Business and Finance

Protecting your savings from Inflation:

With RPI hitting 5% in September 2008 i thought it was time to see what accounts allow a real positive return and it is not good.

RPI at 5% means a basic rate tax payer needs a gross return of 6.25% and a 40% taxpayer needs 8.33%. If you are not getting these rates on your current savings accounts your savings are losing value in real terms. Even many ISA’s are paying less than 5% so also bad news.

The best of the bunch for ISA’s is the Post Office paying 6.25% on £1 minimum. If you don’t have that amount consider the HSBC ISA paying 6.25% on minimum £1.

The best of the fixed rate bonds are ICICI 7.2% requiring £1000+ and the AA paying 7.21% on minimum £500+ . These will give inflation beating returns for a standard tax payer but not if you pay 40%.

Continue reading ‘Inflation Beating Savings Accounts’ »

Finding lost bank accounts can not only result in money for the account owner, but you can make a few dollars in the process too. Unclaimed property locators are individuals who take on the task of reuniting folks with money that they’ve become separated from. In the case of unclaimed bank accounts your job is to match up dormant accounts with the rightful account holders. In the case of a deceased account holder, your goal is to find the next of kin or heir to the estate.

Bank accounts go unclaimed for a variety of reasons. Many parents decide to open up a savings account for their child when they’re small with the intention of gifting it to them when they enter adulthood. For whatever reason, many people simply lose track of those accounts. So they sit untouched for years. Eventually the bank hands those accounts over to the government where they’re kept until the owner comes along. An unclaimed property locator speeds up the process by finding lost bank accounts, matching them with the owner and then negotiating a fee to help with the claim process.

Continue reading ‘Finding Lost Bank Accounts For Others Can Make You Money’ »

While most people struggle to make ends meet as they live life paycheck to paycheck, over $1 billion dollars of unclaimed money is sitting in an account waiting to be claimed. Sounds insane, I know. You’re thinking, who wouldn’t go get their money? Don’t they want it and if not, can I have it? That’s the problem though. Most people that are owed money don’t know they are owed. So while you’re sitting here thinking you wish you can have a slice of that billion dollar pie, a slice might already be yours.

The question is how has the bureau of unclaimed money actually accumulated all that money? Usually “deposits” come from bank accounts that are inactive or forgotten about or from utility companies that owe back money or deposits. It can also come from tangible items that were left in safety deposit boxes. Legally all that money is owed to you even if you’re not there to claim it so it’s forwarded to the bureau of unclaimed money until someone can either track you down or until you find out it’s waiting for you. If you think there is a possibility that you are owed money you can do a search on the internet at no cost. Each state will have their own database so if you’ve moved around a lot make sure you check all the states you’ve lived in.

Continue reading ‘The Bureau of Unclaimed Money’ »