Apply For Loads of Credit Cards...NO !

Applying for too many credit cards could risk your credit rating

It doesn't need a degree in mathematics. There are over 70 million credit cards in circulation in the UK with less than 35 million adults qualified to have a UK credit card. So, as an average, we each have over 2 credit cards in our wallet or purse. So long as you can repay your credit card debt, you may well be thinking that there's no danger. But the truth is slightly more alarming: over 2 million Britons risk damaging their credit rating be repeating applying for credit cards.

Applying for too many credit cards could risk your credit rating Despite the fact that, as an average, we each have over 2 credit cards, a report recently published by moneysupermarket found that 10 million credit card application have actually been refused by UK credit card issuers. While there many be any number of reasons why the UK credit card issuers declines to issue you with a credit card, three out of every four of us who have had a credit application declined will immediately apply for another credit card. Of these, 27% of all applications will be refused the second time.

While you may take some comfort from the fact that quite a large majority of us who have had a credit card application declined will be successful with our second application, the fact remains that each time we make a credit card application in the UK a record of that application is kept by UK credit rating agencies and these continued attempts to apply for a credit card are recorded as part of our credit rating. As a result, if we then want to apply for a loan or home mortgage, we may well find that our loan application or home mortgage application is refused because we have a bad credit rating.

And the reason why we have a bad credit rating has nothing to do with our ability to repay our loans and debts, but has everything to do with the fact that we keep applying for credit cards that are then turned down by the UK credit card issuer.

So, if your credit rating is a concern to you, and it should be, you should make sure that you do not keep making repeated applications for UK credit cards. Indeed, another double-whammy found in the moneysupermarket.com report was that only 17% of all credit applications approved on a second or third application had the same APR as the initial credit card application.
So, not only are you running the risk of damaging your chances of obtaining cheap loans and home mortgages in the future, but your immediate prospects of obtaining a credit card with the same APR as you had originally hoped to get are very likely going to be hurt if you continue to make repeat UK credit card applications.

Make Money : Buy to Let

It's 10 years exactly since funds were released on completion of the UKs first buy to let mortgage. We thought we'd use the anniversary as an opportunity to take stock and look at what has been a phenomenal success story for many a contractor who had harboured ambitions of becoming a property tycoon.

Traditionally those exit plans revolved almost exclusively around the equity markets and it was relatively rare for a contractor to own property other than the roof over his or her own head. It had not always been so however and until the 1970's there had been a vibrant private landlord sector in this country, largely made up of ordinary middle income investors.

With these new mortgage products, novice rental investors could raise finance to fund multiple purchases. The deposits required and interest rates paid were now far lower and by avoiding commercial funding, investors also side-stepped many of the hefty arrangement fees that the banks had previously been able to charge.

The Millionaire Contractor

Those who were quick to realise the potential of this readily available source of cheap finance snapped up property before prices soared and these original clients have been joined by massed ranks who have continued to prosper as fresh opportunities have arisen. Often the initial deposit on the first purchase has been raised by releasing capital from the existing home at low cost via a remortgage. Over the years we have helped numerous contractor clients become millionaires, some from a very low starting level of wealth. The majority of these millionaire landlords have stopped contracting to concentrate solely on what has become a business in its own right. Others continue to contract but very much on their own terms.

The key to successful investing


The key to investing is invariably to buy at a discount, in an up and coming area and to add initial value if at all possible by modernising. Rental yields must be comfortably in excess of mortgage repayments to avoid eating into profits but as ever more competitive mortgage rates come onto the market it is relatively easy to ensure that you can keep ahead of the game in this respect.

Many investors also take advantage of fixed rate schemes to secure their repayments ahead of expected interest rate hikes and unlike residential property ownership, which has not enjoyed tax breaks since the demise of MIRAS in the 1980s, the taxman is uncharacteristically generous in allowing you to offset these interest payments against your income tax on rentals.



The future for the rental market

Demographics point to a profitable long-term future for the buy to let investor. Massive immigration from Eastern Europe, changing lifestyles and an ageing population have all been instrumental in ensuring that the expected slowdown in property price inflation has not happened. The Nationwide Building Society index of house prices is showing an annual rate of growth at 8.2% which equates to a rise of £13000 in the value of the average house over the past 12 months. The rise in prices is ,in itself, powering the rental market as first time buyers accept that they must rent for longer whilst saving for the deposit on their new home.

Its therefore highly probable that the next potential Millionaire investor is already hatching his or her plans for a profitable future in buy to let.

Charitable Giving will Save you Tax

Millions of us give money to charity each year, but many do so haphazardly. We might fork out a couple of quid for a copy of The Big Issue or fling a few coppers in a collecting tin, but as National Giving Week kicks off on Monday, charities are urging us to donate more regularly in ways that allow them to squeeze every penny from our pledges.

One of the easiest ways to make a donation stretch further is to tick the Gift Aid box every time you give money. The Gift Aid scheme allows charities to reclaim the basic-rate tax on the money that you donate. For every pound you give, charities can recoup an additional 28p. Even better, the charity undertakes to do all the paperwork to claim back money from the taxman.

But it is not only charities that can benefit from tax breaks. Higher-rate taxpayers can also claim tax relief on donations made to charity. Alternatively, they can indicate on their self-assessment forms that they would like the tax refund to go directly to charity as a Gift Aid payment.

But there are limits to the taxman's largesse. Revenue & Customs insists that those who claim Gift Aid or tax back have paid sufficient UK tax to cover the tax relief.

Workers can also boost donations by giving money through their pay packets. The payroll-giving scheme allows employers to deduct charitable donations from workers' pay before tax is deducted.

A gift of £100 costs a basic-rate taxpayer only £78 and a higher-rate taxpayer £60. Employees can decide which charity or charities to give to, as long as they are registered in the UK. The normal minimum donation is £1 a week. About 600,000 employees donate in this way via 7,800 company schemes.

Another easy way to boost charity coffers while minimising the impact on your wallet is to give shares. If you have a tiny holding of shares that would be uneconomical to sell, you can donate them to Share- Gift. This charity bundles them together with other people's unwanted shares and sells them on the stock market. Since its launch in 1996 ShareGift has given £10 million to 1,200 UK charities.

Shares held in certificated form can be posted to Share- Gift, 5 Lower Grosvenor Place, London SW1W 0EJ.

While many of us give money during our lifetime, charities rely most heavily on legacies left in wills. About 70 per cent of us plan to leave something to charity in our wills, according to recent research, but less than one in ten of those who died last year with a will actually did so. Despite this, charitable organisations received a total of £1.6 billion from legacy donations last year. Jonathan Parris, director of Remember A Charity, says: "Legacies are the largest single source of voluntary income to UK charities."

The main benefit of leaving a legacy is that you can donate money that you might not have access to in your lifetime when your wealth is tied up in property and possessions.

Medical charities traditionally benefit most from legacy donations, as people show their gratitude for life-saving treatment, care or support. Cancer Research UK uses its £130 million annual legacy income, the biggest in the UK, to fund half its research budget.

However, thousands of other smaller charities in the country rely just as heavily on charitable wills. A £100,000 legacy to a local Ramblers Association allowed the group to open a long-distance walking trail in Devon last March, in honour of its benefactor.

Giving money to charity in your will is another handy way to sidestep the taxman. If your total estate is worth more than £285,000, your estate will have to pay tax at 40 per cent on everything over this inheritance tax threshold, unless you leave the excess cash to charity, a political party or an institution such as a hospital or museum. Leave £295,000 to your children and they will have to pay £4,000 in tax on the £10,000 over the threshold. Donate the £10,000 to a charity and it gets to keep the whole amount.

If you decide to remember a charity in your will, the first thing to do is to check that the group you had in mind has charitable status and is registered in the UK. You can do this on the Charity Commission's website at www.charity-commission.gov.uk.

Legacies can also end up in the wrong hands if the name on your will is incorrect. If a generous benefactor leaves £5,000 to Cancer Research UK, the money may never reach the charity if he or she failed to include "UK" in the title. Instead, it will be assumed that the benefactor intended the money to be split between several charities specialising in cancer research.

Emergency Pay Day Loans

Everything You Need to Know About Payday Loans

If your considering a payday loan then read on before you sign on the dotted line?

This is your Payday Loans Quick Guide, Payday loans often called advance loans, check advance loans, or deferred deposit loans, pay day loans come with an unusually very high interest rate and are quite often very expensive. Payday loans should always only be your last resort if you need to borrow money in an emergency. But, if you need money to meet a short-term cash need, a payday loan may be just be what you need.

Payday Loans are often secured against a personal check to the lender for the amount (sometimes including the interest) that you want to borrow. You will get the amount of the secured check less the fee and then the fee is calculated on the total amount that is borrowed. If you then need to extend the Payday Loan for a longer period, you will need to be prepared to pay additional fees for each extension period.

Like all Lenders, the institutions that offer payday loans are required by law to disclose the full and potential costs that may be involved in the loan. You MUST pay extra close attention to the finance charges and the APR (annual percentage rate). Ensure sure you shop around to get various offers and then choose the best deal that suits your own needs, and if the interest rates are extortionately high, you should first negotiate and then try to only borrow the minimum amount you need and make every effort to repay it as quick as possible.

Houses - To Buy or Not to Buy

Its a big problem today in the UK where people are saddled with incredible debt and enveloped by the illusion of the investment lifeline they hold in their property.

Recent studies have shown the unaturally high mortgages held by many young home owners is set to cripple them long term. Convinced that the best route to go is own a home at any cost for the asset can only grow in value, could actually be wrong.

With house prices at record highs, many first time buyers can only afford teh fashionable 'interest-only-repayment' plan. Meaning after 30 years of struggle to pay an average £1200 per month + insurances and bills, there will still be 100% of the initial capital to be repayed.

This will be fine if prices continue to rise, such that there is enough equity to pay the final repayment and leave enough for a comfortable retirement. The reality though is different as many experts foresee a significant correction in the coming decade, a correction that could wipe as much as 50% off todays levels.

The advice is to begin to re-think, buying is cultural phenomenan linited to the UK, its is not necessary to take such risks. Better ans safer returns can be found in bonds and isa's. Its worth speaking to your financial advisor before saddling yourself with a lifetimes debt.

Britain expects Interest rate increases

NEWS ITEM:

INTEREST rates will be in the spotlight this week amid expectations that the Bank of England will soon be hiking them for the second time this year.

The European Central Bank is set to raise its key interest rate from 3% to 3.25% on Thursday.

Amid conflicting data, including a downward revision to second-quarter gross domestic product and figures showing a record fall in credit-card lending in August, most analysts expect the Bank's monetary policy committee (MPC) to leave Bank rate on hold at 4.75% this week and to hike next month.

But the "shadow" MPC, which meets under the auspices of the Institute of Economic Affairs, says there is no reason for the Bank to delay. The results of its meeting, released today, show a 6-3 vote in favour of an immediate rise.

The shadow MPC voted for a hike ahead of the Bank's August meeting, when Bank rate was raised from 4.5% to 4.75%. It had favoured unchanged rates for every meeting before that since August last year, when it anticipated the cut in rates that month.

The six shadow MPC members who voted for a rise at the latest meeting cite strong growth in the M4 money-supply measure, rising house prices, consumer strength, above-target inflation and rising equity markets.

The latest business trends survey from accountants BDO Stoy Hayward suggests inflation expectations have risen in both the manufacturing and service sectors, strengthening the case for a rate hike.

"A rate rise is increasingly likely," said Peter Hemington, a BDO Stoy Hayward partner. "The majority of economic indicators this month have pointed to a rise in November and the business trends report suggests that the economy could absorb this."