Creditor Harassment Protection


Feb 15

Appointeeship


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Corporate Appointeeship is the name given to the process of an accredited organisation becoming the designated Appointee to a person that is unable to manage their own finances. Corporate appointees are often local authorities in the UK and firms of solicitors or consumer advocate organisations that provide an appointeeship service when a suitable family member or friend is unavailable or lacking to take over the daily money management services and responsibilities of the person in need of an appointee.

Corporate Appointee’s need to be approved by the Department Of Work And Pensions in the UK as the appointee is responsible for receiving the benefit entitlement payments on behalf of the individual they are representing. In the UK Corporate Appointee services have been extended by the Money Carer service that has served to highlight the lack of financial protection that often leads to the financial abuse of vulnerable individuals unable to manage their finances in the UK.

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Feb 15

Appointeeship


Posted: under uncategorized.

Corporate Appointeeship is the name given to the process of an accredited organisation becoming the designated Appointee to a person that is unable to manage their own finances. Corporate appointees are often local authorities in the UK and firms of solicitors or consumer advocate organisations that provide an appointeeship service when a suitable family member or friend is unavailable or lacking to take over the daily money management services and responsibilities of the person in need of an appointee.

Corporate Appointee’s need to be approved by the Department Of Work And Pensions in the UK as the appointee is responsible for receiving the benefit entitlement payments on behalf of the individual they are representing. In the UK Corporate Appointee services have been extended by the Money Carer service that has served to highlight the lack of financial protection that often leads to the financial abuse of vulnerable individuals unable to manage their finances in the UK.

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Feb 15

Daily Money Management


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Daily money management is a term used to describe the growing profession of Daily Money Managers (DMM) in the United States. Daily money management, as the name suggests, relates to the provision of personal financial management for individuals that are incapable or unwilling to attend to this everyday task themselves. Many clients of daily money managers in the United States are older people or adults with sensory or physical learning disabilities although some daily money management services provide assistance specifically for ‘time poor’ individuals that hire a DMM to manage their finances on their behalf.

The American Association of Daily Money Managers (AADMM) is an organisation that has been started to self regulate daily money managers and to provide best practice guidelines also. In the United Kingdom, daily money management services have recently been spearheaded by the law firm Hutcheon Solicitors ( Money Carer.) In the UK research commissioned by the Actuary Profession has highlighted that need for better provision of asset and money management services given the fragmented manner in which daily money management services are provided informally via carers and family members of vulnerable adults. Formal money management provision includes corporate appointeeship and deputy services via local authorities and other organisations when a vulnerable adult has no suitable relatives or friends that can undertake daily money management tasks.

It is widely acknowledged that the current processes that represent the vast majority of daily money management arrangements for vulnerable adults are often less than secure and exposed to incidences of financial abuse. Indeed recent research commissioned by the charity Action On Elder Abuse highlights the extent of the problem in the UK

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Feb 10

Types Of Investing


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Stakeholder Pension - Benefit and need of investing for your retirementWhether it’s only a few years away or still over the horizon, your retirement needs careful planning. If you do not have your own pension you’ll have to rely solely on the State and your own savings to support you. To enjoy a comfortable retirement you will probably need a yearly income of at least 2/3rds of your salary at retirement. So if you leave it too late to review your pension arrangements, you may not be able to enjoy the retirement you want.

Stakeholder Pensions

A Stakeholder Pension is a personal pension.

On 6th April 2001, the Government introduced stakeholder pensions to provide a low cost pension, designed to encourage more people to invest for their retirement.

With the real value of the State pension decreasing each year, when measured against the average rise in earnings, it’s unlikely that the State pension will provide you with enough income to enjoy the lifestyle you want in your retirement. The Government recognizes there is a problem and this is why the Stakeholder Pension has been introduced.

ISAs

ISA stands for Individual Savings Account. These were launched in April 1999 by the Government to encourage investment. The aim is to help the value of your money to grow over time and/or provide an income.

Different types of ISA

There are two types of ISA. You can have one maxi ISA or up to two mini ISAs of different components each tax year. A tax year runs from 6th April one year to 5th April the following year.

The table below sets out the maximum current amounts (until April 2008) you can pay into ISAs each tax year.

Component Mini ISA Maxi ISA
Cash Up to £3,000 Up to £3,000
Stocks and shares Up to £4,000 Up to £7,000
Overall limit £7,000 £7,000

Note: You can only invest a maximum of £7,000 in ISAs each tax year.

You can’t take out a mini ISA and a maxi ISA in the same tax year. If you do this, you will only get the tax advantages on the first ISA you take out in that tax year and the second will have to be closed.

Difference between investing and saving

While both investing and saving aim to improve your financial well being, investing is more about aiming to accumulate money over the long term, to provide you with some future financial security. Saving, on the other hand, generally means putting money aside for the shorter term, which could be to help pay for a holiday, a special occasion, a child’s education and so on.

In a savings account your money is secure, generally accessible and gives greater certainty about growth. But in exchange for this security, you will normally only receive a modest return which reflects the current rates of interest available which may seem quite low.

Investing, on the other hand, has the potential to bring bigger rewards over the longer term as many investments are linked to the movement of the stock market, which can provide a much greater return than you could expect from a bank or building society savings account. However, because the value of stocks and shares will go down as well as up, it also carries a greater risk and you may not get the returns you expect. Unlike a bank or building society savings account your capital is not secure and you may get back less money than you originally invested. (See Risks of investing below).

Different ways to invest

You can either invest as an individual, buying shares, bonds and property or you can invest in a pooled investment, which is the easiest option for most people. A pooled investment is where your money is pooled with that of other investors in order to buy a large portfolio of assets, which is then professionally managed, an example of which is a stocks and shares ISA. Pooled investments have the advantage of enabling you to spread risk, although the value of investments can go down as well as up and you may get back less than you invested.
Investing for income and investing for growth

Some people, for example those who are thinking of retirement or who are no longer earning a regular salary, choose to invest their capital to get a regular income. Others invest in order to accumulate a lump sum that they can then use to cover major expenditure in the future, such as their children’s education, family weddings or a holiday home to escape to.

Shares and bonds

When you buy shares on a stock market, also known as equities, you are buying a stake in a publicly listed company. When a company offers its shares for sale to the public they effectively ‘float’ on the stock market. Generally, when the value of a company rises, your shares in the company are worth more and if it falls so does the price of your shares. Past performance is not a guide to future performance.

Governments or companies issue bonds in order to raise money. When you buy them you get a guaranteed rate of interest over a fixed period, plus the price per bond, which is agreed at outset, at the end of the term. While they are generally regarded as lower risk investments than equities, the level of risk obviously depends on the market conditions and the stability and economic performance of the bond issuer. Bonds are often traded on the market, as investors look for the best available rates of interest for their money. The downside is that you may get back less than you invested.

The stock market and the FTSE 100 Index

The term ’stock market’ refers to the marketplace where investments generally are bought and sold. An index is a smaller selection of companies that you can look at to get an idea about the market’s movements. The best known of these in the UK, the FTSE 100 Index, is made up of the 100 largest companies on the London Stock Exchange.

Investing a lump sum or regular payments

It depends what you are able or prefer to do. If you invest a lump sum, you get immediate benefit from the large amount if the market rises - and immediate losses if it falls.

A regular payment plan, on the other hand, enables you to build up your investment portfolio gradually, while keeping your payments at a level you are happy with. It also has the effect of helping to even out the daily ups and downs of the value of your investment.

Benefits of investing

If you can afford to put your money aside for longer periods, say five years or more, investing offers greater potential for your money to grow. Most investments are stock market based and over the long term have the potential to earn more than a bank or building society savings account. Savings accounts offer security of capital, are generally more accessible and give greater certainty of growth. But historically, they have not achieved the same level of growth as investing in the stock market, although past performance is not a guide to future performance.

Length of Investment

Of course you can invest your money for as long as you want, but there are a few points you need to bear in mind. Short-term investment in the hope of making big gains quickly is risky. You should be thinking in terms of an investment period of at least five years. And the longer you leave your investment, the more likely you are to see a return, but the downside is that you may get back less than you invested.

Risks of Investing

When you invest in shares, you accept a risk to your capital in exchange for potentially higher returns - and what is acceptable to one person may be sheer recklessness to another. But if you prefer not to take risks with your hard-earned savings, there are a number of ways you can reduce that risk.

For example, the more companies you invest in, the more you spread the risk. If you were to invest equally in shares in four companies and one of them did particularly badly, that would adversely affect 25% of your money. If, on the other hand, you had invested in a fund that covered 100 companies equally, the poor performer would only affect 1% of your investment. Conversely, investing in a smaller number of companies means you benefit more when they do well and if you invest in a large number of companies you don’t benefit as much.

Likewise, by limiting your investment to a single industry sector, say telecommunications, or geographical region, say the Far East, your returns will grow quickly when those areas are booming, but will also feel the negative effects of any economic downturn more quickly. Variations in exchange rates will also have an impact on the returns on your investment.

You can also place some of your money in funds that invest in cash, corporate bonds and property to add balance to your portfolio.

Sensible investing is all about setting the amount of risk you are prepared to accept.

Choosing the right investment for you

This depends on a number of factors, including your attitude to risk, how much access to your money you want to have, the length of time you want to invest over and so on.

Deciding which products are right for you

Your choice depends on what you want to achieve. For example, if you’re aiming for your money to grow over time, you might choose to invest in a UK FTSE 100 Index Tracking Fund, which aims to match the performance of the FTSE 100 Index as closely as it can, subject to changes. But of course the value of this type of investment can, like the FTSE 100 Index, go down as well as up and you may get back less than you invested.

If you are looking for retirement income, you could opt for a Stakeholder Pension and build up a portfolio by selecting funds that cover companies in different countries and industry sectors; or by balancing different types of investment such as shares, gilts and fixed interest.

Please note: If you would like advice you should see an independent financial adviser, who may charge for any advice.

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Feb 07

Money Management Explained.


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We All Need Money Management Help From Time to Time….
Having a positive approach to your daily money management needs will enable you to better appreciate where you are financially and will help put you in a clearer position to achieve your financial goals in the short, medium and long term. Why is it then that so many people seem to live their lives in a financial muddle?

Managing your finances is rocket science!
The financial world that we live in is now very different to that of our parents and grand-parents. We have much less time in which to focus on the important task of daily money management and the number of financial and credit products that we have in our lives has more than trebled over the last 30 - 40 years. So, even though most people understand that they should pay more attention to their financial concerns the prospect of allocating the time needed to deal with credit cards, mortgages, mobile phones, insurance premiums and car payments etc can be an intimidating task.

Hence, for many people, after fighting the traffic to and from work, working hard all day, sometimes bringing work home too and juggling our career aspirations alongside our family and relationship commitments, there are not always enough hours in the day. Not surprisingly, a common casualty of our busy lifestyles is efficient money management.

Helping People Breathe More Easily
Helping busy people with everyday money management is why this website has been developed. As a free money management information centre, www.moneymanagement.org.uk helps people to get more out of life by translating the whole money management world and its terminology.

The range of money management products, services and information available via this website enable people to manage their financial lives by combining traditional ‘hands on’ money management help with more complicated money investment and management techniques.

Saving You Money
Efficient money management is more than simply paying your bills on time. That is why a key aspect successful money management plans is to regularly review and implement ways in which you can get better deals from providers and suppliers of household services. Here, you can examine the various money saving experts and service providers to ensure that you are getting the most suitable mortgage products, utility bills, credit cards, personal loans and other financial products that form part of a successful money management plan.

We hope that this free service is helpful to you and that you save money and create more personal wealth for yourself and your family in the future.

 

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