NEW YORK - Santa’s on a budget this year. Toy retailers and makers plan to make the best of it by offering more deals and cut-price versions of more expensive toys that they hope will spur parents to spend even if they’re scrimping elsewhere. Two influential lists of expected hot holiday [ Read More → ]

The Government has identified 22 ‘hot spots’ where residents are more at risk of repossession Photo: PA Local councils will then be able to offer advice and support to those facing repossession before proceedings begin. Currently, councils can offer these services only after they have been contacted by the home [ Read More → ]

NEW YORK—On football and soccer fields across the nation, small business owners are taking advantage of a huge marketing opportunity: sponsoring local sports teams. Just about every sport, from T-ball played by 5-year-olds to semi-pro baseball or basketball, offers small businesses a chance to get some name recognition and create goodwill [ Read More → ]

NEW YORK - Can’t find an ATM from your bank nearby? Keep walking, unless you want to pay higher fees. An annual survey released Wednesday by Bankrate.com found the average ATM fee for non-customers rose 12.6 percent this year to $2.22. You’ll likely get dinged by your own bank, too. The average [ Read More → ]

It isn’t just ex-partners that can ruin your credit rating, previous debt problems, missing a mobile phone payment, even moving house can all affect your credit score. But many people remain confused about what financial information is stored about us, and how this is used by lenders. Protect [ Read More → ]

FRIEND TURNED BOSS: You have lunch together every day, grab an occasional drink after work, and have gotten each other through work-related crises. So wouldn’t it be strange if your office buddy became your new boss? It’s more likely to happen in the current economic environment as hiring freezes force companies [ Read More → ]

Dame Joan Bakewell: ‘We cannot have a large segment of the population simply not working and living off the rest. The old will have to work’ Photo: GETTY She said the current mandatory retirement age of 65 – which allows employers to force older workers to retire – should be abolished, [ Read More → ]

Dropping the Money Managers name is not about running and hiding from the past, it’s about reflecting the huge change the business has been through in the past 18 months, according to the financial advisory group’s boss Derek Young. The nationwide company, founded in 1985 by Doug Somers-Edgar on Auckland’s North [ Read More → ]

Goodbye to the 0pc mortgage Thousands of home owners who are currently enjoying rock-bottom mortgage rates will soon see these ultra-cheap deals come to an end. Borrowers lucky enough to have snapped up tracker deals with Halifax, Cheltenham & Gloucester (C&G) and Birmingham Midshires two years ago have been [ 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 → ]