How Difficult Is It to Predict the Economy and Why Bother Anyway?

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Couple of days ago I came across a study that made me ask myself the question ‘hoe difficult is it to predict the economy’. I realise that one reasonable response to this question is ‘why we care, anyway’. Before I tell you how, I believe, expectation regarding the economy affect our lives – and therefore predictions of economic conditions are important – let me tell you about the study I found. This study was carried out by ETX Capital and used Government statistics about GDP Growth Rate, CPI Inflation and the Sterling Index over three years. What the study aimed […] Read more »

Is Bitcoin a Financial Bubble and Does This Matter in All Things Money

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People who like money, and like talking about making it, are currently divided along an issue that is hard limit. It is called Bitcoin; or if we extend it a bit, it brings under the same umbrella many crypto currencies. There are the trusting optimists who dabble and believe crypto currencies are a splendid opportunity to make some money though not all consider these a viable, long term investment. There are also the doubting cynics who are standing on side-lines repeating that crypto currencies are a financial bubble. Which camp do you belong to? I am with the dabblers while […] Read more »

10 top quotes about money and debt – which is your favourite?

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Editor’s note: This is a guest post from Sara Williams who blogs about everything to do with debt at Debt Camel, from payday loans to mortgages. I’m a debt adviser in London. But money and debt problems are universal, so my favourite debt quotations range from the Romans to 21st century America! I’ve put them roughly in date order but, as you will see, not a lot has changed over the centuries. #1. Debt is the slavery of the free. Publius Syrius c.50BC I like this one because so much advertising has the subconscious message that being able to buy […] Read more »

How To Refinance Your Debt Cheaper

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Editor’s note: This is a guest post from Pauline of InvestmentZen.com Refinancing, restructuring, or consolidating debt is a step that many have taken in order to become debt-free sooner. This is done for a multitude of reasons but usually involve getting a better interest rate, or term on your debt, making the final pay off cheaper and quicker. This works in different ways. The idea is either to lower your debt payments, or to pay off debt quicker, for a lower interest rate. Before you start, do some research and find out the best rates available on the market. The […] Read more »

5 Misguided Beliefs That Actually Hurt Your Credit Score

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There was a time when I paid very little attention to my credit score because I thought that it is not important. This was the time when the ‘juiciest’ credit card deals out there were unattainable, when a loan secured against our house came with 7.5% interest rate and when all that came through my post box were bills. I still don’t check my credit score regularly; this time I don’t check it because my credit score is a perfect 999, which I suppose is as high as one could get. Boring, I know; but very handy. Now, offers for […] Read more »

Bad Things Happen and We Better be Prepared: How I Battled Cancer and Took Charge of Our Finances

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On November 21, 2005, my life turned upside down. Just three and a half  months before that day I had given birth to my first and only child, my daughter Lily. My husband and I waited six years to start a family, planning so we would be ready.  But no matter how hard you try, sometimes all the planning in the world doesn’t prepare you for the unexpected. After Lily’s birth, my health started to fail. I finally went to the doctor and was diagnosed with malignant pleural mesothelioma. I was told I had a mere 15 months to live […] Read more »

2 Ways to Make Your Money Work for You in Time of Financial Volatility

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Have you noticed that your money is making much less money than it used to? I’ve been watching this get more and more serious over the last decade or so. Even if you have no direct experience of that – though I do hope that you all have some savings and investments – you couldn’t have missed the mainstream media headlines. Inevitably these are dressed in drama, fear and exaggeration though there is a kernel of truth in them. See for yourselves: ‘Devastating’ blow for prudent Brits as almost 300 accounts have interest rates slashed Interest rate massacre: scores of […] Read more »

5 Surefire Ways to Become Debt Free Fast

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Author’s bio: You can find more by Maria Nedeva on debt, money management and making money on her blog, The Money Principle, where she teaches people in financial trouble how to build sustainable wealth.   Becoming debt free haunted my dreams, and my waking hours, for couple of decades. And for decades it was just that: a pipe dream to which I escaped every time I suspected that we have too much debt and every time I wished it to disappear. Than six years ago the reality of our financial depravity penetrated the dream: we calculated that we were in […] Read more »

How to Find the House You Love

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“I wish we could move this house to…” You could fill in the name of a neighbourhood or a city of your choice. Still, this is one of the most hopeless sentences in the history of human interaction. My mum used it at least once a week. Every time she wanted to go to the theatre and there was no one to watch with her. Every time she wanted to see her granddaughter and remembered that she is 250 miles away. Every time she wanted to have a coffee and a chat with her sister and remembered that she’d have […] Read more »

Why Batman Will Get Better Life Insurance Than Jabba the Hutt?

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  Editor’s note: This is a sponsored post that contains affiliate links. Okay. Strictly speaking neither Batman, nor Jabba the Hutt need to have life insurance. It is not what you think: they don’t need life insurance not because they are fictional charters: this only making me feel a bit weird discussing this. Batman doesn’t need life insurance because he is wealthy enough so that if something goes wrong all his affairs can be put in order. Jabba the Hutt may not be as obviously wealthy as Batman. In Jabba’s case, the important matter is that he has no apparent […] Read more »

Five Objections to FX Trading and Why You Shouldn’t Listen to Them

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Don’t know about you but I’ve heard enough objections to last me several life-times. You want to leave work? Oh, it is so hard to get another job. You want to start your own business? Oh, but most of them fail. You want to run an ultra-marathon? Do you know how many people don’t finish? You want to make enough money to retire in four years’ time? This is impossible. And so it goes about almost anything. You see, I may be an optimist but I’m not delusional; well, not usually, anyway. I know that some things are difficult to […] Read more »

Four Ways to Tackle Your Debt and How to Decide Which One is For You

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Did you think that to tackle your debt is simple and straight forward? Think again! You see, when we first realised how much debt we had all I wanted was that it disappears. Oh, I know this would have taken magic I regretfully don’t possess. It may have been done by going bankrupt were we ready to take the consequences. This wasn’t our way and we did it ‘the proper way’. We reduced our spending by developing and using the ERR strategy for money management. We learned how to make more money. And we put it all against the debt. […] Read more »

10 Rules to Keep in Mind When You Borrow Money

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In an ideal world you’ll never have to borrow money. In an ideal world, you’ll buy your house and cars for cash. In an ideal world, you’ll have cash to cover emergencies. In an ideal world, you’ll never overspend and get in trouble. In an ideal world, I’ll look like Julia Roberts and be a Hollywood star. Thing is, we don’t live in an ideal world. Just look at me. I look like…well, like me and I’m a university professor, not a movie star. When I was young, I often ran out of money. Heck, when I was in my […] Read more »

Playing with fire: is life insurance a main course or luxury dessert for you?

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Do you have life insurance? I do. I have so much life insurance, I joke that if something were to happen to me, John will be a very wealthy man. It is a bad joke, I know. John’s been telling me that since the very first time I mentioned it. It may be a bad joke, but it is the truth. My life is insured for close to $800,000 in two different policies; one of these is part of my pension plan. This is quite a bit less than the amount for which David Beckham’s legs were (are?) insured but […] Read more »