Most home buyers purchase life assurance when they arrange a mortgage, but only a minority obtain another form of financial protection that they are five times more likely to need before they reach retirement. Critical illness assurance pays a tax-free lump sum on diagnosis of any one of [ Read More → ]

IF YOU want to get the best return on your money and have already put all you can into a cash Isa this year, you may want to consider equity Isas – Isas that invest in stocks and shares. Equity Isas have a number of advantages over their cash counterparts. [ Read More → ]

On Wall Street, it paid to wear rose-colored glasses in the third quarter. Another surge in stock prices rewarded investors who kept faith that the recession was ending — even amid growing concern about the recovery’s dependence on government support. The Dow Jones industrial average, which slipped 29.92 points, or 0.3%, to [ Read More → ]

Massachusetts lawmakers will consider new rules today to protect consumers from abuses involving overdraft charges on bank accounts, unsolicited loans from financial institutions, and reverse mortgages. For instance, State Senator Steven Baddour, a Democrat from Methuen, has filed a bill to require institutions that mail unsolicited loan offers - such [ Read More → ]

Pensioners Bruce and Judy Bartle have lost their case against the finance company that lent them more than their house was worth to invest in Blue Chip. However the judge has ruled that the lawyer who advised them - a Blue Chip specialist who acted for over 150 investors in the [ Read More → ]

The fall in rates to their lowest average level since the tax-efficient savings account was launched in 1999 comes despite the Bank of England’s Bank Rate being held at 0.5pc since March 5, when the average cash Isa rate stood at 0.96pc. The disclosure comes just days before [ Read More → ]

With the market for initial public offerings heating up, online tech retailer Newegg.com is looking to cash in. The fast-growing City of Industry company, which sells computers, software and consumer electronics, filed Monday to sell as much as $175 million in stock to the public. The company was founded in 2001 by [ Read More → ]

SAN FRANCISCO - Social Security provides a majority of the retirement income for about two-thirds of Americans over age 65, but if you’re in your mid-50s or younger, it’s time to make alternate arrangements. The program’s dismal outlook has long been known, but the recent economic crisis further scarred the program’s [ Read More → ]

Who’s the greater villain: the guy at a bar who has one drink too many or the bartender who sold him that drink? If you think there’s enough blame to go around, you’ll agree there are two wrongs and two rights on the controversy surrounding bank overdraft protection fees. It’s wrong for [ Read More → ]

The City watchdog, the Financial Services Authority, is also calling for consumers to be given a cooling-off period after they have signed up to one of the schemes, while firms will be banned from cold calling and dropping promotional leaflets through letter boxes. It is also proposing stopping [ Read More → ]