Cycle Insurance

Some of you know I do a bit of mountain biking, so the subject of bike insurance is something I have considered at length.
Most standard buildings and contents insurances cover bikes…usually with a standard limit of £200 – £250. This is fine, it covers your average bike.
But many people who are enthusiastic about cycling will [...]

Long term interest rates…

I have noticed that fixed rate pricing is slowly coming down and the ‘impending apocalypse prophesies’ of  what happens when interest rates go back up are easing, although they haven’t gone away completely.
Popular opinion in financial surveys seems to suggest a more gradual increase to interest rates as inflation fears ease.
The current ‘hope’ is that [...]

That’s nice

And, as if to back up my post for Friday 25th on ‘if it’s too good to be true’ this article appeared in the Sunday Times of 27th September.

Investments – a great rule of thumb.

I was at a presentation by the Pru yesterday and they reminded me about one of the basic rules of financial decision making – if you are being shown an investment that looks too good to be true – it probably is.
Currently there are many investment/saving accounts that are linked to the stock market (so [...]

Social – incredible fact!

It was put to me that turtles breathe through their butts!
This immediately required a tea break and some moments on google resulting in two discoveries. No, wait a minute, 3!
1. Some turtles, but not all,  do indeed breathe through their butts!
2. I found that in several places, but I was especially happy with www.straightdope.com
It [...]

Rice

OK, this is a bit wide of my remit, unless you can count it as Commodities! Actually, I’m not authorised to advise on commodities either…I’ll carry on!
Here’s the thing, if you buy rice by the 500g packet, or 1kg packet you are often looking at £40 – £50 per 10kg.
You can buy a 10kg sack [...]

£100 off your utility bill in time for Christmas…

…2010
Utility Warehouse are enticing new customers by offering a £100 cashback for customers who take gas/electricity and telephone/broadband through them.
The £100 comes as a discount off your bill in the 12th month – so probably November/December 2010.
That seems ages away, but you’ll appreciate it next Christmas. Taking into account their Triple Value Gaurantee you will [...]

Fixed rate mortgage

It’s interesting to note a couple of trends in the world of fixed rates at the moment.
There are many more 4 year fixed rates coming to the market. Until recently there were no 4 year fixed rates at all, so this is odd, and so there must be a reason.
My best guess is that fixed [...]

Critical Illness claim

The practice has been involved in a flurry of claims on critical illness, terminal illness and income protection.
This can be very sad, but it is good to be able to help people in these situations.
Also, from a professional perspective it’s been interesting on two fronts.
Firstly, so far, the claims have all been paid by the [...]

Lets talk about cancer…

Yesterday I had the results of some tests and I don’t have cancer or diabetes, which is a relief of course, although curiously it does mean I either either have ’something else’ or nothing, both options being quite unsettling.
Anyway, there is nothing like being tested for cancer to focus the mind and my initial thoughts [...]