And with belts tightening all over the country, 42% of us now rely on bagging bargains to keep financially afloat.

There are now dozens of freebie websites out there, all promising to unearth the ultimate deals. READ MORE

You really can claim back thousands of pounds in unfair Payment Protection Insurance (PPI).

The other day when I was listening to the news I heard that Lloyds TSB had set aside £33 billion in order to repay mis-sold Payment Protection Insurance.

If you have a credit card or loan, it is certainly worth having it checked out to see if you are entitled to clam a refund. Your credit rating is NOT affected by doing this!! If you do decide to do this, find a company that does not charge an upfront fee!!

Here is an example how JD LAW managed to claim back £16,112 for a client.

Click to enlarge

So what are you waiting for?? Get on and claim, you just may be entitled to a nice sum of money?

Cashback and voucher site Quidco has launched a new mobile phone application that allows you to get paid for simply walking into a shop and telling them you’re there…

There are very few people in this world who can make money by just turning up at a location and doing nothing.

A few Premier League footballers and almost all reality TV stars are the exceptions.

But now, users of a new phone application launched by cashback site Quidco can do the same. READ MORE