Money Saving Blog

Figures released at the end of 2011 revealed that the UK economy grew by the less than 1% over the year, raising new fears of a double dip recession. News that growth at tailed off to 0.2% in the final quarter of 2011 increased concerns, and now economists are predicting that the situation is unlikely to improve in 2012. The unstable European economic situation coupled with rising unemployment rates has combined to make a second recession a very real possibility.

We all know that this is bad news, but most of us our hazy on what it could actually mean for our personal finances. So how could a double-recession affect you?

Well, for most people the main impact will be on their credit rating. An ailing economy makes lenders anxious, and that in turn means that they are reluctant to lend money to individuals or households with less than perfect credit scores. Some banks could clamp down on mortgages, making life difficult for first time buyers, and if you’re looking to set up your own business then financing the initiative might prove to be complicated.

If you think that a clamp-down on lending could affect you, then your first move should be to check your UK credit rating on a site such as Credit Expert. Once you’re familiar with your credit history, there are a number of things you can do to go about improving your chances of getting a loan. Credit Expert from Experian offer a credit report along with a free 30-day trial, so there’s no need to make a financial commitment.

Now you know your UK credit rating, it’s time to put some work into improving it. Make sure you’re registered on the electoral role, cancel any unused bank accounts and credit cards, and above all make sure that all the information included on your credit report is correct. It’s possible to have your credit rating seriously damaged by identity theft, but happily this is relatively easy to remedy.

Finally, you can increase your chances of getting credit by reassuring the lender of your credentials. Consider applying for loans with higher rates of interest, and be prepared to take insurance out on a loan. Remember, there’s no such thing as a credit blacklist so a rejection needn’t be irrevocable.

Comparison site MoneySupermarket offers a comprehensive set of online tools with which you can check on prices for a wide variety of products and services. However, until recently you would have had to use a desktop or laptop computer to use these tools.

Now there is a new smart-phone app from the site which lets you find the best car insurance prices when the time comes to renew your policy. It can be downloaded for free from both the App Store and the Android Market, so if you have a handset from the iPhone or Samsung Galaxy ranges you will be able to experience the benefits of this application.

While there have been car insurance apps in the past, this is the first which will not cost you a penny to download or use. Of course, if you are not connected to a Wi-Fi hotspot, then it could use up a little of your monthly data allowance but that is the only concession to make.

Once you have loaded up the app, the finger-friendly touchscreen interface will let you enter your details along with the relevant information about your vehicle, just as you would if comparing prices on a PC.

With everything completed, the app will then scour more than 100 different insurance providers to find prices from as many as possible. The policies can be ranked based on your own criteria and you will also be able to see whether a particular offer includes extras such as windscreen cover as standard.

Prices are listed both annually and monthly, so the breakdown of how individual policies will affect your finances is obvious at a glance. It has been found that average users of the service can save £374.93 when they compare various policies, which gives anyone a very good reason to download the app today.

It is advisable to keep the app installed on your phone and not simply remove it once you have found a deal to suit you this year. This is because all of your details will be saved automatically so that if you need to come back and retrieve an offer or compare insurance for a new vehicle, you only need to alter the relevant pieces of information and not start completely from scratch.

At the moment, this application is one of the few ways to compare car insurance using your iPhone or Android device with minimum hassle and maximum results, so it is certainly worth downloading it to see how much you could save.

Each of us is affected differently by economic troubles, and these problems can add tremendous stress and anxiety to our everyday lives. It is important to know that we are protected and prepared for the future. One thing you can do to give yourself real peace of mind is to carefully plan your retirement. Many people think they are too young to worry about planning something for their later years, but the hard truth is that you are never too young for retirement planning. The sooner you take action, the more benefits you will reap in years to come.

The first step is working out how much you can currently afford to save or pay into a pension fund and how much you will be able to put away in the future. There are many online savings calculators available free on the internet. They are easy to use and can let you explore how much your savings may be worth in the future or, alternatively, how to reach a savings target. Once you have entered your information, you should print or save this the results and refer to it annually, so you can re-evaluate the amount you save, if your current financial situation changes.

You should seek advice to see what options are available to best suit your needs. Financial advice services such as MoneyVista are easily accessed online and very simple to use. Money Vista is a new service, which helps you create your own financial plan. This will also guarantee that you are in the safest hands as you are supported by a panel of financial experts, and backed by the security and experience of Royal London. The great thing is that you will see your current position and your financial future and it will help you build a financial plan to achieve your goals.

There are many ever changing factors that you should consider throughout the whole process of planning your retirement, such as:

• Changing your retirement date.

Initially, the plan sets your retirement age equal to your state pension age, but you can change your retirement age at any time if you want to.

• Changing your life expectancy.

Life expectancy is the age to which you are expected to survive. Initially the plan uses a figure for the average person of your gender and current age using data published by the government, but again you can change this if you want to.

• Changing the amount you save.

You can use this option to see how your retirement income might improve if you start to save more. If you have set a target retirement income, you can explore how much extra you would need to save to reach that target.

• Changing the type of pension you get.

Initially, for any occupational defined contribution pension schemes and personal pensions that you have, Money Vista assumes you will buy an annuity at retirement that includes a pension for a partner if they survive you. This is assumed to be half the rate of pension you were getting.