Newcastle Building Society's equity release service says one in ten customers who signed up to 'lifetime mortgages' at the end of February was seeking short-term cash to boost retirement income.
Head of equity release services at the Newcastle, John Digman, says: 'Income from traditional retirement vehicles such as pensions, investments and interest on savings is [...]
Yet few will use these escape routes because insurance companies which sold the bonds fail to draw this option to customers' attention.
Those trapped include savers with million of pounds in 'zombie' bonds - those run by insurers such as NPI which no longer take new investments.
Many of these zombie bonds have not [...]
The Federal Housing Administration has been helping Americans own their own homes since 1934. In 1934, all Americans were struggling financially due to the Great Depression. Most Americans were renting their homes (if they had a home to live in). Today American’s find themselves in situations similar to our Grandparents and Great Grandparents. Owning or [...]
The move down to AA+, from the AAA rating awarded to most Western economies including Britain, will force Irish businesses to pay more to borrow on the international markets and could drive away investors.
The ratings agency Standard & Poor's is particularly concerned by the appalling state of the Irish banking system. At least two [...]
The move comes on top of an inflation-busting 5.2% increase in the rate, which will cost companies another £1bn. In some cases, the combined effect will see annual bills more than treble for retailers and small firms which are already suffering from a slump in consumer demand, credit [...]
Dentists are noticing a rise in cancelled appointments in 2009, says The British Dental Association.
According to a new survey, more than 40% of us say we will put off going to the dentist this year because we are worried about the cost. This is up from one in five [...]
Britons paid off £245m in February, the first net reduction in the total owed since 1993.
By contrast, borrowers took on an extra £2.1bn of credit card and overdraft loans in February last year.
That still leaves total consumer debt at £1.45 trillion, including mortgages, the Bank of England figures showed.
Households are battening down the hatches [...]
Obsessed with taking risks, determined to win at any cost and fuelled by testosterone, it is men - from 'respectable' bankers such as Sir Fred Goodwin to out-and-out fraudsters such as Bernie Madoff - who have landed us in this mess.
At least that is the argument increasingly put forward by many women - [...]
The debt-laden firm went into administration this year and last week US private equity firm KPS Capital Partners took over.
There are fears that many of the 1,900 workers in the UK could lose their jobs, with manufacturing switched to Indonesia to save costs.
It is a sorry plight for the master potter, but despite the [...]
The organisation's report comes as Bank of England figures showed mortgage approvals for homebuyers also rising by a fifth.
But Hometrack warned the gains could be snuffed out by the effect of rising unemployment, poor availability of mortgages and weak economic growth.
Hometrack said property prices dropped 0.6% in January, the lowest monthly fall since May. [...]
© 2008 Daily Financial News