An Age of Magic

Do people save money anymore?

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

I wonder what our grandparents, and even our great-grandparents, make of the current financial climate. After all they were probably the last generation of humans who bought things like cars and houses with cash rather than the Car Loans that everyone opts for nowadays.

The saved and then bought; today we save but usually towards a deposit on what it is we wish to buy. For the larger purchases that is. For the smaller things in life, such as furniture and holidays, the way to go is through Personal Loans. This is not a growing trend as such, but rather the established way.

Popularity: 61% [?]

When your insurance is a friend indeed

So many of us consider insurance of any kind to be one of life’s necessary evils. Well, when you consider the cost of it and how long you actually pay into it without ever needing to make a claim of any sort, then yes it does often seem to be a superfluous expense. And a regular one at that. But just consider what would happen if you did not bother with it at all. I can tell you right now, from experience, that as soon as you allow that policy to expire and as soon as you decide that you no longer need it the need will all of a sudden crop up.

How many of us have said to ourselves…Oh I don’t have the money to renew the policy this month - I’ll take care of it next month. I’ll remember to do so. No Worries!…

Only to drive the car down to the local supermarket and for some reason or another side-swipe the car beside you whilst parking - or have that elderly person scrape your car because they never saw you there. It has happened to me and I will bet it has happened to so many of you. Personally, I feel that insurance and fate go hand in hand with each other. Forget one and the other is only too happy to remind you of the consequences. 

We discovered that house insurance can be your best friend when on just one occasion the bath upstairs overflowed; water seeping through the ceiling and down the walls as a result.  Our fault I admit. But our house insurance came to the rescue and not only fitted us with a new bathroom but re-painted the downstairs room and to our liking!

And then there was the time last year when, whilst we were moving the washing-machine from the third floor down to the ground level during which time it fell down a flight of stairs and got damaged beyond repair, the insurance came to the rescue and replaced it! and don’t even get me started on the necessity for Business Insurance…

Just consider if you do have a business…theft, water damage, electrical failure…the things that can happen that may never enter your mind but do as soon as you let your guard down.

The thing is…don’t!.

Popularity: 53% [?]

Can you afford a mortgage today?

I was reading recently about how the growing trend of adults continuing to live with their parents due to the fact that young people these days are finding so much more difficult to get their foot on the property ladder. And it is true. The days of cheap mortgages are clearly numbered and as for cheap or affordable housing…you can just about forget it. You cannot afford to buy in the cities and even the rural areas have seen a huge boom in property values due to the interest in living in the country. So why is this and what do you do?

I blame two factors; the banks and the real estate industry. Estate agents and banks have conspired to spoil the house-buying party over the past few years. If the banks will lend it, the agents can charge it. Simple. Until it all goes wrong, and it has done so often. So here’s hoping that when these professions get their own houses back in order, and common sense returns, houses will become affordable again. But who can see this happening in the near future? Access to affordable mortgages for those wanting to buy and live in their own home should not become an impossible dream.

As it has been the norm for a child to inherit his/her parents house in the past people were content to wait years. They rented and saved then moved into Mum and Dads house. Now they rent and save and find it difficult to do anything else; the problem is on retirement - having enough money to keep paying that rent or be able to buy that house. 

I would say that mortgage brokers are having a field day right now as potential housebuyers are lining up to grab what is left at the cheaper end of the mortgage market and there are still good deals to be found. It pays to get an expert to do the legwork for you though - saves you heaps of time and gets you the best deal around. You have to live with the results for many years afterwards!

Popularity: 46% [?]