Credit Score Club

Aging baby boomers and their echo boomer children will significantly impact trends in the nation’s housing market over the next 20 years. In a new report released by the Bipartisan Policy Center, “Demographic Challenges and Opportunities for U.S. Housing Markets,” researchers at the National Association of Realtors, The Urban Institute, and the University of Southern California analyze key demographic trends and their likely influence on housing and homeownership in the U.S.

Over the next two decades, the aging baby boomer generation will swell the nation’s senior population by 30 million. That de

Full Post…

Investment advisers also are wary of the process, citing the inherent risks of investing in unproven businesses and weak regulatory oversight.

But proponents of crowd-funding legislation, which could be signed into law by President Barack Obama as early as this week, assert that the measure would help launch more startups by enabling entrepreneurs to sell shares in small increments online.

Advocates contend that it is a badly needed way to raise capital and democratize investing letting investors claim a stake in everything from the next Google Inc. to a favorite coffee shop.

REG D COMPARISON

In a letter to senators last month, however, Jack Herstein, president of the North American Securities Administrators Association Inc.

Full Post…

When it comes to vehicle insurance costs, many drivers are already facing huge hikes due to the general soaring prices of car insurance. For many, the combination of high insurance costs and rocketing petrol prices is making it more and more difficult to keep their vehicles on the roads, which in turn impacts on other areas of their lives such as getting the kids to school, getting to work, etc.

A recent report has shown that uninsured drivers across the UK are simply adding to the premium misery that bona fide drivers with insurance cover are experiencing, with the average amount being added to car insurance policies because of uninsured drivers coming in at around £30.

Full Post…

With mortgage interest rates at historic lows, even those who recently took out a mortgage to purchase a property or remortgaged may find advantage in refinancing their current loan. Before contacting refinancing organisations in your area, it is wise to get an understanding of the main options in the market.

Standard Variable Rate (SVR): This is the standard mortgage type by which most other loan options are compared. Each mortgage lender has an SVR of interest on which it bases it mortgage rates. The rates are based on the Bank of England’s base lending rate, which is set monthly in response to economic conditions.

Discount Rate: As the name implies, a discount rate mortgage features a reduction in interest rate relative to the SVR. Full Post…

In the book 7 Money Rules for Life®: How to Take Control of Your Financial Future, author Mary Hunt talks about the reason she lists “spend less than you earn” as her first and most important rule. Her thoughts:

Until you spend less than you earn, you can forget the other six [rules]. Without rule #1 it will be impossible to master the rest.

As most of you know, I list spend less than you earn as my best piece of financial advice. for the same reason. Or as I like to say:

Even if you earn $1 million, if you spend $1 million plus five dollars more, youre going backwards financially.

And believe me, you can spend it all and more no matter how much you make.

Full Post…

13.30: Insurers are topping the fallers’ board today after record catastrophe claims pushed Lloyd’s of London to a 516million loss in 2011.   

The Japanese tsunami, New Zealand earthquakes and Thailand floods were among tragedies that led to 4.6billion of claims in what Lloyds called a ‘year of unprecedented catastrophe’.

Read more here on results from the 324-year-old insurance market, which is made up of 87 underwriting syndicates.

Euro crisis: Traders are worried that Spain is back in recession

RSA fell 6 per cent or 7.3p to 108.6p, while other insurers on the back foot were Prudential, down 25.8p at 771.8p, and Aviva, down 4.9p at 341p.

The FTSE 100 was off 3.1 points at 5,866.5 in lunchtime trading.

The latest bout of anxiety on markets has been caused by downbeat comments from the head of America’s central bank Ben Bernanke following yesterday’s weak U.S. con

Full Post…