That would make for very good news if only the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) hadn’t succeeded in making a loss of £24.3 billion shortfall in 2008. For 2009 RBS has announced losses for 2009 of just £3.6 billion after losing their struggle to recover billions of pounds of bad loans. Considering that city analysts had expected losses of around five billion, this is not a bad result for the bank whose Chief executive Stephen Hester said had "exceeded all the principal milestones" set for the first year of their turnaround plan.

Hester went on to add that t the group’s core business saw profits rise from £4.4 billion in 2008 to £8.3 billion last year, while bad debt increased to £13.9 billion from £7.7 billion in 2008. On an optimistic note, RBS announced positive signs of a peaking in the number of "toxic loans" being held by the bank, with the fourth quarter looking better for corporate clients.

Hester also revealed that in discussions with the Government about altering its lending commitments to "reflect the economic circumstances" over the next year, that they were very open to increasing its lending levels to

customers. However, strained economic environment still remained a factor that had caused many of the bank’s customers to reduce their borrowings.

As part of its bailout terms, the firm agreed to make an extra £25 billion available to customers in loans with £9 billion being allocated for mortgages and the remaining £16 billion for business lending.

Mr Hester summed up by saying that 2009 was "a year of substantial progress" for the bank.

On the controversial subject of bonuses, Hester requested that RBS should not be singled out and that the financial community as well as the UK public should recognise that that important staff would leave if pay was not competitive. Alistair Darling obviously agrees, because he has cleared the payment of £1.32 billion in bonuses to staff at the bank.

The announcement came just a few days after Stephen Hester opted not to take his £1.6 million bonus, with the CEO apparently still waiting to see if any of his colleagues at the bank will follow suit.

Also subject to change will be Northern Rock’s 100% savings deposit guarantee that is now to be lifted on the 24th May.

From that date, the UK government has decided that their deposits guarantee will no longer apply. The day has obviously been timed to specifically allow, savers exactly 12 weeks to decide what to do about any money that they have on deposit with the north east based building society, As was the case before the Rock began to crumble, savers who still have deposits worth up to £50,000 will be covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. However those holding larger amounts will no longer enjoy the government’s protection. .

The decision may have come as result of complaints by other banks and building societies that the 100% guarantee has given an unfair advantage to the bank, with an increasing large number of deposit holders happy to deposit large amounts there, despite lower interest rates due to the 100% protection.

Leaders of the leading British unions have described a “still fragile” the labour market , despite the fact that recently released figures showed that unemployment surprisingly fell by 7,000 in the quarter to November 2009 to just below 2.5 million. Correspondingly e the number of people claiming jobseeker’s allowance was also around 15,000 lower in December at 1.6 million. However, the union leaders claim, thousands of job losses have only been announced in recent weeks, raising fears that unemployment will start to climb in the flat period that typically occurs in the run-up to a general election.

The TUC said it will be looking for a number of key signs in today’s figures, including a fall of more than 30,000 in unemployment and a reduction in the number of “involuntary” temporary workers. According to the TUC, the number of people taking temporary or part-time jobs because they can’t find permanent work has risen considerably. .

Operating profits at British Gas soared by 58% last year to £595 million, compared with £379 million in 2008. Its parent company Centrica said the figures beat the previous high of £573 million in 2007.

British Gas announced earlier this month it was reducing its gas prices by seven percent.

The U.K.’s second- largest department-store retailer Debenhams Plc, who recently acquired the Denmark based Magasin du Nord retail chain, are considering acquiring similar companies in the future. A spokesman for Debenhams stated that the company would like to become less reliant on the difficult home market. According to the British Retail Consortium Retail sales in the UK rose at the slowest pace in 15 years last month with London-based Debenhams, who operate 142 stores in the UK, obviously feeling the pinch. Until January’s acquisition of the six-store chain for £12.3 million pounds Debenhams’s overseas presence had been restricted to 11 stores in neighboring Ireland and about 50 franchised outlets.

On the foreign exchanges, the pound continued to fall, reaching $1.5266, whilst reaching .1245 against the Euro.

U.K. stocks dropped after a report showed confidence among U.S. consumers fell in February to the lowest level since April 2009. In London, the FTSE 100 dropped 64.69 points to close on 5278.83.

Overall, the FTSE 100 has gained around five percent since early February. as U.K. companies continue to confound the experts and expectations grow that the strengthening global economic recovery will signal further economic growth.

Confidence among U.S. consumers fell more than anticipated in February to the lowest level since April 2009 as the outlook for jobs diminished, a report showed today.

Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke said there was a "nascent economic recovery" in a testimony before Congress.

US stocks jumped more than 1%, led by banks, as some had feared that the cost of borrowing would start rising soon.

Although the US economy is growing, some worries remain about its strength because unemployment remains high, meaning that the "Fed "has begun to gradually undo some of the emergency measures that they had implemented during the financial crisis.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 47 points to close on 10,321.03 while the NASDAQ Composite also recovered by 25 points to close on 2,234.22

Ben Bernanke is taking a very close look at the role of Wall Street firms in helping Greece to cover up the extent of their financial troubles, with Goldman Sachs apparently under closer scrutiny than most.

Bernanke hinted that both the Fed and the US financial watchdog were "looking into a number of questions" related to banks’ arrangements with Greece, whilst stopping short on the question of whether an official inquiry was under way

financial

• Centennial Bank Tiered Savings Account Review Competitive rates on a tiered savings account are being offered...
• Sugar Bowl Ski Resort, Norden, CA Sugar Bowl Ski Resort is located in: Norden, CA Phone:...
• Wildhorse Golf Club, Davis, CA Wildhorse Golf Club is located in: Davis, CA Phone: (530)...

Tags: Alistair Darling, Bank, Banking, Ben Bernanke, British Economy, British Gas, British Pound, Centrica, Currency, Debenhams Plc, Dow Jones, Economics, Economy, Employment, Financial News, Financial Services Compensation Scheme, FTSE, Goldman Sachs, jobseeker’s allowance, Magasin du Nord, Money, Money Markets, NASDAQ, Northern Rock, RBS, Recession, Retail, Stephen Hester, Stock Markets, Stocks and shares, TUC, UK Banks, UK Economy, UK government, UK Recession, US economy

Pension funds in the western world have made am almost one trillion pound ($1.5 trillion) recovery in the first half of 2009. Whilst commendable, this figure represents less than a third of what these funds have lost in market value last year. These figures were released by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) who have been tracking the progress of pension funds since the outset of the global economic turndown. According to the OECD who is based in Paris, the recovery in pension fund performance has continued through September 30, 2009, on the back of strong equity returns. However it will take some time before the losses that occurred during 2008 are fully recouped. Most pension funds staged a partial recovery in the first half of 2009, generating investment returns of 3.5 percent in nominal terms. Membership of OECD is made up from mostly financially developed industrialized economies

The cost of car insurance appears to be dramatically on the rise, according to a recent survey from the Automobile Association (AA) in the third quarter of 2009, insuring a car rose at its fastest pace in 15 years, driven by a spate of rising personal injury claims and exacerbated by fraud. Statistics issued by the AA show that the average quoted premium for comprehensive motor cover rose 5.6 percent to £821 pounds during the three months to September 30, and by 14 percent from 2008.

As news filters through to the market that Virgin Money has applied for a banking license through the FSA (Financial Services Authority) it now appears more than likely that Virgin Money will make an offer for part or all of the Northern Rock business, with many analysts claiming that an informal agreement has already been struck with the UK government, and all that is required is tie up a few loose ends before the deal can be officially announced. Speculation in banking circles point to the fact that the UK government will need to request a high asking price for Northern Rock. Any sale at a "knock down" price is bound to infuriate taxpayers whose money was used to keep the Rock from sinking. On the other hand, Branson’s company is not liable to pay an inflated price for the bank. This could lead to an impasse that could see the operation stay with the UK government for the foreseeable future. Analysts state that selling Northern Rock would be in the best interests of both the government and UK taxpayers, but only in the medium to longer term. With an election looming, questions remain whether Gordon Brown’s government could allow themselves such a luxury.

Discount retailer, Matalan is reputed to be weighing up a £1.5 billion offer, after a number of companies expressed their interest in acquiring the business which remains privately owned. Among the parties interested are private equity group CVC. Matalan were taken private by John Hargreaves, their founder and controlling more than three years ago with indications having it that Hargreaves is neither interested in entering into an auction to sell his company or at any price.

The employee owned department store chain John Lewis, has seen online sales of its clothing range, take tremendous steps forwards since the company re- launched their updated website last month. With the launch came the release of a wide range of new fashion brands exclusive to the company. A leading executive from John Lewis Direct announced the company’s satisfaction with results achieved till now, that far surpassed their predictions. In general, sales of clothing online from the company were about three times higher than last year.

Mobile phone company Orange are due to begin marketing the iPhone to UK customers in Early November, a move that is bound to mark strong competition with O2 as the Xmas run up gets under way. Orange’s announcement last month that it had become the first UK network breaks O2’s exclusive hold on marketing the iPhone device, caused shock waves in the industry. The iPhone is expected to be launched by Orange on 10 November, just one day after O2’s two-year exclusive contract with Apple ends. Carphone Warehouse, which was the only independent retailer able to stock the iPhone when O2 had it to itself, is also expected to sell the phone on behalf of Orange. The iPhone is seen as the best touchscreen phone in the market, and has won a clutch of industry awards.

In the money markets, Sterling was back on a rise against the leading currencies with the notable exception of the Swiss franc.

• Pound/US dollar 1.6322
• Pound/Euro 1.10979
• Pound/Japanese Yen 150.2587
• Pound/Swiss Franc 1.6629

The FTSE 100 suffered a late reaction to the news that the UK economy was still in recession, falling 50.83 points to close on 5191.74 on Monday. The FTSE 250 was also down by 137.55 points to 9186.10.

The world’s largest construction equipment maker Caterpillar, has announced their intention to permanently cut 2,500 jobs in the US. The news was a contradiction to predictions that economic recovery was on its way for the construction industry in general and Caterpillar in particular, with the company undertaking to reinstate 550 workers that they had previously laid off. During the downturn, Caterpillar has cut about 34,000 jobs globally.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones also continued to decline, down a further 104.22 points to 9867.96. At the same time, the NASDAQ Composite index appeared to be on a never ending but steady decline, yesterday down a further 12.62 points to close on 2141.85

financial

• Types Of Mutual Funds A mutual fund is quite simply an investment company where...
• If I Was In Charge: Government Budgets (This is the first in a series of posts where...
• Where is your money going? The stock market was down a little today but over...

Tags: AA, Automobile Association, Bank, Banking, British Economy, British Pound, car insurance, Caterpillar, Currency, CVC, Dow Jones, Economics, Economy, Employment, Financial News, Financial Services Authority, FSA, FTSE, Gordon Brown, iPhone, John Hargreaves, John Lewis, Matalan, Mobile phone, Money, Money Markets, NASDAQ, Northern Rock, O2, OECD, Orange, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Pensions, Recession, Retail, Stock Markets, UK Banks, UK Economy, UK government, UK Recession, Virgin Money, Wall Street

Millions of members of the UK community of retirees are looking at the dim prospect of receiving a pension hike of less than ten pounds a month when the new rates kick-in in April 2010 The reason for the minimal increase is that UK inflation on which pension rises are calculated. Is considerably less than the minimum of 2.5%. government pledge to annually increase the state pension.

Instead, recently released figures from the Office for National Statistics show that UK retail prices index registered actually recorded a fall of 1.4% for the year ending September 2008. This means that both state and public sector pensions, both of which are calculated according to September inflation, will reach only the minimum figure of 2.5%.

A spokesman for the charity, Age Concern rushed to state that at £97.65 a week the basic state pension was seriously inadequate to guarantee the UK elderly a reasonable standard of living. Thy went on to insist that the current pension system is in need of urgent reform that will ensure older people can live off their pensions without having to apply for benefit top ups.

A monthly study has shown that living costs for pensioners are rising at a rate much higher than those for younger people, with the elderly spend a disproportionate amount on energy bills and food.

This daunting piece of news for UK retirees is only the latest in a line of unexpected pitfalls they will have to bear. Recent studies have shown that not only are many Britons are dramatically reshaping their retirement plans to match a new reality. A reality that depicts those who were due to retire in the near future, are putting off their retirement for as long as possible as the reality hits home that those who are retiring today will need to live off less than what represents half of the UK national average wage.

financial

• All About Quail Hunting Hunting quail and pheasants has been a truly favorable sport...
• Government v. AIG: Hypocrisy Speaks I do not like that AIG paid bonuses of any...
• Quarterly Investment and Net Worth Review The first quarter of 2009 has ended. Thus, it's time...

Tags: Age Concern, British Economy, British Pound, Credit Crunch, Debt, Economy, Financial News, Government, Inflation, Interest Rates, Money, Money Management, Office for National Statistics, pensioners, Recession, Retail, retirees, Savings, state pensions, UK Economy, UK elderly, UK government, UK inflation

Despite the fact that the UK has officially been in recession for more than six month, till now it has managed to retain her highly important triple-A credit rating. As a general election begins to loom increasing larger on the horizon, a growing political consensus has begun to emerge on the need to cut public spending in order to ensure that The country’s financial credibility remains unscathed as the economy recovers gains momentum.

The rating agency Moody’s predicted on Wednesday that a downgrade was unlikely despite the fact that Britain’s budget deficit will soon have risen to be the highest among the World’s advanced economies.

The Bank of England will this week refrain from expanding its £175 billion stimulus package, as signs that the economy is emerging from recession, continue to gain ground and may have stopped contracting during the third quarter.

Although the UK equities market continues to recover, it was reported that it is doing so at too slow a pace to make sufficient inroads the aggregate shortfall of UK pension schemes which is currently approaching the £200 billion. According to data released by the Pension Protection Fund (PPF) from their 7800 Index, the total deficit of pension schemes with shortfalls stood at £194.6 billion at the end of August, up from £179 billion a month earlier. The PPF said that 85 per cent of all UK schemes were in deficit.

Boosted by higher production of cars and pharmaceuticals, U.K. manufacturing figures for July increased three times as much as had been forecasted, making for the highest increase in 18 months. According to figures released by the Office for National Statistics, production output rose 0.9 percent from the previous month, higher than the 0.3 percent increase that economists had predicted.

Shares in Sports Direct rose by 11.5 per cent to close on 129.85 pence after the company raised their full-year profit targets in the wake of a strong start to trading in the period. Sports Direct, controlled by Mike Ashley, owner of Newcastle United football club, said annual underlying earnings would be around £150 million, up from its previous forecasts of £140 million.

The unhealthy state of the UK construction was again in evidence with news that equipment hire company Ashtead’s underlying first-quarter pre-tax profit has fallen by 75 percent and would have been even worse as cost cutting efforts helped to maintain margins.

Ashtead, which rents industrial equipment from diggers to small tools in the UK as well as in the United States, softened the blow by stating that the company has typically made losses in the second half and that the board still expects full-year results to meet its previous expectations.

Underlying pre-tax profit for the fiscal first quarter ended July 31 fell to £8.8 million from £35.9 million in 2008, on rental revenue down 19 percent at £221.6 million. The company’s net debt fell to £873 million from £1.036 billion at the end of April.

Dow Jones & Co., have announced that they are to launch a new index that will cover small to medium sized U.K. companies designed to serve as a benchmark for their Newswires expanded small cap coverage.

Designed to measure the performance of small cap stocks, the Dow Jones U.K. Smaller Companies index will 188 companies listed in London. They will include stocks from the junior Alternative Investment Market and stocks listed in other indexes such as the FTSE 250 and FTSE Small Cap.

In a week of fairly frenzied takeover activity, the FTSE 100 index has risen above the 5,000 points mark, the highest it has been since October 2008.

The index closed up 57 points at 5004.30. Meanwhile the FTSE 250 continued its inexorable climb on Wednesday, up 101.72 points to close on 9,137.05.

The pound continued to rise against the dollar, whilst weakening further against the Euro and the Swiss Franc.

• Pound/US dollar 1.6547
• Pound/Euro 1.1373
• Pound/Japanese Yen 152.3058
• Pound/Swiss Franc 1.7238

Oil prices have risen again as a weak US dollar made the commodity cheaper against the other leading currencies.

Light sweet crude for October delivery rose 41 cents to $71.51 a barrel as OPEC oil ministers prepared to meet for a summit in Vienna.

financial

• Suicide Six Resort, Woodstock, Vermont Suicide Six Resort is located in Woodstock, Vermont, United States...
• Oklahoma City to Lose 1 Million Pounds! CNN  - Oklahoma City is one of the fattest cities...
• $10 Billion Dollar Stock Buyback BHP Biliton (BHP) just announced a $10 Billion Dollar stock...

Tags: Alternative Investment Market, Ashtead, Bank of England, Banking, British Economy, British Pound, credit rating, Currency, Dow Jones, Economy, Employment, Financial News, FTSE, general election, Money Markets, Newcastle United, Office for National Statistics, Pension Protection Fund, PPF, public spending, Recession, Sports Direct, Stock Markets, Stocks and shares, UK Banks, UK Economy, UK pension, UK Recession

Due to a combination of changing UK demographics and the dramatic financial downturn, it now appears that more than two-thirds of the baby boomers of the UK retirees are facing a future that will entail working past what was always the pre-determined retiral age (65 for men and 60 for women). And, the truth be told, no one is too unhappy about it. As the situation appears at the moment, many should-be retirees will either continue to work full or part-time and even some who have officially retired have decided to return to their workplace where, to their considerable surprise, they are being welcomed with open arms.

The reason for this shift is that UK employers are beginning to realize that the country is in the middle of an unprecedented demographic shift, with the numbers of young work age people dwindling, as the older people in the community are living longer and healthier lives and have gathered a life-time experience in the work place; experience which, for many years, might have been needlessly jettisoned. Nowadays, as Britain starts to see the beginning of its economic recovery, they might be sorely needed.

This fact has not gone unnoticed among those who were facing their retirement age with financial worries hanging over their heads, that of decreasing property values and decimated pension funds. The realization that people can now expect to live until at least 75 makes the idea of retiring at 65 seem a little premature. In the Britain of the 21st century people are marrying later and bringing children into the world in their thirties, which means that by the time their children become financially independent, retirement is already coming at them fairly fast, with no real time to accumulate the hundreds of thousands of pounds that they will need to supplement their state pension.

Currently the default retirement age (DRA) is becoming an increasing bone of much contention for workers and employees alike. As a result of pressure, the Government has brought forward to next year a review of the legislation which compels employers to forcibly retire people at the age of 65.

• What Is The Best Music For Someone Working In A Financial Firm? My friend is working in a financial firm where he...
• Don't ignore your instincts People sometimes get intimidated when it comes to personal finance,...
• Fat People Cause Swine Flu or How to Avoid Swine Flu We all know that Swine Flu hysteria is sweeping the...

Tags: baby boomers, British Economy, Credit Crunch, default retirement age, DRA, economic recovery, Economy, employees, Employment, Recession, retirement, UK Economy, UK employers, UK government, UK pensioners

The baby boomers are retiring, and some of them, who placed all of their eggs in one basket, are retiring hurt.

The UK financial turn-down has altered the paths of most people’s lives in the country, but probably none more so, than baby boomers. This significant group of people, born in the five years after World War Two ended drove the UK economy forward in the seventies, eighties and nineties to reach the highest levels of prosperity and stability the Great Britain has ever known.

Encouraged by Margaret Thatcher, people were encouraged to acquire their own properties, mostly for a nest egg when retirement time came around, and with hopefully a little left over to provide for the children and grandchildren when the time came to depart this astral plane.

Unfortunately the property boom of the first decade of the 21st century shattered their plans. Many of them were hoping to downgrade a little, and while they could have earned a fabulous profit on the property they had bought in the seventies or eighties, they found it impossible to buy smaller properties at a representative value, because they were being snapped up by younger couples who would pay any price to get their feet on the bottom rung of the property ladder.

And when the bubble finally burst, many of them found them living in properties that were far too big for their needs, with all the attendant costs, and the nest egg that they had hoped to enjoy shrinking in value by an average of around £10,000 a year. Overall estimates are that properties owned by baby boomers have fallen in value by almost £30 billion in the last twelve months.

Surveys have shown the population sector that has placed too much reliance on their property asset to fund their retirement come from the East Midlands. However those hailing from the South and particularly London have spread their retirement portfolio.

Even more worrying is the fact that out or the entire UK population above the age of 25, have begun to look into alternative pension arrangements or investment opportunities.

• Volunteer Opportunities for Retired Baby Boomers Many baby boomers imagine themselves being retired from a paying...
• Retirement - The Magic Withdrawal Triangle [This post is written and copyrighted by FIRE Finance (http://firefinance.blogspot.com).]Nov...
• Boomer and Retirement Weekly Reader - Home Maintenance Edition We are preparing for company and you know what that...

Tags: baby boomers, British Economy, Credit Crunch, East Midlands, Economics, Economy, Financial News, Margaret Thatcher, Money, Mortgage, Mortgages, property, Recession, UK Recession, World War Two

There are a very large number of UK employees who have been contributing to a private pension scheme partially funded by their employers, which they are assuming will provide them with either a very tasty lump sum, or a monthly stipend that will considerably boost their state pension. However people who are due to retire within the next five years are in for a not too pleasant surprise when they discover that the value of their pension has been eroded due to the economic ravages that the equities market has experienced in the last 24 months.

Some worrying information has emerged that the UK’s largest private sector retirement fund ,the BT Group Pension Scheme was reported to have only sufficient funds on hand to pay about 57 per cent of their pension obligations in the event, albeit unlikely, that the telecommunications company were to become insolvent. A spokesman for the company did hasten to announce that they are now taking every step possible to return this figure to a healthier level, as well as considerably cutting back on its future investments in equities for the future.

Huge companies, such as BT, who are faced with the awesome responsibility of handling huge pension funds consistently, took refuge in the FTSE as a hedge against inflation. The shift in investment strategy that they will now be making is significant and they will now have to find ways to make safer short term investments to keep their pensions funds at a higher level.

A spokesman for the British Telecom Pension Scheme (BTPS) announced their target is cut to 33 per cent of the fund’s equities portfolio and instead acquire assets which are low yielding and safer such as bonds that will move in line with liabilities.

The statement of investment principles applying to company managed pension funds explained the investment shift, noting: “The trustee acknowledges that, in particular, the level of investment in risky assets might, over the short to medium-term, influence the volatility of the funding level of the scheme, and hence may influence the volatility of the employer balancing contribution rate.”

• Investment - Choice Between Direct Investment in Stocks and Investment in Mutual Funds BasicsMutual Funds (MFs) are primarily engaged in investing in stocks....
• How I Pick the Best Long Term, Buy and Hold Stocks I'm something of an oddity in the investing world when...
• Mutual Funds 101 One way that investors can pool their money is mutual...

Tags: Company Pension, Minister for Pensions, Pension Scheme, Pensions, Private Pension

…a malfunctioning pension scheme
Something that was hovering in the air for a long time, and has been swept under the carpet a little as a result of the ongoing credit crunch is the fact that most UK citizens can afford to become old or worse still, to retire.

A recent report issued jointly by the Help the Aged and Age Concern charities has discovered that around two thirds of the baby boomers are no looking at a normal retirement as at best a forlorn hope, and have come to grips with the reality that their “golden years” will be a lot tougher than they worked for and in the majority of cases also deserved.

Families who have always been savers are seeing their nest eggs deflated by low interest rates, property prices devaluing at a pace and intensity that they may never recover from for at least the next decade or so. To make matters worse, their pension scheme has been knocked very hard by the decline in stock market share values, on which their pension plans were based.

Worrying but typical statistics that are coming out of the crisis, as unemployment begins to sore, is that percentage wise, the number of people in their fifties upwards who are being laid off is very high.

According to official figures released by the Office for National Statistics unemployment among people aged 50 or above has risen by 47% within the last twelve months, with the chances of these people returning to the job market looking extremely bleak for the foreseeable future. This means either retraining which takes time or money or digging into the already rapidly devaluing family next egg.

Those fortunate to stay in work face an uncertain future, especially those without a well funded pension plan. They will be forced to live the rest of their lives walking a financial tight rope, in fear of redundancy and hoping that they can continue to work for as long as possible, even well into the years when they should have been sitting in the park, feeding the pigeons.
While the pension shortfall problem exists all over the Western World, financial analysts state that it is especially acute in the UK.

A recent report from the National Institute of Economic and Social Research found that accumulated wealth, pension levels and assets if realized will still be too low on average to allow a quality of life equivalent to current standards for most UK retirees, and there is little that can be done to change the situation for most people who will reach retiral age over the next two decades.

For those of us who are in that trap it appears that the only solution appears to work longer. If the UK government would raise the retirement age to 70 for men and 65 for women it would be realistic and would allow an increase in retirement income by around 30%, most financial analysts estimate.

For those people who see that retirement is still a long way off, the news is that setting money aside for pensions should begin as early as possible, no matter how far off it seems.

• Financial Retirement Planning For A Life Expectancy of a 100 Some more retirement investing advice. So how long do you...
• To Make Money Online, You Must Commit! Are you completely overwhelmed by all of the money making...
• Getting Motivated to Organize Your Finances For many people, the first steps towards getting your finances...

Tags: Pensions, Savings, Tax, Taxpayers, UK government, Unemployment

Recent figures have shown that the aggregate deficit of corporate UK pension funds has now soared past the benchmark figure of £250 billion. This record breaking shortfall which was arrived at in March was attributed to, drop in gilt yields, apparently caused by the Bank of England’s policy of quantitative easing. According to a spokesman from the Pension Protection Fund, the aggregate gap between the values of assets of liabilities it raised to £253.1bn, reflecting 90% of all the UK’s 7,400 current pension plans. The deficit is now more than 10 times higher than the level it was in the corresponding month of last year.

On the FTSE yesterday the carry forward of disappointing economic data coming out of Wall Street, seemed to curtail gains across the board although banking stocks did continue to move forward after strong 1st quarter results from Goldman Sachs gave the sector a boost. This piece of positive news was dampened by the news of an unexpected drop in US retail sales

Lloyds Banking Group rose by 11% (8.4p to 87.9p)and Barclays already on a role buoyed by last week’s iShares deal struck with CVC announced that it could still sell its entire asset management arm also jumped by 10.5% (18p to 195.5p)

The insurance sector saw some price adjustment after analyst comments that recent share price falls were overdone. Legal and general rose by more than 13% (5.7 pence to 54.5) with Friend Provident rising 3.7p to 68.6p and Standard Life up 9.7 pence at 183.1p.

The mining community on the Stock Exchange also had smiles on their faces with Vedanta Resources humping 15% (134.5 pence to 1008) Trailing in their wake, but not by a distance were Kazakhmys who rose 47.5pence to 513.5and Xstrata whose shares moved forward by 41pence to close at 613.5 .

It was a much stormier ride for British Telecom investors yesterday, with shares dropping by 6% on early trading on news that the group’s annual results next month may include a £1.5bn write down. Later trading saw their shares make a rally closing 0.1p higher at 81.1p

BP didn’t enjoy the same relative fortune, with the petroleum giant’s shares losing 7.5 pence to close the day on 438.5. Reasons given were the decrease in crude oil prices and expectations of falling demand

To prove the point that if people won’t buy crude oil but will still buy fruit drinks was the news that Britvic, the Robinsons and Fruit Shoot company enjoyed a sugar intake of 4% on their shares for the day. They raised 9.75p to 255.25p, after the company announced that they had successfully arranged new banking facilities, which will run through to 2012.

Over the day, the FTSE 100 peaked at 4039.67 points during early trade, and then closed up just 5.28 points, or 0.1 per cent, at 3988.99 points. The FTSE 250 closed the day on 7152.16, up nearly 175 points on the day.

The pound hit a five-week high against the euro and rose against the dollar on Tuesday as well as rising slightly against the Japanese Yen and the Swiss Franc:

Pound/US dollar 1.4879

Pound/Euro 1.11268

Pound/Japanese Yen 147.80

Pound/Swiss Franc 1.7057

Uncertain corporate outlooks and data showing the U.S. economy is still suffering weighed on global stocks on Wednesday, despite claims from U.S. President Barack Obama that his remedies were starting to work. The Dow Jones Average dropped 137.63 to close at 7920.18. NASDAQ fell 27.59 points to close at 1625.72.

Europe was in shock Wednesday on the news that Swiss banking group UBS were about to announce a very heart loss for the first quarter of this year, during their annual meeting to be held in Zurich. Investors’ worst fears will be confirmed along with the news that the Swiss banking group will be dispensing with the services of more than ten per cent of their global workforce.

In Asia, early trading saw stocks values dropping back from the six-month highs achieved on Wednesday after the drops on Wall Street. Later hopes for increase Chinese stimulus spending helping offset these early losses. The feeling was that investors were cashing in on gains after many equity markets have jumped between 20 percent and 30 percent since early March.

• Dave Ramsey Town Hall for Hope Last night I attended a Dave Ramsey Town Hall for...
• Fishing Report for July 17th, 2009 Fishing has been sturdy over the past week, but the...
• Bank Nationalization, Should We Or Shouldn't We? Six months ago, the idea of nationalizing banks was preposterous...

Tags: Bank, Bank of England, Banking, British Economy, Credit Crunch, FTSE, Money Management, Pensions, Private Pension, Recession, UK Banks, UK Recession

In a time where just about anything is possible in the banking World, there might even be a scenario unfolding where banks will begin to charge their customers a storage fee for keeping their money on deposit. Sounds unlikely? It might well be, but with experts predicting that interest rates on savings account may fall by around a quarter of a percent in the wake of last week’s treasury decision to cut the base rate to a half a percent then the prospects of interest rates on short term deposit accounts could hit that big round zero figure, with the question of what comes after that!

Among the latest line of depressing statistical releases from the Bank of England was one that announced that the external liabilities of UK banks fell by a massive three quarters of a trillion pounds in the last nine months of 2008, representing the largest ever withdrawal of foreign funds in recent decades

And who can blame the depositor for looking somewhere else to take of their money? With concerns that the UK is no longer the safe place that it was to hold funds, under the considerable and ever-growing uncertainty of the banking crisis, along with almost inevitable shift towards financial protectionism internationally, it seems almost logical.

There is no escaping the fact that the average rate paid out by British Banks for an instant access account sat at 0.17% at the end of February, before the last rate cut. While the low interest rates charged by the banks and building societies may well suit those who are sitting on heavy mortgages, it will certainly not suit those who have been saving hard all of their lives, and have accumulated a small next egg, where they hoped or even assumed that the interest earned would go a long way to supplement their pension. Even 2008, not a great year for savers by anyone’s standards, but at least the banks were paying out 2.69% interest on savings accounts. An indication on the slide in interest rates is that in January 2008 banks were paying out 5.06% on savings accounts.

The feeling amongst savers is that they are being punished to meet the costs of mistakes made by banking management.

The only ray of light in a distinctly black picture for savers is that general acknowledgment that rates have gone as low as they are ever likely to, and form here the only way is up for savers. An interesting fact revealed by the Bank of England in their recent survey was that, despite the doom and gloom of recession there are household savings currently being held by banks an building societies of just over one thousand billion pounds, a considerable sum by any ones terms, but not so, when you consider that the banks are currently owed one and one quarter billion.

The question would have to be that, in the light of this information and the very low return on their investments, if the Great British saver could find a safer and more magnanimous place to house their savings, would they?

• Consumers Need to Exercise Caution as Credit Card Rates Climb Many consumers are finding that even though they have had...
• High Yield Savings Accounts - An Alternative to Stocks and Bonds High yield savings accounts may be on your mind right...
• Save Up For College with FreshmanFund’s 529 College Savings Plan / Gift Registry Whenever you go to a wedding and want to purchase...

Tags: Alastair Darling, Bank of England, Banking, British Economy, British Pound, Finance, Financial News, Money Management, Savings