Today I’m sharing another eye-opening infographic from my friends at the credit reference agency Equifax.
It’s an unfortunate fact that older people with vulnerabilities can be targeted by scammers. Older people often fear being mugged or burgled – but 90% of all crimes committed against the over 65s are actually fraud.
Scammers don’t always come across as aggressive or pushy – they can often appear very polite and friendly, which is how they win people over and gain their trust. They use several methods to commit identity theft and steal money, which include:
Age UK has reported that almost 5 million people over the age of 65 believe they have been targeted by scammers. People living on their own, or suffering with dementia, are especially vulnerable.
It can take weeks to sort out the aftermath of a scam
The infographic below sets out some ways to help elderly people protect themselves against scammers – and warning signs that might suggest they’ve been targeted..
Thank you to Equifax for an eye-opening graphic. If you help look after an older person – whether it’s a friend or a family member – it’s important to keep an eye out for this and offer advice and support when appropriate. This applies especially if they live on their own.
The infographic includes some excellent advice on ways to reduce the likelihood of being scammed online. But, of course – as mentioned at the start of the article – scammers operate in other ways as well.
Today I have a guest post for you from James Mackay, a certified financial planner and regular reader of Pounds and Sense 🙂
In his article below, James addresses an issue that will be real and pressing for many readers of this blog – how to prepare for retirement and enter it successfully.
Over to James then…
If you’re starting to think about your retirement, these are three important questions that you need to ask.
1. Have You Had Enough?
It’s Sunday evening and you’re winding down after a busy weekend with friends and family. As you sit back in your favourite chair and think about the week ahead, you can’t quite get comfortable.
The thought of going back to work on Monday morning makes you feel a bit uneasy. In fact, the thought of doing it for another 5–10 years makes you feel sick!
If you’ve ever experienced this, you might be approaching the point where you’ve had enough (that’s a technical term).
The question you need to ask yourself is whether the pain of going to work outweighs the benefit. If you find yourself in this situation; where you’re emotionally, physically and mentally drained and no longer excited to perform at the highest level, it’s time to do something about it.
Having had enough doesn’t mean that it’s necessarily time to retire. It simply means that you need to change the status quo.
Maybe you’ve had enough of your current role, but you’ve got more to give in another capacity. Your years of wisdom could be very valuable in a different guise. Perhaps you’ve had enough of having a boss and are ready to go it alone. With the years of experience, it’s no surprise that over 50s are the best entrepreneurs. Or maybe you’re happy to carry on but just want a little bit more flexibility around what you do and when you do it.
These are all useful options to explore, particularly if you haven’t got enough to hang your boots up yet. Sometimes, the benefit of working for “just one more year” can make a real difference to your financial situation.
2. Do You Have Enough?
If you’ve had enough, and are ready to move onto pastures new, the next question is do you have enough?
Whenever I ask this question, people start telling me how much they’ve got saved up. But they’ve got it all wrong. It’s like trying to build a house without the seeing the floor plans. You need to start with the end goal and work back from there.
Working out if you have enough requires knowing:
Your monthly number – this is how much a comfortable lifestyle is going to cost.
The gap – this is the difference between the two, and where your savings come in. Broadly speaking, if you’ve got 20x the gap in savings, you should be fine. Any less and you might not be quite there yet.
But, there’s more to retirement planning than just simply figuring out your ‘number’. Finding your purpose in retirement sounds wishy-washy, but without a clear purpose you’re likely to be one of the 25% of retirees who return to work.
3. Will You Have Enough to Do?
You need to ask yourself what you are going to do when you wake up on that Monday morning, free from the ties of work, and how are you going to fill your time.
If for the last 40 years you’ve been busy being busy – chances are you’re going to get pretty bored sitting around the house for 40 hours a week. I’ve seen many successful individuals retire, only to get bored and return to work within five years. The newly-found free time that retirement provides can be overwhelming for some.
Retirement is about having enough money to sleep at night and enough purpose to get up in the morning. It’s not just about the numbers, it’s about how you’re going to spend your time. Purpose will drive you in retirement, money will fund you. Try not to get those two mixed up.
The bottom line is this… retirement is the biggest transition you’re ever going to make. It’s not the sort of thing you do regularly and not the sort of thing you want to get wrong. By asking yourself these three questions, you’ll improve your chances of achieving a successful retirement.
Byline: James Mackay is a Certified Financial Planner at Frazer James. He has helped hundreds of clients to achieve financial independence and retire with confidence, clarity and purpose.
Many thanks to James (pictured above) for a valuable and thought-provoking post. As a semi-retired 63-year-old myself, I can identify with all of the points he raises.
Actually I think there is a strong case for phasing your retirement if possible, maybe reducing the number of days per week you work initially and/or moving to a less pressured role. This can make retirement feel more like going on an interesting journey rather than driving over a cliff!
I also think there’s a good case for continuing to do some work you enjoy during the early years of retirement at least, to boost your income, provide social interaction, and keep your mental and physical faculties sharp. Of course, voluntary work can do this as well (apart from boosting your income, which may or may not matter to you).
If you have any comments or questions about this article – for me or for James – as always, do feel free to post them below.
If you enjoyed this post, please link to it on your own blog or social media:
Gold Crown Decorative 4 inch Square Chocolate Cake with Salted Caramel & Fudge Pieces
Gold Crown Christmas Pudding 350g
Grandma Wild’s Mini Bites for Sharing Mature Cheddar 100g
Great British Crisp Company Cornish Sea Salt & Luxury Peppers Crisps 150g
Joe & Seph’s Brandy Butter Popcorn 80g
Linden Lady Decorative Chocolate Covered Marshmallows 140g
Shaws Caramelised Red Onion Chutney with Balsamic 195g
Sugar n Spice Choc Chip Cookie Bites 140g
The Secret Truffletier White Chocolate Truffles 55g
Zonin Prosecco Brut DOC Italy 75cl 11% vol
Black Wire Basket
If you need to know about any possible allergens in the contents, full information can be found via the Virginia Hayward website (click on the PDF link on the site).
Here then are all the details you need to enter, provided by my colleague Laura Light who is co-ordinating this event – big thanks to Laura!.
Good luck! It would be great if a Pounds and Sense reader wins one (or more) of the prizes 🙂
This Christmas, some of the UK Bloggers have come together to offer you the chance to win five Virginia Hayward The Magic of Christmas Hampers. Five lucky winners will win a Christmas hamper delivered before Christmas. Keep reading to find out how you can enter.
Table of Contents
Who are the Bloggers Behind the Giveaway?
The UK Bloggers are a group of bloggers, podcasters, and influencers in the UK who are passionate about helping you to improve your life. We are a mix of lifestyle, parenting, food and money bloggers. Whether you want to make more money, find recipes, read about parenting or other lifestyle topics, we are your people. Here’s who we are:
The giveaway is open until midnight on 17th November 2019, when the five winners will be chosen.
The giveaway is open to UK residents only.
Winners will be contacted by email from laura@savings4savvymums.co.uk
Should the Christmas hampers be out of stock then a suitable replacement will be found.
How to Enter
Please note that this giveaway works differently from the otherwise similar UKMB giveaways I have featured on this blog.
You can get two entries by clicking on the links in the Rafflecopter widget below. One is to visit my Facebook page and the other is to follow Pounds and Sense blog on Twitter.
You can then get (many) more entries by clicking through the links above – or below – to my fellow UK bloggers, all of whom have their own posts about the Giveaway with their own Rafflecopter widgets.
After the closing date all entries will be put together and five winners will be chosen at random. I hope that’s all clear, but let me know if not!
To save you a bit of time finding the other posts in this giveaway, I have listed below all the bloggers who have published a 2019 Christmas Giveaway post, with a ‘deep link’ straight to the post in question. You can work your way through the list below and enter via the widget in each post. All links should open in a separate tab.
One final small point is that if a winning entry comes from following someone on social media, Laura will check before awarding the prize that the winner is still following the account in question. If they aren’t, they will be disqualified and a new winner drawn. So, please, don’t follow and immediately unfollow, as your entry won’t then count.
Good luck, and I really do hope you win a hamper!
As always, if you have any comments or questions about this post, please do leave them below.
If you enjoyed this post, please link to it on your own blog or social media:
Today I have something a bit different for you. I’ve been asking around my fellow UK bloggers for their favourite kitchen tools, apps and websites.
I was genuinely curious about this myself, but hope it will also be of interest and value for PAS readers who enjoy cooking (or possibly don’t but still have to!). And if you are looking for a gift for the cook (or cooks) in your life, hopefully you may find a few ideas here.
Where possible I have provided links to the resources in question. In some cases these are affiliate links, so if you click through and make a purchase I will receive a commission from the store concerned (Amazon). This will not affect the product or service you receive, or the price that you pay.
Note also that with kitchen tools and devices, multiple brands and versions are often available. I have tried to link to popular models, but they may or may not be the same as the one the blogger in question uses.
Okay, let’s get started then. 🙂
Blogger Recommendations
Tanya Barrow from Mummy Barrow says: ‘It isn’t cheap, but my favourite device is my Thermomix. It does the job of 12 other kitchen appliances and helps me cook healthy meals for my family without using a load of other kit or pans, and quickly. I couldn’t live without it now.’
Ruth Gray from Slimming Violet says: ‘My favourite kitchen device is definitely my Actifry. I thought for ages about whether I should buy one as they’re a bit on the pricey side, but I’m so pleased that I did. It makes it really easy to cook so many different healthy meals, though I must admit that Actifry chips have to be my favourite. With just a drizzle of oil, they’re so much better than their oven chip counterparts!’
Fiona Elizabeth Hawkes from The Somerset Foodie writes: ‘One of my favourite cooking resources is the Yummly app. It’s full of recipes and you can search by ingredient or meal type, exclude recipes with ingredients you don’t like and then save recipes you like the look of. You can even photograph ingredients and it’ll suggest dishes you could try to use them up. It’s great for times I’m struggling with ideas for dinner!’
Keiran Potter, who blogs at Keiran Crying, says, ‘My favourite device is my spiraliser. It’s such an easy and fast way to get vegetables into things like pasta and pies. But also it makes things like potato cook a lot faster because it makes it so thin. I love experimenting with it, it helps me keep meals interesting.‘
Jupiter Hadley, who blogs at JupiterHadley.com, writes: ‘My favorite cooking website is Allrecipes.com – everyone submits recipes and pictures, so all of the recipes are made previously and they have a good selection of simple recipes. When searching for something there, you can easily read the comments from people who have tried to make the dish (and they have a big community, so it’s normally a lot of comments with the best ones on the first page) sometimes these comments let you know the recipe isn’t sweet enough or it needs a different ingredient, while others tell you little twists you can make. It’s a great community and is really full of great recipes and feedback.’
Petra at Be Healthy Now says: ‘There are so many good websites that I use for cooking inspiration, and one of my favourites is The Flexitarian. I love this website so much because the recipes on there are simply amazing: really healthy, with interesting flavours and a little bit different to what you commonly find online. They are all vegetarian or vegan, so perfect for those who are looking to reduce their meat intake. Annabelle also shares food news and reviews, which all come in really useful.’
Rachelle Strauss of The Health and Wellness Grid writes: ‘My favourite kitchen gadget is my Nutribullet. It’s a reasonable price and is excellent for my morning smoothie (it works well on frozen fruit) and I also use it to grind seeds which I then sprinkle into most meals. So it saves me money on buying smoothies (and helps me reduce food waste by using up fruits that are coming up to being past their best) and I can buy a big bag of seeds which I blitz and hide in foods! I’ve needed to replace the blade once in a few years, but the motor remains strong despite daily use, so it’s excellent value for money overall. I also use it for soup, after the ingredients have cooled – again saving money on shop-bought products and using up old veggies.’
Hayley Muncey, who blogs as Miss Manypennies, writes: ‘My favourite gadget is my pancake/crepe maker (hot plate). Obviously totally unnecessary, but it means we can pop on the table and no one has to be the one standing cooking, it’s quick and the pancakes always end up the right shape! It’s easier to experiment with toppings too ‘
Kim John of Life Can Be Toff says, ‘My favourite kitchen gadget is my soup maker. It is a simple way for me to create quick and tasty soups, particularly at this time of year. The fact it is so quick (around 30 minutes total including prep) also means I can be quite adventurous and try different things. It is great for making in bulk and with little washing up!
Nick adds: ‘I have an electric soup-maker as well and get a lot of use from it, in the cold winter months especially. I wrote this blog post about it not long after I bought it.’
Melissa Williams, who blogs at The Diary of a Jewellery Lover, writes: ‘My favourite kitchen gadget is my slow cooker. I like putting all the ingredients in at the beginning of the day and having a delicious meal ready for me in the evening. It makes the meat so tender and delicious. I would definitely recommend getting one if you don’t own one. It will change your life!’
Afshan Nasim of Afshanesque writes: ‘My favourite kitchen utensil is my Hinari Genie blender. It is great for making smoothies and milkshakes. It also helps me chop my onions and puree my tomato for use with my curries. It’s like the Nutribullet, but cheaper.’
Nicole Shroff from The End of the Fork writes: ‘I love my cast iron skillet, it is what I reach for the most in my kitchen. Nicely weighted, it distributes heat evenly retaining it well, so food cooks faster and you do not need to move it around the pan as much. The more seasoned it becomes with use, the better it’s non-stick qualities. It is extremely hard-wearing and easy to care for as long as it is dried well before storing. A good cast iron skillet improves with age and will last generations!’
Jo Jackson, who blogs at Tea and Cake for the Soul, says: ‘ I have an ancient Moulinex Masterchef and love it. I can grate and slice vegetables in it, make cakes, pastry, blend and chop with it. I have a much newer all singing all dancing device but I can’t bear to part with old faithful.’
Jo Jackson also says: ‘I do like the BBC Good Food website. It has photos with clear instructions and sometimes videos. I like a lot of the features including ratings by others who’ve tried the recipe, timings, levels of skill, nutritional values etc. I especially like the print option. I’m a bit old school and if I find a recipe I like, I will print it off, laminate it and keep it in my cook book file.’
Melanie Edjourian, who blogs at Melanie’s Fab Finds, says: ‘I love my Russell Hobbs mixer. It’s great for making all sorts of cakes as well as pizza bases and bread. I also love my Lurch Spiralo Spiraliser as it helps me make all sorts of healthy recipes using veg, like courgetti carbonara.’
Cath Bambi Drews, who blogs at th3secretlifeofme, writes: ‘We have a Gourmetmaxx tower airfryer, which is a bit different to an Actifry. We are a family of six so this means we can actually cook sides or fries/wedges/home-made chips in one go. It cooks crispy chips/wedges. Amazing bacon. Little pizzas. We have even cooked a chicken in there.’
Paulina Borowik from UK Everyday says: ‘One of my favourite kitchen devices is my Morphy Richards Stand Mixer. It ensures that all ingredients are mixed perfectly and my kitchen stays clean. This mixer is very powerful and looks stylish. I would highly recommend it to anyone.’
Finally, Sally Allsop from Life Loving says: ‘I know it sounds very insignificant but my favourite kitchen gadget is my olive spoon/pickle picker. It’s perfect for getting pickled veg/olives out of the jar and draining them as you are doing it. Normal spoons make such a mess when you are dealing with pickling liquid or brine.’
Thanks again to all my UK blogging colleagues for an inspiring selection of ideas. I shall definitely be adding some of the items above to my Amazon Wish List!
Please do check out also the blogs of everyone above who contributed suggestions. They are an amazing group of talented writers and bloggers!
No bowl is provided with these scales, but because of the way they work you don’t need one. You can place any container you like on the scales and press the button to zero the display (so the scales disregard the container’s weight). You can then add your ingredient and the weight (or liquid volume if you prefer) will be shown. If you want to add further ingredients, you can zero the display again before doing so. Once you get the hang of this, it’s amazingly quick and simple. I use it all the time now, and even weighed a parcel on it recently 😀 I also like the way it hardly takes up any space at all in my kitchen when stored on its side.
As always, if you have any comments or queries about this article, please do post them below. And if you have any other favourite kitchen device, website or app, please do share it in the comments!
If you enjoyed this post, please link to it on your own blog or social media:
I was recently invited by a company called Make a Will Online to review their solicitor-checked online will writing service.
I have written before on Pounds and Sense about the importance of making a will, and the dangers (of which I have first-hand experience) of not doing it properly. In particular, I am very dubious about using ‘DIY wills’ and non-legally-trained will-writers, as I know all too well the problems that can occur when mistakes are made.
Make a Will Online (MAWO) offers solicitor-checked wills starting from just £29.95 for a single will or £39.50 for a pair. This is substantially cheaper than most similar services, e.g. FareWill charge £90 for a single will and £140 for a pair. MAWO also have mostly five-star reviews on TrustPilot. I was therefore keen to find out more about the service they offer.
Table of Contents
How It Works
Creating a will with Make a Will Online involves a three-step process as follows…
1. Complete an Online Questionnaire
At the start of this you are asked to provide your address and contact details. These are used for the production of the will, to allow you to log in if you don’t complete your will in a single session, and to send you the completed document (via email).
You then answer a series of questions about whom you want to manage your estate (your executors, in other words), whom you would like to look after your children (if you have any), whom you would like to inherit your possessions, any special gifts or bequests you want to make, and any conditions you wish to attach to your will. You can also specify whether you prefer to be buried or cremated, and any special instructions you may have about the funeral.
2. Review, Confirm and Pay
At the end of the online questionnaire you are shown a summary of the information you have entered and can go back and make any amendments you wish. You then make a secure payment of £29.50 for a single will or £39.50 for a pair of wills. You can pay by credit/debit card or via your PayPal account if you have one.
3. Receive Your Will, Sign and Witness
Once you have made your secure payment, the will document is emailed to you, along with detailed instructions for making the will legal and a receipt for payment. Shortly afterwards, a solicitor will check the document to make sure that everything is in order. If anything is unclear, a member of the MAWO team will contact you by email.
The main thing you have to do to make the will legal is (of course) get it signed and witnessed. This has to be done by two adults who are not beneficiaries in the will. Full instructions for doing this are included in the email you receive once you have completed your payment.
You can choose to receive a printed version by post for £15.00 for a single will or £20 for a pair (though see below for a £5 discount voucher). Alternatively you can simply print out the emailed version of the will, staple the pages together as per the instructions provided, and have it signed and witnessed as above. Either way, you will then have a legal will which needs to be kept somewhere safe and secure until such time as it has to be referred to. Again, information about all this is included in the email you receive.
When you have finished making your will online, you can log in and make free changes to the document for 28 days. After that you can sign up for an optional lifetime updates service, which allows you to update your will at any time. This is free for the first year and then £10 per will per year (so in the case of a couple it would cost £20 a year).
My Experience
I created what was basically a duplicate of my existing will in order to try out the MAWO system.
I found the step-by-step process for completing the online questionnaire generally quick and intuitive. There are six main pages: Your Details, Executors, Guardians, Residuaries, Specific Gifts, and Funeral.
The Guardians section (see picture below) is only relevant if you have children; it allows you to specify whom you would like to look after them following your death.
Residuaries is where you name the people who are to receive the balance of your estate once any specific gifts (including donations to charity) have been disbursed. By default this is divided equally among the beneficiaries, but you can specify different proportions if you want.
The Funeral section is where you state whether you want to be buried or cremated, and any instructions surrounding the arrangements. You don’t have to complete this section if you don’t want to, though personally I think it’s wise to say whether you prefer to be buried or cremated at least, so your next of kin don’t have to agonize over this.
One thing I liked about all the pages is that there are ‘More Info’ buttons you can click on for more detail about the topic in question if you need it.
It’s also worth mentioning that different boxes open according to the selections you make. If you click on ‘Yes’ on the Guardians page (above), for example, new boxes will open allowing you to enter details of the person or persons concerned.
Finally, you are taken to a page where you can review what you have put, alter this if necessary, and proceed to payment. As already mentioned you can pay with a credit or debit card or via PayPal.
Once I had paid I received an email almost immediately with my will attached and a page of instructions for making it legal. About two hours later I received an email confirming that a solicitor had checked my will and not found any issues with it. Had I so wished, I could then have printed out the will document, stapled it together, and got it signed and witnessed. It would then have been fully legal.
Final Thoughts
Overall, I was impressed with the speed and simplicity of Make a Will Online. If you have a fairly straightforward will (as most people do) I see no reason not to recommend it. Of course, if your personal circumstances are complicated, or you have a substantial estate which may incur death duties, there is no substitute for seeing a solicitor face to face. This will inevitably cost quite a bit more, however.
One small reservation is that it’s still up to you to arrange to have your will signed and witnessed to make it legal. Full instructions are provided for doing this, and it’s not exactly rocket science. It is up to you, though, to ensure that you follow the rules correctly – no-one else will check this for you.
As always, if you have any comments or questions about this post or Make a Will Online, please feel free to post them below as usual. If I can’t answer a query myself, I will ask my contacts at MAWO for their response.
Special Offer – As an affiliate for Make a Will Online I can offer a discount code to anyone signing up via this blog post. Just enter the code MAWO5 at the checkout to get £5 off the price of a printed will. That’s a letter O in the code, not a number zero, by the way!
Disclosure: Make A Will Online kindly gave me the opportunity to try out their service free of charge. In addition, this post includes affiliate links. If you click through and make a purchase, I may receive a commission for introducing you. This will not affect the price you pay or the service you receive.
If you enjoyed this post, please link to it on your own blog or social media:
Today I am sharing an infographic from the credit reference agency Equifax.
If you have ever seen a job ad which seemed too good to be true, you might have missed the opportunity of a lifetime – or (far more likely) you could have narrowly avoided becoming a money mule.
Money mules are often ordinary people who unwittingly assist criminals by helping them launder money. People who work as money mules are often taken in by job ads offering them the chance to work from home as ‘payment officers’ or ‘finance assistants’, earning large sums of money per week. But what they don’t realise is the cash they are earning is a commission on the money (generally the proceeds of crime) they are transferring.
The infographic reveals how to spot a fake job offer, what’s going on behind the scenes when you work as a money mule, and what will happen to you if – or more likely when – you get caught.
Thank you to Equifax for an eye-opening graphic. Of course, I appreciate that most readers of this blog will believe they are too money-savvy to fall for these scams. Nonetheless, when you (and perhaps your family) are in financial hardship, ads that appear to offer an easy route out can be very enticing.
Also, if you know any older (or younger) people who may be susceptible to such scams, it’s important to look out for them and offer advice and support when appropriate.
As Pounds and Sense is aimed primarily at middle-aged and older people, it’s also worth noting that the 2019 Cifas Fraudscape report found that the largest rise (35%) in money mules was among people aged between 41 and 60.
In summary, the old mantra still applies: if it sounds too good to be true, it almost certainly is. There are genuine ways to make a sideline income, and of course I cover them regularly in Pounds and Sense. Get-rich-quick schemes seldom if ever work, however, and can rapidly plunge you into a world of trouble.
As always, if you have any comments or questions about this post (or the infographic), please do leave them below.
If you enjoyed this post, please link to it on your own blog or social media:
I have mentioned P2P lending platform Ratesetter a few times on Pounds and Sense – most notably in my Ratesetter review.
Ratesetter is one of my favorite lower-risk P2P lending sites. It lets you save via a tax-efficient IFISA and/or an ordinary (taxable) Everyday account.
Although their rates aren’t the highest – currently 3% to 4% – I like the fact that risk is spread across all loans on the platform, with a provision fund to cover any defaults. This means that if someone you have lent money to via the platform defaults, it shouldn’t affect your returns. It also means that – unlike some other P2P lending platforms – there is no need to diversify your lending across the platform in order to control risk.
The Changes
Originally you could invest in Ratesetter in a choice of three different products: Rolling Market, One Year and Five Year.
The Rolling Market was the closest to an ordinary savings account, letting you withdraw some or all of your money any time without penalty. With the 1-year and 5-year products you could still request withdrawals before the full term of the loan, but in those cases a percentage charge was applied. This was 0.3% with the 1-year product and 1.5% with the 5-year product.
Under the new system, loans are spread across all three types of product. What was called the Rolling Market is now an Access account. As before, you can withdraw money from this at any time without penalty. There is just a ‘fair usage’ clause, which prevents investors from lending new money for 14 days after a withdrawal.
Instead of the 1-year and 5-year products, there are now the Plus and the Max. The Plus product pays more interest, but if you want to withdraw you have to pay a ‘release fee’ of 30 days’ worth of interest based on Going Rate at the time of release. And with the Max product, which pays more still, you are charged a release fee comprising 90 days of interest, again based on Going Rate at the time of release.
The Going Rate is the current interest rate for loans in the three product categories. Previously this was set by the market, based on supply and demand. That meant it could fluctuate, sometimes considerably, from day to day and even hour to hour. The interest rate you received could therefore vary a lot.according to when you invested (and when any returns were reinvested).
Under the new system, interest rates are set by Ratesetter themselves. This makes Ratesetter feel more like an ordinary savings provider. Currently the Going Rates are as follows:
Access: 3.0%
Plus: 3.5%
Max 4.0%
If you are already a Ratesetter investor, you may therefore want to reassess the type of product in which your money is held.
If – like me and many others – you put your money into a Rolling Market (now Access) product, you may want to think about transferring some to a Plus or Max account to take advantage of the higher interest rates. There is no greater risk in these accounts, and the only downside is that you will lose 30 or 90 days’ interest if you withdraw early. Doing this is likely to deliver better overall returns, so long as you remain in for at least six months in the case of a Plus account and a year in the case of a Max account. (These are only very approximate figures, as the interest rates paid can change.)
If you want to do this, you can’t (unfortunately) transfer money directly from one type of product to another. Rather – and I have confirmed this with Ratesetter – you will need to start by withdrawing your money from the product it is in currently (e.g. Access) so it goes into your holding account. You can then invest from your holding account into the new product (e.g. Max) that you want. Bear in mind though the 14-day rule mentioned above.
My Thoughts
Overall, I like these changes to Ratesetter. The new Going Rates are admittedly a little lower than the previous market rates. However, I think the greater stability and certainty over the interest rate you will be getting more than make up for this. I also like the new, simpler terms for withdrawing money from your account. I will continue to invest in Ratesetter and regard it as one of the safer (if less exciting) components of my portfolio.
As I’ve noted before on Pounds and Sense, P2P lending does not enjoy the same level of protection as bank and building society savings, which are covered (up to £85,000) by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS). Nonetheless, the rates on offer at Ratesetter are significantly better than those from most banks and building societies. And the existence of a substantial across-the-board provision fund with a strong record of protecting investors from losses clearly offers reassurance.
It’s also reassuring that with all three products you can access your money if needed at any time, even though in the case of Plus and Max you will be charged a release fee for this. Obviously, you shouldn’t therefore put money into the Plus or Max products if you think there is any likelihood you will need it back within a month or two.
Clearly, no-one should put all their spare cash into Ratesetter (or any other P2P lending platform). Nonetheless, it is certainly worth considering as part of a diversified portfolio. Not only are the rates of return higher than those offered by banks and building societies, they are relatively unaffected by ups and downs in the stock market. P2P lending isn’t a way of hedging your equity-based investments directly, but it does definitely help spread the risk.
If you would like more information about Ratesetter, please see my original Ratesetter review (which I will be fully updating soon).
Welcome Offer
Currently if you are new to RateSetter you can get £100 added to your account for free just by signing up and depositing £1,000. Full terms of the offer are reproduced below, and you can also find them on the RateSetter website.
You can take advantage of this offer so long as you
have not previously registered with RateSetter;
register after 27th March 2020; and
deposit a minimum of £1,000 through the RateSetter ISA or Everyday account and this is matched within 56 calendar days of opening an account.
Your bonus will be credited to your Everyday Account and invested in RateSetter’s Access (instant access) product at the going rate (currently 3%) within 30 working days of qualifying. From here you can transfer it to your ISA account if you like or simply withdraw it.
My Thoughts: This is a great offer from RateSetter if you are new to the platform. If you invest £1,000 and keep it there for a year, then including the £100 welcome bonus you will get a total return of between 13 and 14 percent for the first year (depending on whether you opt to invest your money in the Access, Plus or Max product). As a matter of interest, this is the same welcome offer I took advantage of when I signed up with RateSetter two years ago, and my bonus £100 was credited without any issues (or prompting from me) twelve months later.
Obviously if you need your £1,000 at any time, you can withdraw it (normally within 24 hours). This will though mean you don’t receive the £100 welcome bonus at the end of the first year.
Clearly, this is a generous promotional offer by RateSetter and I assume it won’t be available forever. If you want to take advantage, therefore, don’t wait too long. I will remove this information if/when I hear the offer is no longer valid.
If you have any comments or questions about this post, as always, please do leave them below.
Disclosure: As stated above, this post includes my referral link. If you click through and make an investment, I will receive a bonus for introducing you. This has no effect on the terms or benefits you will receive. Please be aware also that I am not a qualified financial adviser and nothing in this post should be construed as individual financial advice. You should do your own ‘due diligence’ before making any investment, and take professional advice if at all unsure how best to proceed.
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I recently received an email telling me about a new (free) cashback site called My Money Pocket. As a fan of cashback sites I was very happy to check it out.
My Money Pocket is a UK site. It is therefore entering an arena currently dominated by what might be called the Big Two here, Quidco and Top Cashback.
As with those two sites, My Money Pocket offers members the chance to earn cashback by following links to a variety of online retailers. These are affiliate/referral links, and My Money Pocket receives commission for any purchases made by people clicking through them. My Money Pocket then shares this commission with the member concerned.
Getting Started
Before you can use My Money Pocket to get cashback, you do (of course) need to register on the site. All they require for this is your email address and a password. On the plus side, that makes signing up very quick and easy. On the minus side, I find it slightly odd that they don’t ask for your name, which means you can’t see this when you are signed in. That could be problematic if you share your computer with other family members, as you may not know which of you is actually logged in!
I did ask My Money Pocket why they don’t ask for a name when registering, and they said it was to avoid privacy issues. Personally, though, I would much sooner see “Welcome, Nick” (or whatever) at the top of the screen to reassure me that I am actually signed in to my own account.
Once you are logged in you can start earning cashback by clicking through the links provided to a wide range of online stores. Most of these are also available with Top Cashback and Quidco, but the cashback rates (and terms) are different – better in some cases, worse in others. As with all things shopping related, it really does pay to shop around!
The website looks bright and welcoming, but a large area at the top is taken up by an offers carousel, which personally I find a bit obtrusive. I thought the site navigation was okay, but not quite as intuitive as the Big Two. I would prefer a traditional tabbed navigation menu of the sort that is used on Top Cashback and Quidco (and many other websites), but maybe I am just being a bit old-fashioned.
There is a drop-down Categories menu at the top left of the screen. This takes you to cashback offers in the following categories:
Fashion
Food and Drink
Health and Beauty
Electricals
Travel
Broadband
Entertainment and Leisure
Utilities
Gifts
Mobile
Home and Garden
Free Cashback
Gaming
Shopping
Office and Business
Sport
Gambling
Within most of these categories there are sub-categories as well. Incidentally, ‘Free Cashback’ lists offers where you don’t have to spend money to get cashback – for example, you might just have to request a quotation for your car insurance.
As with Top Cashback and Quidco, once you have made a purchase with one of the merchants on My Money Pocket, you will then have to wait for your cashback to be tracked, approved, paid and credited to your My Money Pocket account. You will then be able to withdraw this money, either to your bank account (through BACS) or via PayPal.
One other feature is that you can refer other people to My Money Pocket and receive £5 cashback yourself when they have earned a minimum of £10 in cashback. Note that all links in this blog post include my referral code 🙂
Final Thoughts
It’s early days for My Money Pocket and the site is still to some extent a work in progress. Nonetheless, there is nothing to lose by signing up for free now and checking out the deals on offer. As I said earlier, I would recommend checking and comparing My Money Pocket, Top Cashback and Quidco to see which site is currently offering the best terms for any retailer you intend to buy from.
As always, if you have any questions or comments about this post, please do leave them below.
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Today I am reviewing an e-book (and bonuses) titled The Best 10 Low Cost Home Business Plans by my UK blogging colleague Gerri Spiers. Gerri was kind enough to send me a free review copy.
As the name suggests, this is a guide for anyone hoping to set up their own business, whether to escape a job they dislike or simply to provide a route out of unemployment. Many of these businesses could also be run part-time to provide a sideline income and/or to fit in with childcare or other caring responsibilities. They could also work for older people or people with disabilities who may not want (or be able to cope with) a full-time job.
The Best 10 Low Cost Home Business Plans is a downloadable 112-page ebook in the standard PDF format. It is professionally written and presented, with illustrations where appropriate. There are also clickable hyperlinks to relevant websites and resources (this is a particular benefit of the ebook format, of course).
It wouldn’t be fair to Gerri to reveal exactly what all the businesses are. However, what I can say is that they are generally the type of business I see many ordinary people in my area running today, and they address a large target audience that clearly needs such services. These are not, for the most part, online businesses, but real-world local services for which there is a proven demand. They are definitely not get-rich-quick schemes. You will need to be prepared to roll up your sleeves and put in some hard yards – but if you do this, the rewards should definitely come.
Although (as per the title) these can be run as home-based businesses, many will also involve going out and about to meet clients, provide services, negotiate with suppliers, and so forth. As the title indicates, none of these businesses would be expensive to set up.
For each plan, Gerri sets out what the business involves, whom it is best suited for, the skills and/or qualifications required, and how much you may be able to earn. She also sets out a range of useful resources, organisations to join, and so on. The resources are predominantly UK based – not surprisingly, as Gerri lives here – but many of the plans would work just as well in other parts of the world too.
Gerri also goes into some detail about how to market the business in question. The book is particularly strong on this, with sensible, practical suggestions that will raise awareness of your business and help attract more clients to it.
In the opening chapter the book sets out some general advice about setting up a business. This is concise but sensible, and links are provided to additional resources for further information. Finally, the book closes with a chapter of useful websites, and some inspirational final thoughts that will have you champing at the bit to get started 🙂
One small criticism is that, while there is a table of contents at the front of the ebook, it is not hyperlinked to the chapters in question. For ease of reference and navigation this would have been helpful.
Bonuses
In addition to the main ebook, buyers get two bonus items.
The first of these is a 92-page PDF ebook titled 50 Tried and Tested Hacks to Help Grow Your Online Business (see picture below).
I was slightly surprised that the title of this ebook refers to online business, whereas the main guide is more about running a ‘real world’ business. It is, however an in-depth guide to promotional techniques that can be used to promote any type of business.
Each of the 50 ‘Hacks’ takes up one to three pages. In them Gerri sets out a particular marketing strategy or tactic followed by a single paragraph ‘takeaway’ which sums it up. For example, one suggested strategy is to offer a number of differently priced upsells. The takeaway for this is: ‘Offer a range of differently priced upsells to customers to increase the total of each sale. Upsells are complimentary or additional options on an offer a customer is already purchasing. Include at least one.’
I thought there were some great tips in this bonus guide, and some – such as using the word ‘only’ when quoting prices – that seemed to me rather stating the obvious. But then again, I am a 63-year-old semi-retired copywriter, so maybe what is obvious to me isn’t as obvious to someone who is just starting out!
One thing I did like about the bonus guide is that (unlike the main ebook) the table of contents at the front has active links.
The third and final bonus is a downloadable cashflow forecast spreadsheet, in Microsoft Excel format. Anyone who is planning on starting a new business should have one of these, as it will indicate the predicted flow of money in and out of the business, and highlight when and how any possible cashflow problems may occur. In addition, if you are applying for a loan from your bank or a grant (if you can find anyone offering these now!) you will need to provide one of these as part of your business plan.
Final Thoughts
Overall, I was very impressed with The Best 10 Low Cost Home Business Plans. If you are considering setting up a business from home and looking for some realistic ideas that won’t cost a fortune, there is no doubt you will find much to inspire you here. The plans are varied and don’t generally require any special skills or training. Whatever your background, whether you are male or female, old or young, you are bound to find one idea – and probably more – that could form the basis of a successful, money-making business for you.
The guide (and bonuses) should also represent a valuable resource once you have started your business, with lots of practical tips and techniques you can use to attract more clients for your business and grow your income.
Today I’m bringing you an infographic created by I Will, a firm of solicitors who specialize in will writing.
I thought this summed up neatly the importance of keeping your will up to date as your life circumstances change, so I wanted to share it with readers of this blog. It’s quite a long graphic, so please take a little time to scroll down it, and I’ll see you at the other end!
Thanks again to I Will Solicitors (not an affiliate link) for permission to use their graphic. There are some valuable tips in it, not least the advice to review your will every five years or sooner in the event there are major changes in your life.
As I have said before in Pounds and Sense, I highly recommend using a properly qualified solicitor when writing or updating your will. I have had a couple of experiences when failing to do this has caused problems..
One concerned the will of my late partner. We had created mirror wills some years before, using a well-known postal will-writing service. At their suggestion we named the will-writing company as joint executors, as their representative said this meant they would be able to step in and help if required. Sadly my partner passed away and I then discovered that having the company as a named executor meant I couldn’t have the local solicitor I wanted handle the estate on my behalf. It took several months (and a lot of hassle I could really have done without) to get them to renounce their interest in the will so that my preferred legal firm could take over.
Another instance concerned a family member who passed away a couple of years ago. I don’t want to go into detail about this, for obvious reasons, but he had used a family friend who ran a will-writing service to create his will. The will was poorly drafted and did not make clear exactly how the estate should be divided up. It didn’t help either that there were multiple updates of the will, some of which were of doubtful validity. The result was a bitter dispute between two of the main beneficiaries, which ended with an outcome that was probably far from what he had intended.
So my top tips with wills would be (a) make sure you have one, (b) have it drawn up by a qualified solicitor, (c) give careful thought to whom you name as executor, and (d) review it regularly and update if needed. For other advice, please refer to the infographic above!
Just a reminder also that, as mentioned in my last post, October is Free Wills Month in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Under this scheme you may be able to have your will drawn up or updated free of charge with participating solicitors. Please see my blog post for more information about this.
If you have any comments or questions, as ever, please do post them below.
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