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Ray Prince's Articles in Finance

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1970s Crisis - Is it the Same This Time? Well, what a year it's been... High street banks in crisis, investment banks closing their doors, 'experts' pointing fingers, and SERIOUS questions asked of the Financial regulators. Yes, what WERE the regulators doing on both sides of the Atlantic? And to cap it all, a $50bn (expected) fraud uncovered in the US. Is there more to come, one wonders? Bank of England Base Rate Reduction - What About the Savers? There has been a lot of talk about the big winners when interest rates fall - i.e. borrowers. But what about people who rely on a reasonable amount of interest on their deposit accounts - the savers? Falling interest rates are a nightmare for savers, and with the Bank of England (BOE) dropping rates further, what options do you have if you are a saver? To SIPP Or Not To SIPP? - More Pension Options Explained We have been seeing a lot of enquiries from clients wanting to know if a Self Invested Personal Pension (SIPP) would be appropriate for them. Let's look at an example to illustrate this. Let's say you have several personal pensions, some separate share investments and an investment property. How can you use a SIPP to invest in the shares and the property? NHS Pension Changes April 2008 - What You Need To Know As you are probably aware, the New NHS Pension Scheme goes live from April 1st 2008. This scheme is automatic for new members from that date, and a major change here is that the normal retirement age is 65, not 60. However, the existing scheme also changes in some key areas for those of you who opt to stay as you are. With Profits Pension Funds - Beware If you have a "with profits" pension, or are being advised to invest in one - read on urgently. A survey by Money Management, an established personal finance magazine, has once again highlighted the sinking payouts to many investors from well known investment brands. National Savings - The Right Option For You? When we deal with new clients, we encounter Premium Bonds frequently, but it's not very often that we see the many other products offered by National Savings and Investments (NS&I). Some NS&I returns are currently looking quite attractive, and so it is worth perhaps looking at two such investments, Premium Bonds and Savings Certificates. Critical Illness Coverage - Insuring The Children When you buy a critical illness policy it's usually because you want to protect you or the family should the worst happen and you are diagnosed with a life threatening disease. But have you ever thought what the impact may be if one of your children was severely ill? Would it make a difference if you had extra funds to deal with the news? Well, if you have critical illness cover the good news is that you may be covered already. Your UK State Pension and Missing Contributions Is it possible to boost your UK State Pension? What steps can you take to increase your income in retirement? By paying Class 3 National Insurance contributions all this is possible... The UK Property Boom - Will It Continue in 2007? Whether we own property to live in, have it as an investment as a buy to let or as part of our portfolio in our ISAs or Pensions, the fortune of the property market is very important to our overall wealth. Critical Protection Issues - How To Get The Right Level of Personal Protection This is the second of a three part mini-series on protecting your family from the effects of death and illness. A morbid subject perhaps, but a crucial one that you shouldn't ignore. Bracing Yourself for Higher Education Costs - Are You Ready For The Challenge? Will your children be able to afford to go to University or onto Higher Education? With the costs increasing every year will the government be able to reach their goal of more students going to university? Let's look at the costs involved and the steps you can take to ensure you've saved enough for their futures. Is This The REIT Investment? - Real Estate Investment Trusts and Investing in UK Commercial Property If you're looking to invest in commercial property (shops, offices etc - not 'buy to let' residential) you currently have a couple of main options (apart from buying the whole property itself). Critical Personal Protection Issues - Quality of Insurance Cover For the next three articles we'll look at the issue of how to protect yourself and your family from the financial effects of death and illness. These consist of: • The importance of the quality of your protection policies • How to get the right level of protection • A look at the actual claims experience of companies Parent Landlords - A Good Option? Many clients we speak to have at some time posed the question - should we buy a property for our child(ren) going to University? It is a fair question as it seems a waste to pay rent when you can get something back. Also, as a caring parent you presumably would like your child to live somewhere decent and habitable.