UK Generation of Renters Could Lead to Explosion in Benefit Claims

The last couple of years have seen a massive leap in the number of young people renting property. A combination of uncertainty in the economic climate, the threat of redundancy and job losses, wage cuts and the inability to get a mortgage and get on the property ladder has meant that many prospective first time buyers are reduced to renting.

Despite various government schemes to try and kick start the UK property market and enable for first time buyers to get on the property ladder, the situation still remains that most cannot obtain a mortgage. Those that can get approved for a mortgage usually have to borrow money from their parents for the large deposit.

With growing numbers of repossessions and rising unemployment, mortgage lenders are reluctant to lend money and over 50% of mortgage applications are turned down.

There is therefore now a generation of young people spending their adult lives in rented accommodation with little hope of owning their own home. A report states that this could lead to an explosion in the number of people claiming benefits. If these people cannot get on the property ladder and acquire equity in property, then by the time they reach retirement, they will be forced to rely on housing benefit to pay their rent. This could triple the current number needing government handouts and lead to a future generation of pensioners being entirely reliant on the government.

Britain is steadily changing from a nation of home owners to a nation of renters such as is found in many other parts of Europe and the main reason is many cannot afford the large deposit needed to get a mortgage. A recent report shows that around a million more people will be renting by the end of this decade and another half a million having to stay living with their parents. Compare this to the situation around 15 years ago when more than 40% of adults under 30 owned their own house.

Using current statistics and population projections, by 2060 the number of pensioners owning their own home would be down to 60% from around 75% at the moment. In terms of numbers this would mean another 3.5 million people claiming housing benefit or £8 billion being handed out compared to £5.3 billion.

These figures show the frightening future we face if mortgage lenders do not start easing up on restrictions for first time buyers and if rents continue to rise, these people can never save enough money to cover their rent and start saving for their own house.

Rachel Gawith writes about mortgages for WhatHouse.co.uk. 

How to boost your Instagram Followers to increase your social output

The Instagram mobile application is now more popular than ever, behind Pinterest it is the fasting growing social network; now topping 80 million worldwide users. Not bad considering it’s designed to be a mobile only service.
In order to build large numbers of followers through Instagram, there are some tested and tried techniques that you can use. Unfortunately, as with all things in life – the best route is also the longest route.

Upload better photographs (Simple!)

At first, your only consideration should be the creation of attractive photos. The reason for this is that people have the tendency of following accounts that only present the most relevant and beautiful snaps. This makes sense and is often lost on marketers who are looking to crack a new social field. Customers don’t care if you are Nike or Adidas or even Facebook or their favourite football team – they are on Instagram to see photos that they enjoy looking at. For this reason, you need to come up with a good plan every time you are taking a photo.
Refrain from taking meaningless or trite photos, which many people see every day.

According to Nick Bilton who works for the New York Times, (his Instagram account has more than fifty thousand followers)  “people are more likely to follow you for quality over quantity – yes you could take a fancy picture of your starbucks cup but if I don’t know who you are and your photo is generic, I won’t be following you. The first rule of instagram is – think quality”

Publishing excellent and average photos at the same time is not good because the mediocre photos can act as a turn off to your visitors – a user on Instagram is 40% more likely to unfollow you than on twitter as there is less social engagement. 

Additionally if you have a large number of attractive photos, it’s advisable to post them in moderation. This is to keep the interest of people following your Instagram account high and they will continue checking your photos regularly. Think of it like you are telling a great story to your children – you don’t give the story away in the synopsis – you develop the story over time and keep their intrigue. 

Follow other users

If you want users of the Instagram app to follow you, you should also follow them. This rule applies just like that of using Twitter. When you follow someone, you will attract him/her to look into your account. If the person likes it, he/she is very likely to become one of your followers. However, you should not follow users just for the sake of following them because – again just like on twitter – you will end up with followers who are not engaged with you. One engaged follower is worth a thousand none.

Like and post comments on outstanding Shots

The currency of Instagram is the “like” but there remains no better way to gain a following than lavishing positive feedback via commenting on a photograph that you like. Logically, you will be able to grab the attention of other people who are looking at the account, who will eventually check your photos and post comments about them. 

Utilize popular Hashtags

Hashtags simply allow the users of Instagram to categorize various photos. When you tag your photos, you give them a better chance of being found. For example, if you have a sunset picture, you can tag it with a popular #sunset tag so that it will be available with other photos that have the same tag (twitter anyone?). The theory is that people will search in areas that interest them #cat #icecream #olympics.

Instagram is a mix of a photography app, facebook and twitter, so getting and staying popular requires a mix of the same skills that you would use to boost your other online profile.

Steve writes for Buy Instagram Followers – a website designed to help boost your Instagram profile artificially.

Decorating Home On a Budget

Buying a house is a lifetime dream of every individual and festooning the house is yet another aim which often crosses the budget. New Equipments and furniture, and decors add up to pretty much when it becomes impossible to handle the outflow of cash. Nevertheless, you can make a nice and beautiful interior within your budget with creative ideas. If you can assimilate the thoughts that you envisage, it could create wonders with amazing designs within your means.

Let us take a look on the few other ways where you can curtail your cost and yet can design your house with innovative ideas:

1. Color: Color is the foremost thing to be considered while decorating home. Paint is a cheaper way to add brightness and boldness to different rooms. Choose any shade either the same color or in the contrast with the furniture and the carpets and paint only one wall with a shade darker. If you do not prefer to color the walls, the other option is to put on colorful curtains or through pillows on the couches and chairs.

2. Lighting: The second important thing is lighting your house. All new types of shades available in the market are expensive. Therefore instead of buying those, it advisable to choose lights that is adjustable. For the bedroom you can select low lights that create a softer ambiance. Colored overhead lights and lava lamps also create wonders and bestow a new look.

3. Furniture and Equipment: When you have to decorate your house within tight a budget, it is rational to resist yourself from buying new furniture or even replacing the old ones. Instead you can use lap blankets to cover the couches; a table runner over to cover your old coffee table etc.

These are few of the ways which can help you to plan your home decoration and also instigate more ideas in your mind.

Retirement annuity – Investing for a Happy Retirement

With your retirement drawing close, you must have already involved in financial planning to ensure a secure future after retirement. Well, those who keep genuine interest in financial schemes must have heard about Retirement Annuity. To clear the air for all, this particular type of annuity offers all the necessary financial support required after retirement. This annuity scheme offers a steady source of income to enjoy a hassle free life after retirement.

Let us have a detailed look at the scheme of Retirement Annuity and the advantages and disadvantages attached to it -

What is a Retirement Annuity?
A Retirement Annuity refers to an agreement signed between you and the insurance company. This agreement requires you to offer payments into an account that is controlled by the insurance company. After, your retirement, the insurance company calculates all the earnings of the investments and pays you a certain amount in periodic terms. You can choose to set the period in a quarterly, monthly, or yearly basis.

This particular scheme, being an investment option has its own advantages and disadvantages -

Here is a look at some of the advantages of the annuity plan after retirement -

1. Benefits are guaranteed

2. Tax deferred income growth within account

3. No limits as in to 401k or Individual Retirement Account (IRA)

 

Like, any other financial scheme, Retirement Annuity too come with some disadvantages, here is a look at them -

1. Rates are high

2. Penalty of 10% on early withdrawn

3. Taxation Policies of Retirement Annuity

The fixed annuity or Retirement Annuity though is said to be a tax-deferred scheme, yet has a number of hidden clauses attached to it. Therefore, it is essential on your part to have a clear picture about its tax-deferral policy. The policy says that taxes on the income earned within the plan will only be deferred until withdrawn. After, the withdrawal, the income is taxed according to the income tax policy and not the capital gains tax.

This plan allows you to relive the golden years of your life characterizing the days with involvement in little pleasures in life like, dining out, or taking a vacation.

The need for an Equity Release Calculator

Senior Citizens, who do not have any ideal pension support, try other means to raise their cash level. The only option that is left before them is to go for Equity release on their Property. But all wishes to get a good return, so they can calculate their earnings by an equity release calculator.

 This is certainly a wise decision to earn a little more money than usual. The equity is the difference in the amounts of the value of the house in the current market scenario. Of the total equity on a home, a home owner can release only a part from home.

Since the retired person can leave a part of the house or property for equity release and they stay at the other part of it. The equity release calculator will help them to get the real value of your property. You will have to fill up the online form and within a few moments, you will get the right answer. Based on this calculation, the money will be released. It could be a onetime payment and the other is payment on a monthly basis. The equity release calculator differs according to different companies.

Most of the equity release calculator is a free service, it can also be found online on various websites of various insurance or mortgage companies. But, the home owner is required to provide information on the property. This information should be provided on the page of the equity release calculator on the internet. The company will provide almost instant information to the investor. Most of the equity release calculators can predict almost accurate returns. There are such advanced versions of Equity release calculator, who provide more in depth information about the real value of the property and the projected returns from it

Considerations to Notice before Buying Foreign Currency

If you are planning for buying foreign currency, don’t forget to go through the several tips mentioned below as it will help to make a more profitable dealing.

Things to consider during For

Things to consider during Forex

How buying foreign currency can be beneficial for you?

You must know that different country has different currency. These have valuations that depend on the economical conditions of the market and economical condition of each country is very much different from the others. So, the valuation of the currency also differs. With the ups and downs of the market economical condition, the valuations of the currency also changes.

Suppose you are buying dinars that are the currency of Iraq. It has a little value in terms of US dollars. So, while you are buying Iraqi currency, you are spending a little amount but buying a quality amount of dinars. So, if the dinars increase its market values, you can exchange it with more dollars than what you have invested.

What to do before buying foreign currency?

• Market research: Before making your investment, gathering knowledge on the market valuation of the currency that you are about to buy, is really important. Go with the currency which has lesser value than your currency. Don’t forget to know about its future market prospects. You can refer to the online news sites for knowing the information about market condition of the currency that you are going to buy. Hope you make best deals while buying foreign currency

If you are buying dinar, then you can log in to RSS News feeds for getting the latest updates.

• Hire a dealer: Dealers are the skilled person who can equip you with the right knowledge about your investment.

If you are buying Iraqi dinars, don’t forget to see the authentication certificate of the dealers of the registration with U.S. Treasury Department and Better Business Bureau.

Equity Release: Wishes the Retirees a Nice and Secured Life Ahead

If your retirement is approaching nearer, equity release is the best way to solve all the monetary issues you can face after your retirement. In such circumstances, pursuing help from a financial advisor can assist you to get the best releasing equity plan. Depending upon your financial needs and property conditions they can suggest you the best out of the various plans available.

A Happy Retired Life with Equity Release

Let us consider the equity release plans available, such as:

Lifetime mortgages

Home-reversion plans

Shared appreciation mortgages

Interest only plans

Home income plans

All these plans cover benefits for the elderly people who are above 55 years old and owner of property.

Since, these plans allow the owners to stay at their homes and after their death the lenders get back the money that they have spent by selling the property, this benefits both the parties.

Additionally, the elderly can have variety of benefits out of the equity release. This ensures a fixed stream of income which can be used for daily expenses as well as spend on other areas. One can go for holidays wherever they want using the borrowed money. This can be used for other expenditures as well, such as: health problems which involve plenty of money to be spent on medicines. This purpose can be solved using the money purchased on releasing equity. Even it bares the expenses of hospitalization.

Before, applying for releasing equity plans one can use the equity release calculators which are available online. These are easy to access and user friendly too. Before, relying on your financer you can find on your own the approximate amount that can be borrowed on property with the help of these calculators.

Equity release ensures a security benefit for the retirees, as well as provides them the freedom to live their life valuing their own norms and thoughts.