Money Transfer – Libyan Style
A ship containing a £100 million of Libyan bank notes has been seized by the UK Border Agency according to this report.
We could burn it to generate electricity or perhaps the government could give us all a few notes to perhaps use for a sensible purpose like stopping tables from rocking. Or perhaps as stand-by toilet paper!
The Land Bank Scam
I first came across these land investment scams about three years ago, when my late son built a web site for a company that was selling small strips of land with the promise of future planning permission. They were targeting mainly Asian families and were pulling in a lot of punters.
I told him to stay clear of this type of company and on telling a respected estate agent, he said it was a big problem and no-one seemed to be doing anything about it.
So why has it taken so long to reach the headlines? I suppose NuLabor had other priorities, like clinging to power.
Even now, type “land banking” into Google and there are quite a few sites out there trying to sell you bits of worthless land. But now, there are also lots of warnings from respected financial commentators like the Guardian and agencies like the FSA. Read the latter items and ignore the sales pitches.
Needless to say, but my son was never paid for his work.
I Never Use My Visa Card On-Line
I’ve just been reviewing my credit card use, as it is getting to that time in the month when they get paid.
The interesting thing is that my Visa card is now never used on-line and hasn’t been for some months, as the stupid Verified by Visa system is a complete deterent to on-line use, as I pointed out in an earlier post.
The system may mean that my bank doesn’t see any on-line fraud with credit cards, but I just wonder if some people have cut-up their Visa cards in frustration at the security system.
Would You Employ an Accountant Who Couldn’t Add Up?
One of the stories today is that the Nulabor government cocked up the rate of inflation, which meant that pensioners were underpaid to the collective tune of £80billion.
There is no excuse and mistakes like this by governments of all colours and competences are woven into the rich tapestry of history. Years ago, a colleague left to work for the Department of Trade and calculate the trade statistics. A few years later there was a serious mistake. I don’t think it was his fault, but because he worked there, we spotted it and had a bit of fun at his expense.
Whoever said, that there are lies, “damned lies and statistics” was right. Latest thinking says it was Charles Wentworth Dilke and not Mark Twain or Benjamin Disraeli. Although the phrase should probably be “lies, damned lies and government statistics”
Is Now the Time to Get a Zopa Loan?
One of the advantages of a Zopa is that you get the loan at a fixed-rate for three or five years. With interest rates, likely to rise in the next few months according to many, such as the Telegraph, if you have a good credit rating, could Zopa be the place to get a loan now?
After all, the great advantage is that if you cash a Zopa loan in, you don’t pay any penalties. And you can even change the repayment day, if your salary date should change say.
An Engineering Icon
BBC Breakfast were talking about BT and showed a background of the Forth Rail Bridge. Nothing about telecoms, but it shows how iconic and well-known the bridge is.
Small Brain Says VAT Rise is Wrong
He might make statements like this, but wasn’t Small Brain part of the government that got us into this mess in the first place. Let’s face it, there are only so many things a Chancellor can do and raising VAT is one of them.
What would Small Brain do?
He would certainly not apply the old adage, that if you’re in a hole, you stop digging.
His friends in the unions would probably have walked him to the IMF by now!
If others use their car less, then the VAT rise would be a pain worth enduring!
But he’s ignoring Newton’s Law here. People will take actions to avoid the VAT. They’ve either bought early or will be delaying purchases until things get better.
I think we’ll all wonder what the VAT fuss was about in a couple of months. Except of course for the truckers, who will protest! But it could be argued that they’re losing more business because a lot more goods are being moved by rail.
Zopa As A Cash Flow Smoother
As I indicated in an earlier post, I’ve had a lot of expenses over the previous few weeks, mainly concerned with Christmas and moving house.
As I have invested quite a few thousand in Zopa, over a month I get about £2,000 in repayments and interest to re-invest. But this month, I’ve borrowed some of that to avoid charges and make sure payments go in on the right day. At the end of the month, I’ll put it back into Zopa or something even better.
This is not what Zopa was intended for, but it does show how there are easy ways to avoid being charged by the enormous wunch of bankers out there.
The Alternative Annuity
The government has stated that it will be abolishing the rule on annuities that means that insurance companies chew up a large proportion of your pension in adminstration charges and incompetence. Whether they actually will abolish it is open to question, as I suspect that insurance companies will be difficult to throw off this particular gravy train.
There is an old joke, which goes something like “How do you make a small fortune?” with an answer of “Start with a large one! and give it to a financial advisor!”
I am not a financial advisor, but I’ve lost millions due to their incompetence. Don’t worry as I’ve also made millions by completely ignoring their advice! So on balance I know a good investment when I see it and a bad one, when no-one else does. I should say that I don’t invest in stocks and shares as I’m then at the mercy of a market over which I have no control. I do wish sometimes, that in the past, I’d used my technological knowledge to buy a few stocks. As an example, I told people that Alan Sugar would be a star in the early 1970s, as what do you get if you give technology to a man, who made his first money flogging car radio aerials and electronic goods from a van? But I had no money to invest when he took Amstrad public. I also met one of the founders of 3Com at Comdex in Las Vegas and thought they were a good thing! They had a tiny stand there which was probably about the size of Alan Sugar’s van.
So do I regret a life of missed opportunities? No! I’m with Piaf on this one!
Life is just a series of pauses, waiting for the next bus to come along. Luckily the buses are getting bigger, better and more comfortable.
It is two years and a couple of months, since I first put the money from C’s Porsche Boxster into Zopa. I added a bit from my pension fund and a few thousand here and there, so that now I’ve got about £50,000 invested. Not a large fortune by any means, but typical of the sort of pots many people of my age have in savings. Every month now, it repays me about £3,000 back in interest and repaid loans, which I reinvest immediately, so the pot is growing! I have had three loans go bad on me, but I’m only £350 down on them and one has even started repaying its debts.
So if you look at the sort of cash flow, you get with Zopa, it is a sum paid paid in, which gives you an income over a period of years, not unlike an annuity. But without all the charges!
So does a retirement financial strategy go something like this. As you approach retirement, you put a small sum into Zopa, so that you get comfortable with the concept. Then as you get happier, you transfer your money accordingly. There is one problem with Zopa though; that is that it is not liked by financial advisers. After all where’s the commission? If they are Zopa investors themselves they may get a bullseye, if they introduce a new investor, but that’s not going to make anybody rich.
Zopa though will be followed by other imitators. Some will be better, but the ones I’ve seen so far are not, often because they have tried to accommodate the dreaded financial adviser.
The Anonymous Widower 