What You’ll Need Before You Retire

We all look forward to that day when we can just smoke a cigarette or drink alcohol and not worry about our lives because our retirement fund is doing all the earning for us. However, retiring with only your pension, we will have lots of things to think about. It is important to ensure you got everything you need before you go into retirement. Most of it are the following.

1.    Insurance

Comprehensive insurance for seniors and retirees exist. They may cost a lot, but you should be able to pay them during your professional years. I am working right now and I researched a lot of senior insurance policies that can help me with any health problems (which I do not look forward to) in the future.

2.    Stock Investments

Investing during your younger years, you do not only gain great wealth once you exit the corporate or professional world, but you also gain enough knowledge to expand your horizons in investing. Your knowledge can potentially increase the amountof profit you can make upon your retirement.

3.    Properties

If you have invested in the stock markets, you could use your money to purchase properties that you could use to rent out to individuals, families, travellers and people who could not afford to buy a house. I am actually taking advantage of the UK’s extension of Help to Buy, although I know I will be facing some tough competition with both local and foreign private investors.

Life Plans, Pre-Need Plans, Health Insurance, Why You Need Them.

If you’re only a person looking to save enough money so you could spend for something in the future, own your own house and a car and provide for your children in the present, you’ll need to understand more about the financial products insurance companies and other financial institutions provide. Sure it is discouraging to hear news about insurance frauds, but investments always carry a risk. I actually think the stock market is more dangerous than insurance.

I’m about to reach my retirement at fifty years old. I’m working for a technology firm that I’ve helped build from the ground up. When I was 25, I thought of investing in the stock market, but then I realized I had very small capital. The company told me they used some of my money to pay for my family insurance. I had two kids coming up then, so they told me I should get pre-need plans for them.

Pre-need plans helped me finance the future education of my children. Educational plans included health plans and sometimes even allowances for the kids, which took a great load off the combined income my wife and I had.

We were paying around £7000 each for their pre-need plans when my wife and I were still young. Then my wife and I thought about retirement, so we allocated around £8000 monthly for our pension, each. So it made about £30,000 monthly, leaving my wife and I’s joint income around £150,000 yearly. A small amount, but then, we got to pay for the mortgage with that budget.

Sure the figures might look small, but if you know where your money is going, you won’t have to deal with the stock market and just live a good life right after your employment.

Common Stock Investment Terms for Beginners

If you’re just starting to invest your money in 2014, you’re probably in for the besttime of your life. However, you’ll need to know some basic knowledge regarding stock investing. It might seem that you are just buying and selling stock, but you also need to understand some basic terms used in the market.

1.    The Farm Terms

Animals are a very common term in the stock market. Bull markets appear when the country is doing well with the economy and it sets the ideal conditions for GDP growth, which makes it easier and less risky to pick stocks. A bear market is the complete opposite of the bull market because the economy is not doing well, there is high unemployment and a great recession.

2.    The Common Markets

The Capital Market comprises of long-term bonds, shares and stocks. This is essential for young investors simply because the volatility of the market will have minimal effect on the final value of their investments in the future. For short term investors, there is the Money Market, which deals in annual-yield bonds, treasury bills and certificates of deposits. The Money Market does well if the country’s economy does well.

3.    Beneficial Owner

A beneficial owner is someone who is the real owner of a stock or bond. Stocks or bonds may have three names including the name of the broker, bank and the investor. The investor is the beneficial owner

RBS Hits £2.9 Billion in Total PPI Redress

RBS recently added £250 million to its PPI redress package, bringing it to a total of £2.6 billion for PPI redresses. RBS is second only to Lloyds, who had now reached £8 billion following an addition of £750 million after its third quarter financial results announcement. RBS said that its recent provisions will provide repayments for a total of 10 months based on the monthly utilisation of the bills.

RBS also admitted that it could be possible their PPI redressing could still reach until halfway the following year. There are still uncertainties to the actual redress costs, complaint numbers and uphold rates.

In total, the UK PPI redress package has now reached £17 billion, with Lloyds taking almost half of the entire bill. Experts estimate that the entire UK PPI bill could reach £20 billion or more the following year as PPI claiming does not show any sign of slowdown.

PPI repays consumer loans and mortgages in case of sickness, accidents or unemployment. You could be owed £3000-3500 for an average PPI complaint. You might want to consider having help from claims management companies in claiming PPI from RBS, Lloyds and other financial companies in the United Kingdom.

PPI has become one of the most expensive financial scandals in the United Kingdom. However, consumer confidence will still remain at an all-time low should the UK move on from PPI as banks are involved in the Libor and Euribor scandals.

Franchising for 2014? Yes or No?

I’ve had some people ask me about the feasibility of franchising for an investment in the upcoming year. This 2013 had played its toll on the European economy. The Euro zone crisis took the most highlight with the property bubble bursting and the currency’s value dropping. Everyone has smaller capital to start with. So is franchising a feasible solution? 

1.    Franchiser’s Health

Many strong fastfood and restaurant chains still remain strong especially in the corporate areas of many countries. However, those that gain greater recognition from consumers are the ones that present something unique, and most of these are small businesses. Now small businesses are likely higher risk investments, but they’re innovative. If you haven’t taken a risk with your investment for quite a while, asking the small business for franchising could open up great opportunities.

2.    Franchise Fees

The only downside to franchising is that you will really have to pay higher franchise fees. Resources, establishment and training fees are rising because of competitiveness and a proprietor will need to scrounge up some high capital. As for returns, refer to number one.

3.    Attractiveness

Still, the kind of company you work with will be the basis of your business’ attractiveness to audiences. Targeting children with kid-themed fastfood could work when you are established in nearby schools or supermalls. However, stay away from standard franchises, such as McDonalds or KFC; they are not as attractive as they once were and more people are leaning to either extreme dishes (giant burgers or fries) or fusion and specialty dishes.

The Best Way to Find Investors For Your Business

Small businesses begin humbly with small backings and for further developments, business proprietors will need investors to help them reach the other length. Finding investors, especially in today’s economic stature, could be difficult, but here are a few ways to help you.

1.    Brokers

Contacting the services of entrepreneurs or people who have successfully raised money through fundraising and preparing business plans can help you greatly. Brokers also have a network of investors looking for new business to put their money in. They could give you good insight about investors. They can also point out which investors could benefit from your business.

2.    Profiling

Your broker could give you an idea about the investors you need, but you need to lay it down on paper. There are different kinds ofinvestors; some choose to be passive and allow you free rein on the business. Others will give you advice and want to have a say in terms of the hiring process, product or project implementation and other details. Each of them could give you an advantage in your business.

3.     Total Capital Needed

Nothing attracts an investor more than knowing how much capital do you need to increase your business. If you say a good enough figure and the returns you could provide to your investors, you have a better chance of gaining more investors. It is highly important that this number is final as investors will not take kindly to figure errors, especially in business.

Common Car Warranty Scams

Many car dealers, especially certified ones with good brands and rapport with customers, could give you a good deal off a car. However, some car dealers could easily scam their way into your pocket through seemingly-harmless warranties that you do not actually need or would not actually cover your vehicle. Here are a few common car warranty scams you should know.

1.    Extended Service

Only the original car manufacturers could issue extended warranties for vehicles. What car dealers are offering you are extended-service contracts, which have different provisions from warranties. So if you receive a notification that your warranty expired but you took an “extended warranty” from your car dealer, assume that it is only extended service.

2.    Misleading Sales Pitches

Your add-ons are usually the target of car dealers in having their scams make their way into your bank account. If you purchase an add-on, some car dealers would say they have separate warranties of their own. This is a good deal, but a bundled package of warranties with your vehicle is somewhat suspicious.

3.    Shoddy Repairs

A totalled car could run for a week with rather shoddy patch ups and some car dealers sell new or used vehicles in this manner with clever paint jobs. Automatically, car dealers will offer you warranties for these types of rip-offed vehicles. If you bought one such vehicle and you have a warranty that covers your vehicle once, you can be in big trouble. Beware of very low or “too good to be true” extended warranty or service rates.