2young2retireUK

Single or divorced?

I noticed that a divorce coaching colleague of mine had written about the fact that declaring yourself as divorced on application forms that could be used to initiate a credit check, could actually harm your chances of getting credit or achieving a contract with, for example, a mobile phone company.   

She went on to say that her 'evidence' was only gained from hearsay and personal research, but when clients had completed a form as a 'divorced' person, and had the application turned down, when the same clients completed the same form as a 'single' person (with all other details remaining the same), the application was successful.  How interesting is that? 

She went on to say that she was not suggesting that people lie about their status on their application forms - just that they think very carefully about their status when applying for credit/contracts, etc.

40+ Alternative Income Ideas and Resources

If you're wondering how to make ends meet in this current climate of financial doom and gloom, have a look at 40+ Alternative Income Ideas and Resources from the Moolanomy blog.  It'll take you a while to look through them all but it should give you something to think about...  (Note:  Moolanomy is a US-based site, if you live elsewhere in the world, you may not be able to take advantage of some the ideas just by clicking on the links provided, however, with a little detective work, you should be able to find an equivalent opportunity in your part of the world that will work for you.)

Money CAN buy you happiness (if you know the right way to spend it)

Although we've always been told that money can't buy you happiness, an increasing number of studies show that, if you know the right way to spend it, money may be able to buy you happiness after all... 

However, as you'll see in this article from Superliving.com, this doesn't involve using money to buy more 'stuff' but, instead, using it to 'facilitate those parts of life most likely to promote happiness' (such as paying someone else to do the jobs that cause conflict between you and your partner, or paying off or reducing debts to help you sleep easier at night).

Do you intend to spend your kids' inheritance on your retirement?

Are we Brits a nation of SKI-ers?  (SKI = Spending Kids' Inheritance)  It certainly looks that way...  According to a recent survey from Saga Equity Release Service, 9 out of 10 UK homeowners would prefer to use the equity in their homes to fund their retirement, than leave it to be inherited by their children.

And how will we be spending this money?  Well, a quarter of people, who have equity built up in their property would prefer to spend the money on enhancing the quality of their retirement and around one third of people aged between 50 and 54 said they would consider releasing equity in order to travel around the world.  However, the nation's collective offspring can breath a sigh of relief - we won't just be disappearing without any notice - 53 per cent of people in the 50 to 54 category said they would discuss withdrawing money from their property with their family and this figure rose to 71 per cent of those aged over 65.

How to beat the fraudsters

At least once a week I receive an email purporting to be from a bank or credit card company, claiming that they are updating their records and requesting that I click through to their website and provide them with items of personal information such as a PIN number, password or account number.  And, of course, I immediately press the 'delete' key because, as we all know, the email is likely to be a con.  It will send us to a clone of a genuine website where, if we provided the information they are asking for, we would be providing criminals with all the information they need to commit some form of identity fraud.

If you're worried about identity fraud (and you probably should be...), check out How to beat the fraudsters by MSN money (and click on the links at the bottom of the page for even more information, including an article about celebrity victims of identity fraud - Steven Spielberg, financial guru George Soros, Oprah Winfrey, Oracle computer boss Larry Ellison, Robert de Niro, Tiger Woods, Will Smith and Jennifer Lopez have, apparently, all been victims of identity crimes costing tens of millions of pounds.)

What to do if you can't pay

'Times is', indeed, 'hard'... and, even if we're not actually struggling to pay our bills, we can't help wondering what will happen to property prices and how our kids will cope when that fixed rate mortgage ends this year...

If you (or someone you care about) are stretched to the limit and reaching the point where you're starting to miss payments, cast your eyes over 'What to do if you can't pay'  on  uk.msn.com  - the article covers mortgages, rent, council tax, gas, water and electricity bills, credit cards and loan repayments.  The general message is:  communicate with the creditor, try to come to an arrangement and keep paying SOMETHING,  even if you can't afford to pay the whole bill.

91% of women over the age of 50 are afraid of the Internet

A new report from Post Office Broadband in the UK has revealed that:

- 91% of women over the age of 50 are afraid of the Internet
- a third of women in this age group find the Internet too technical and difficult to navigate
- 41 per cent of people over 50 are afraid of becoming victims of online fraud and
- 31 per cent of over 50's say they don't understand 'internet jargon'.

The report has, apparently, been released to coincide with 'Get Yourself Online' week (however, a Google search revealed no information about this project whatsoever).

The Post Office's broadband service which went live at the end of 2007, has a core target audience of the over 50s and late adopters of internet technology.  In an attempt to appeal to 'low-income users and those previously discouraged by the perceived complications of card payments', it enables subscribers to pay for the service in cash at any of the UK's 14,000 local Post Offices.

The UK state pension turns 80

According to MSN Money, the UK state pension turned 80 this month (although see Malcolm's comment below). In an effort to determine the quality of life available to a person living solely on a basic pension, MSN frugal blogger Piper Terret is going to spend a whole month attempting to do just that.  Read more about it in the following article:  Life On The State Pension By Katherine Fluke.

The great British pension robbery

Daylight robbery - that's how it's being described by the millions of people who took a job with a 'final salary'-based pension scheme who are now being told, after having done the work, that they won't get the retirement pay which was contractually promised to them.  Worse still, the Government appears to think this is perfectly acceptable...

Read MSN Money's quick and easy guide to the Great British Pension Robbery here.

8 secret scores that lenders keep

Most of us know by now that we each have a credit score - a 3-digit number that lenders use to gauge our creditworthiness and predict how likely we are to default on a loan or credit agreement.  But did you know that your credit score is only one way that a financial institution will evaluate you?  Discover the others in this eye-opening article by Liz Pulliam Weston for MSN Money.