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CDs

Over 800,000 Knee Jerk Fixers Need Instant Access

This year really has been a savings rate massacre for consumers, with rates falling to historic lows in line with the plummeting base rate. New research from uSwitch.com reveals that in response to this rate land slide, 9 million savers have locked away a total of £131 billion in fixed rate savings accounts in a desperate bid to bag a decent rate. Unfortunately, a turbulent financial climate has led to almost one in ten of these consumers being forced to access their savings early due to job losses (6%) and mounting housing bills (32%). As a result, these savers have incurred penalty fees averaging £132 each.

In total, over 800,000 consumers have made an average withdrawal of £3,738 each from their fixed rate account in the last year, with over a third of these incurring penalty charges. As a result, these cash hungry savers have racked up a total bill of £40 million in withdrawal penalties which are predominantly made up of interest charges. Going forward this issue is only going to get worse as a further 1.7 million (19%) people with fixed rates claiming that they might have to access their money early.

With each of these savers locking away a total of £14,237 each, this has clearly made a positive boost to the UK’s £1.1 trillion savings pot which is held by 35 million consumers. This may sound like a lot of money in the current climate but it’s hardly surprising as further reports have shown that the amount of money consumers are stashing away has actually gone up by 26% since January this year.

However, with 47% of fixed rate savings accounts offering consumers absolutely no access to their money before the end of the term, it’s hardly surprising that 6% of these knee jerk fixers already regret locking their money away. 87% of fixed rate savers only chose this type of account because it was the only decent rate available at the time and 17% admit to making a rash decision.

Rumina Hassam, savings expert at uSwitch.com, comments: “Fixed rate savings accounts can offer consumers some really competitive returns, but the reality of this extra interest can be harsh. Almost half of the accounts available do not allow consumers to access their cash under any circumstances which, in a climate of recession and redundancy, is a dangerous situation for some people. The devil really is in the detail as far as fixed rate savings are concerned. Even if consumers are allowed to make withdrawals, the extra interest earned could be completely wiped out by the penalties incurred.

Variable rate savings deals are on the up and there are currently deals paying as much as 3.3% with no restrictions on access with Citibank. This explains why 37% of people don’t feel their rate is quite as competitive as it seemed when they first took it on. The average one year fixed rate bond now pays an average of 3.11% but Chelsea Building Society is offering as much as 3.8%. Five year bonds have gone up from an average of 3.33% to 4.61% since January however, one year fixed options have actually dropped down from 3.62% to 3.11% in the last nine months. For details of the best savings accounts available consumers can log onto www.uswitch.com.

Via EPR Network
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NS&I Changes Premium Bonds Prize Structure And Variable Rates On Savings

NS&I has announced that f r o m the April prize draw onwards one of the two monthly Premium Bond jackpot prizes of £1 million will be replaced by a wider mix of prizes in the monthly draws, allowing more people to win but still retaining the chance of winning the £1 million jackpot prize. Similarly, a new £25 Premium Bond prize will be introduced and used alongside the existing prizes (ranging f r o m £50 to£1 million). These changes have been introduced because Premium Bond holders say that maintaining the chances of winning tax-free prizes on a regular basis is particularly important to them.

In addition to these changes, NS&I is reducing the Premium Bond prize fund rate f r o m 1.8% to 1%. This rate will be held at least until the June 2009 draw even if there are further changes to the base rate. This is the first change NS&I has made to the prize fund rate since December last year – during which time the Bank of England base rate has fallen f r o m 3.0% to 0.5%. The revised prize fund rate will come into effect f r o m 1 April 2009.

The current odds of each £1 Premium Bond number winning any prize will remain unchanged at 36,000 to 1, so with average luck an investor with £30,000 in Premium Bonds could win 10 tax-free prizes a year. The unclaimed premium bond prizes range all the way f r o m £25 up to £100,000. NS&I gives away over one million tax-free* Premium Bond prizes each month.

NS&I is also reducing the interest rates on its other variable rate savings by up to 0.50%, following movements in the Bank of England base rate. The revised interest rates will come into effect f r o m 18 March 2009.

Peter Cornish, Director of Customer Offer, NS&I, said: “Premium Bonds are unique and are hugely popular with our customers. Replacing one of the £1 million jackpot prizes with a wider mix of prizes and introducing the new £25 prize category will help us maintain the frequency of tax-free prizes – something that we know is particularly important to Premium Bond holders. “

He continued, “We always aim to reward as many of our customers as possible f r o m the prize fund available, together with having the right mix of prizes. We continue to pay out hundreds of thousands of tax-free prizes each month and customers also benefit f r o m a 100% guarantee on their investment because we are backed by HM Treasury.”

As always, NS&I will communicate all of these changes to customers via a range of outlets, including press advertisements and NS&I’s website, as well as putting an updated Premium Bonds prize draw details leaflets in all Post Offices and updated interest rates leaflets in most branches of WH Smith throughout the UK.

* Tax-free means that interest and prizes are exempt of f r o m UK Income Tax and Capital Gains Tax Gross means the taxable rate of interest without deduction of UK Income Tax.

 

When interest rates are s e t on tax-free products, NS&I takes into account the amount of tax the Exchequer would have received if the product had been taxable.

About NS&I
NS&I is one of the UK’s largest financial providers with 27 million customers and over £94 billion invested. It is best known for Premium Bonds, but also offers inflation-beating savings account guaranteed equity bonds, savings bonds easy access accounts and children’s bonus bonds in its range. All products offer 100% security, because NS&I is backed by HM Treasury.

Out of hours above number diverted to staff mobile phone ISDN line for interviews: 020 7602 4522.

Via EPR Network
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Javelin Marketing Provides Resources for Financial Advisors to Combat Recession

It’s no secret that financial advisors, financial planners, stockbrokers, life insurance agents and other financial services professionals are having a hard time retaining clients. Many clients have fled the financial markets for the safety of bank accounts and treasury bills.

There are approaches that advisors can use for client retention in this market and these are discussed at Javelin Marketing’s main blog. Additionally, Javelin Marketing provides free financial services marketing tools to download at their special download blog. New tools are added each month. Current tools and downloads available to financial advisors:

• Four ways to eliminate capital gains taxes—a great piece to share with clients right in the middle of tax season
• The benefit of offering FDIC insured CDs to retain clients now
• How to get more involved with individual fixed income securities to serve and attract an aging clientele
• A special social security tax reduction calculator that shows annuity sellers how in most cases, an annuity will save the retired owners taxes on social security income
• Ebook on Marketing to Seniors

If you register at the blog, you will be notified as tools are added. Soon to be added is “How to Find and Hire the Best Assistant.”

http://www.javelin-marketing-downloads.com

Via EPR Network
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National Savings & Investments win industry award for successful MyLostAccount campaign

National Savings and Investments (NS&I) has been awarded the Most Effective Advertising Campaign at this year’s Financial Services Forum Awards for Marketing Effectiveness for the successful campaign for mylostaccount.

Launched in January 2008, mylostaccount is the free, ‘one-stop shop’ website to trace bank, building society and NS&I savings accounts. Designed to make it quicker and easier to search for lost savings, the website brings together the existing tracing schemes from the British Bankers’ Association (BBA), Building Societies Association (BSA) and NS&I.

mylostaccount was promoted by an extensive online and print campaign that commenced in February 2008. The campaign was fronted by a cartoon image, ‘Fetch’ the dog, and was designed to appeal to a wide audience.

Ayesha de Silva, Online Marketing Manager at National Savings & Investments who collected the award said, “To receive the award is a real honour for all of us at NS&I and our partners, the BBA and BSA. The mylostaccount website has certainly proved popular with the public in 2008 and the concept of ‘Fetch’ was a straightforward and fun way to make people aware of the new website.”

The campaign identity and advertising was developed and produced by CST and media buying handled by OMD UK. The website was built by Wrenhill.

In the first six months of mylostaccount, more than 140,000 people submitted search forms for money left unclaimed in dormant bank, building society and NS&I accounts. This compares with 44,000 claims in 2007, via the BBA’s, BSA’s and NS&I’s own tracing services, prior to the launch of the website.

The free website has also averaged over 760 claims per day since its launch, as savers have become more aware of this easy way of checking whether any of the estimated £1 billion lying in dormant accounts is rightfully theirs.

The Financial Services Forum Awards for Marketing Effectiveness, introduced in 2002, are dedicated to recognising and rewarding proven success in the presentation and promotion of financial services and products. At the award ceremony the site was also Commended for two other awards, in the Digital Activity and New Product, Service or Innovation categories.

About mylostaccount:
mylostaccount is a free website created by NS&I along with the British Bankers’ Association (BBA), the Building Societies Association (BSA), which is designed to help account holders search for lost bank, building society and NS&I accounts by simply completing just one application form.

About NS&I:
NS&I is one of the largest financial providers in the UK with 28 million customers and over £83 billion invested. It is best known for Premium Bonds, but also offers High Income Bonds, ISA accounts, Guaranteed Equity Bonds and Children’s Bonus Bonds in its range. All products offer 100% security, because NS&I is backed by HM Treasury.

NS&I products are available over the telephone, internet, post and by standing order. They are also available through a network of 14,000 UK Post Office branches.

Via EPR Network
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During an economic downturn most investors resort to bank CDs, but CDs may not be the best option considering the low returns they guarantee. Therefore, a more favorable option during this economic downturn could be in an alternative private investment with higher yield and a guarantee

Stock Market Investors Shift From Wall Street To High Yield Investments On Main Street. Most investors traditionally resort to bank CDs during an economic downturn. But CDs may not be the best option considering the low returns they guarantee. Therefore, a more favorable option during this economic downturn could be in an alternative private investment with higher yield and a guarantee offered by a financial company such Integrity Financial AZ based in Sacramento, CA.

Investors across the stock market could soon find a better alternative to the traditional bank CDs in guaranteed return investments, claims Integrity Financial AZ, a leading financial investment company headquartered in Sacramento, California.

Financial companies realize that the current credit crisis is causing an economic downturn as well as apprehension among the investors losing their retirement savings due to the stock market plunge. Analyzing the current scenario, investors are also worried that the stock market may not recover in the near term from the recent “Ticker Shock” being reported minute by minute by the media.

In order to escape the financial morass, “Wall Street investors are scrambling for alternative investment vehicles to recoup their stock market losses in the safest investments possible while at the same time staving off the under-toe of inflation,” says Stanley Paulic, CEO of Integrity Financial AZ, www.IFAZLLC.com, and one of the leading financial companies of the United States. “Finding a high equity yield investment on Main Street to recoup one’s losses is even doable in this economy,” Paulic adds.

“Earning higher yields and a guaranteed rate of return does not automatically correlate to ultra-high risk. It might just mean that it is a better investment vehicle with better margins for investors. After all, what is riskier than Wall Street, especially right now where most investors are suffering from double-digit negative returns?”

“You can earn a guaranteed return with a bank CD, but the return will be low.” His statements are based on the fact that the rate of return for investors on bank CDs is 2-3% during economic downturns.

Company management states that investors can rollover their 401k or transfer an existing self directed IRA to purchase 10% guaranteed investment contracts secured by real estate. Over the long run these contracts earn more in comparison to CDs making such guaranteed investments more preferable.

About Company
Integrity Financial A-Z Company was founded by Steven R. Long, President, and Stanley M. Paulic, Chief Executive Officer, with the vision to create financial independence for internal clients so that they are self-sustaining, self-generating, and self-perpetuating as stated in Latin on the logo. The company aims to provide clients with financial independence assuring high equity yield investments and 10% guaranteed returns, which three to four times the rate of return of normal Bank CDs.

Via EPR Network
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