Savings

When saving seems like a slog, cheer yourself up with a few thoughts on just how much you’re benefitting from your journey to financial freedom.

I’m very pleased to introduce this guest post by Pete Comley, author of the hit free eBook, Monkey with a Pin. (Now also available as an iTunes podcast). Take it away Pete! “Over periods of five years, the returns from shares have historically beaten cash around 80% of the time. Over 10 years, this rises [...]

Index-linked National Savings certificates are to return in 2011-2012, the government has confirmed in the small print of its budget. Get on the waiting list!

Warren Buffett’s grandfather had more common sense about cash than many investment bankers of today. Here’s some great wisdom he passed down the family.

Inflation linked savings bonds look set to become more common than ex-North African dictators house-hunting in London. But not all are created equally.

National savings certificates offered attractive vehicles for our savings, but there are various alternative homes for your money.

With the common shares tempting value investors yet others fearing a second banking crash, these high-yielding 5-year bonds look a good compromise.

Jeremy Clarkson is right: Pensions don’t attract ‘hot chicks at nightclubs’. But just wait til they see the size of my ISA…

Being a ‘rate tart’ and moving your money to follow the best interest rates may sound nerdy, but it substantially boosts returns.

ISA allowances are to increase with inflation from 2010, says UK Chancellor Alistair Darling. Not before time.

Your emergency fund should be in easily accessible cash. Also, under no circumstances is a half-price trip to the Maldives an emergency.

I have now seen a third debt go ‘bad’ at Zopa, the peer-to-peer lender. This time it was in the A market, which is supposedly pretty safe.

First-time buyers under 35 who are saving a cash deposit for a house might want to haul over to Abbey’s website, pronto. The bank has a new product called the Abbey 5% ‘Home Saver’ Account that at a glance looks ideal for any saver who qualifies. It certainly beats the UK government’s approach to helping [...]

A quick update on Zopa, the UK-based peer-to-peer lender that has been proving its worth for both lenders and borrowers during the credit crunch. As I wrote last month, interest rates had been rising for Zopa lenders, but the spike up in bad debt that I feared might have occurred due to the credit crunch [...]

Back in March 2008, I asked if rising interest rates at Zopa, the British peer-to-peer lender, were an opportunity for cash-rich savers or an accident waiting to happen: In the A*, 24-month market, I seem to be in the zone with an interest rate of 10.5%, which Zopa estimates will give me 9.5% after bad [...]