Personal Finance and Investing

Good news for savers this week. National Savings and Investments (NS&I) shocked other banks and building societies by launching a market beating savings product.

NS&I had a good 2008. First, the collapse of Northern Rock sent savers running for the safety of an HM Treasury guaranteed account. Then, in October 2008, Lehman Brothers collapsed and panicking savers pushed £10bn more into NS&I’s coffers. But in the last six months, customers have been deserting NS&I due to its pitiful interest rates. Now that is about to change once more.

A market-topping one-year bond

That’s because the bank’s new one-year fixed-rate growth bond has shot straight to the top of the best-buy tables with a rate of 3.95%AER.

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When in need of an agency to handle debt consolidation, the obvious resource to turn to is the Internet for a search. However, after searching through the Internet, you may be confused as to which financial help agency to choose from. There are so many choices and it can be difficult to choose from among so many available.

There are several factors that will help you figure out how to pick from each of the consolidation companies. If you pick wisely, you can get the help you need. Keeping the tips in mind will help you avoid any scams or problems.

First, a good debt consolidation agency will not ask you to give up any money without telling you their services and showing you an exact plan of action that they will undertake for you.

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With many people in debt, it isn’t surprising that creating a savings account and plan to go along with it isn’t at the top of the priority list for most people. Many people blow off savings plans citing reasons such as not having enough money to start one, assuming savings plans are only for one future purpose, or not knowing how to go about setting one up.

The truth is that savings accounts can act as anything from an emergency fund to a money pot to save up for something you may really want. An emergency fund is the most common reason for starting a savings plan and is something everyone should consider starting as soon as possible.

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Americans have had a complete turnaround in their spending habits. Those Americans who were working during the relative prosperity of the 1990s, but perhaps missed some of the recessions in the 1970s or late 1980s, tended to spend everything they made – and even some that they didn’t make.

Of course, excessive spending was a problem across the board, with even major banks giving out more money than they could afford. All of this meant that when the bubble burst, too many people were caught between a rock and a hard place.

For many, the housing market has made it very difficult to stay afloat, financially. The

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