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Many ordinary people have recently discovered that they may not have the nest egg that they’d planned for in their retirement. Having put away regular monthly installments into investments and other savings plans, people have now discovered that these investments could be worth a lot less than they’d been led to believe. Mis sold investments are likely to cause a lot of heartache
and financial difficulty in the years to come, as people have to come to terms with the fact that they might not have sufficient money for their retirement and they could well have to rethink their plans for the forthcoming years.

With the issue of mis sold investments now coming to the fore, there is some hope for people who were given inaccurate information when they signed up to long-term investment plans. Compensation claims are being investigated and there is at least some hope of recompense for those who genuinely took out investments based on misleading information. Many people put away regular savings for their retirement, or as a means of paying off their mortgage or saving a nest egg for retirement. Without in-depth personal financial knowledge, people will have relied upon the advice offered by financial advisers, banks and other institutions in order to come to a decision about which investments to choose.

It is because this advice was – in certain circumstances – ill thought-out, or the specific investment inappropriate for the circumstances of the individual at the time, that a mis sold investment bond, or other investment product, will now come under scrutiny. It is hoped that genuine cases of mis sold investments will now be rectified to a certain extent, as individuals can make a claim for
compensation and hope to recoup their losses.

Many people will have been relying on the expected return on their investment in order to fund their retirement. The knowledge that this pot of money might no longer be available can put huge financial and emotional stress on an individual or a couple and this also needs to be taken into consideration. The situation needs to be rectified, not only on behalf of the customers who have
been mis sold investments, but also in order to ensure that financial institutions and individual advisers are seen to be held to account for any inaccurate or misleading information that they have given to customers in the past regarding the investment of their money.

With the issue of mis sold investment now out in the open, it is hoped that the message is getting through and that anyone who believes they have been misled will be able to come forward and receive more information about their investment and whether they might potentially have grounds for a claim with regards to their product. When a lifetime of savings could potentially be at stake, it’s imperative that people are now given the opportunity to check up on their finances and to have some peace of mind that their money is safe and their retirement fund will be sufficient for their needs over the years.

The AA, which produces the British Insurance Premium Index, reported last year that car insurance premiums had fallen slightly, by an average of around £2.00.  In other words – not a lot!  Sadly, for many drivers especially young drivers this fall will make very little difference.  The cost of young drivers car insurance is now causing concern at government level as one MP has highlighted the high costs of car insurance as being partly responsible for limiting access to work for those in their late teens and early twenties.  With unemployment at extremely high levels and the phrase ‘NEET’ hardly ever out of the press, there is good cause for concern.  For those seeking care jobs, access to a car can be crucial and the problem is particularly acute in rural areas.  For young rural drivers there are very limited opportunities and the lack of public transport means that young people have no choice but to rely on their own transport to access employment and training.

Imaginative Solutions

The main problem faced by those searching for young driver’s car insurance is that they fall into a high risk category.  Young male drivers under the age of 25 are considered one of the highest risk categories with an alarming number of this group being involved in fatal accidents.  Legislation in the last couple of years from the European courts has meant that young women are no longer able to access “discriminatory” lower premiums, despite statistically less likely to be involved in accidents than their male contemporaries.  The simple fact is that those likely to be on the lowest level of the wage scale face premiums that can average over £3000.  With the added high cost of fuel which is unlikely to drop, this results in a seemingly impossible situation for many.  Nigel Evans, the MP for Ribble Valley has called for insurers to help to tackle this problem, arguing that “imaginative” solutions need to be found.

Catch 22

While some may argue that car ownership amongst the young is now a luxury, the problems caused by the high costs run far deeper.  As Evans points out, many younger drivers are facing a Catch 22 situation; unable to access work without a car and not being able to run one without work.  Insult is added to  injury by the fact that employment status is also a factor used to work out the premium.  The problem, as already mentioned is particularly acute for young rural drivers who may face long commutes to find work or attend college/training courses, with high petrol costs and low wages.  The problem is compounded for this group by the fact that the few available opportunities in rural areas are usually in the lowest paid sectors such as farming, hospitality or the care industry.

Positive Actions

Solutions that have been mooted include offering rebates on insurance after a no-claims period or premiums based on scores gained during the practical test.  In addition there are now schemes being introduced by car insurance companies including the AA, to fit ‘black box’ devices to the car.  Available to any driver, these are particularly being marketed to the young driver’s car insurance sector.  Monitoring the actual skills of the driver and adjusting premiums to reflect skill, ability and safety, these may ultimately provide an ideal solution for younger drivers.  AA officials have also said that younger drivers can take positive action to reduce their own premiums, such as reducing their mileage, buying an older car and shopping around for insurance.

The high costs of young driver’s car insurance is now causing concern at government level, being cited as one bar to employment for many young people.  While the government calls for ‘imaginative’ solutions, industry experts continue to place the onus on young drivers to take steps to reduce their own premiums.

Up today, down tomorrow? The fortunes of the euro are swinging widely depending on the news from Greece.

It might seem like the international political equivalent of a soap opera. Updates from Greece emerge as regularly as episodes of Eastenders, in which there is a new twist on whether the heavily indebted nation is set to receive its latest EU loan, implement crucial reforms, or just plan give up the ghost and default, abandoning the euro and returning to the drachma. Furthermore these nightly episodes have a lot of viewers, as international investors incorporate events in Greece into their decisions whether to sell the euro. It is not exaggerating things to say the future of the currency hangs on Greece in this sense! Why then is it so important? And how can you use the situation to help you?

The Musketeers of Foreign Exchange

The situation in Greece matters because the members of the euro are a little like the three musketeers: they go ahead shouting “All for one and one for all!” In this sense, the euro lives or dies according to the health of its members. If Greece or Portugal look a bit green about the gills, that has a knock-on impact on larger economies like France and Germany. In fact, it is not exaggerating to say that, though Greece is only a small country, its defaulting could plunge both Europe and the world into crisis! Commentators describe that scenario as comparable to the collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008.

Turning to the present, right now the Greek situation has hurt the euro against its rivals, because Greece and the EU are at blows regarding its second bailout. For Europe, it is no longer certain Greece can be trusted, following months in which it has promised reforms and failed to deliver. This has reached the point that German finance minister Wolfgang Schlaueble is calling for Greece to give up control of its own finances, and hand them to Brussels! For Greece meanwhile, this is of course a huge insult. Hence the impasse – and the Euro weakness.

How Might The Foreign Exchange Rate Change In Future?

Turning to the future, the state of the euro depends on awful lot on the solution that emerges. For me at least, there is no serious threat of Greece leaving the euro right now. The reports in the newspapers are spats between partners, but do not represent a permanent divide. In that sense, it seems certain to me that the euro will eventually gain as Greece makes progress. But I could be wrong! And before that agreement emerges, there could yet be more ups and downs prompting euro weakness.

Consulco Capital Real Estate Limited (CCRE) has now completed the acquisition of the final two investments for its London retail property syndicate, Hermes Properties Limited. Hermes has established a suite of 10 retail and restaurant business property investments, situated in buoyant central London locations.

Earlier in November, Hermes acquired a £27 million freehold portfolio in London Bridge, Central London, as part of its initiative to sell off trophy assets and further their interest in developments requiring active management. Hermes cited London’s resilience in the face of weaker global and domestic markets for its continued investment in the capital.In its latest move, Hermes has now acquired 442 Kings Road, in London’s West End, for £1.1 million, which comprises a retail/restaurant unit currently let to French vintners Nicolas.

It has also acquired a Tesco Metro store in Lewisham, south east London, which is let for 15 years, uninterrupted, for £900,000. The combined net initial yield of these properties stands at 6.0%. London Director, David King, said “These acquisitions mark the end of the investment period and in 12 months, with almost £20 million purchased, we have hit all our targets. We will launch our second syndicate early next year.”

Consulco opened a London office in January 2011, and existing deals for Hermes Properties Ltd have included properties in Poland Street (£2.4 million), Cannon Street (£2.31 million), Wardour Street, Great Queen Street, Greek Street and The Strand (£7.9 million together). These commercial properties in London are also expected to land a net yield of 6%.

Clearly you’ve heard about the current economic climate, with banks failing or losing their credit ratings, big countries on the verge of going bankrupt, masses of government debt, etc. You’ve definitely heard it all. As a result, investors have become incredibly worried about what the world economy will look like over the next 5 years.

Consequently, it’s no surprise that there’s been an big increase with investing in valuable metals, such as silver, gold, palladium, and platinum. But why are investors so interested in metals? What is it about these metals that attract so much interest?

If you think about it, 99.9% of all investments are based on some concept, rather than an actual object. e.g. company shares don’t actually exist (not even on paper these days), they’re just a culmination of the perception of that company and how well they are doing. So the intrinsic share value is not based on anything physical. It’s not to say that shares are worthless, quite the contrary, just that they’re not a physical object.

Therefore the point is that investors like to think of their investments as something tangible. Metals are physical objects, and actually exist in the real world. Property exists in the real world, but decreasing house prices mean that investors are not investing in property anymore. Additionally, property is not a liquid asset, simply meaning it takes a long time to sell a property. Comparatively, selling metal is very easy and can be done within minutes.

A combination of metal being a real-world object, and being very easy to sell, precious metals such as gold are very attractive investment assets. If you think about it, gold has always been a desirable and attractive possession throughout the ages. However, there’s another fact that completes the reasoning why gold in particular has become so popular in the last 12 months. Gold is a scarce resource, and it’s increasingly tough to find. Gold isn’t really being mined anymore, it’s being chemically extracted. Therefore the gold we have now is pretty much all that we will have. Gold has always been a finite resource.

So why is gold so popular right now? It’s easy to sell, it’s easy to buy, it’s generally held it’s value over the years. Gold is being seen as a currency-neutral form of investment where its value is not subject to the media-induced hype facing our economies at the moment. If you can keep your gold secure, it’s definitely a safe place for your money at the moment.

This is a guest article by Mike Stirling who researches the precious metal markets, particularly the currently-increasing scrap gold prices.