Women urged to think of pensions early

Women need to pay particular attention to their financial futures, because pension arrangements often work to their disadvantage.

With longer life expectancy and a greater likelihood of taking extended breaks from working during their lives, women need to think about pension saving even earlier than men, NFU Mutual has warned.

The insurer cites data from the Official for National Statistics, showing that in 2002, the average value of pension funds of men aged 50 to 54 was £116,000, compared to just £60,000 for women of the same age.

“Really the solution is simple: women should take full advantage of the tax relief on offer to build up a decent pension to provide through what will hopefully be a long retirement,” urged pensions specialist Shelagh Hamer.

“Don’t put off pension planning. By starting to fund a pension early, you have a much better chance of building up a sizeable fund for your retirement. Also, regularly review your arrangements to make sure they are in tune with any changes in your career and lifestyle.”

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‘Common room valuables’ may not be covered

As the academic year gets underway for thousands of students, one organisation is warning them to keep an eye on their belongings or risk losing out financially.

Graeme Trudgill, technical services manager for the British Insurance Brokers’ Association, said that items left in communal areas like the kitchen or living room may not be included in some insurance policies.

“Don’t leave valuable items where they’re visible through windows, and they need to keep their laptops and things in their locked room when they go out,” he advised. “If it’s stolen from a communal area, it may not be covered.”

According to the London Student Housing Guide, the average cost of a student burglary is £900 – and what’s more they are more at risk than other Britons.

“Students are three times more likely than the average homeowner to be burgled,” Mr Trudgill said. “One in three students fall victim to crime each year.”

A separate report from Abbey revealed recently that each student will have on average £3,300 worth of possessions with them at university.

Tags: home insurance, burglary, insurance policy, the London Student Housing Guide, Don, victim, technical services manager, Common room valuables

Credit card holders becoming more savvy

It is something that many of us have done in the past, but the UK payments association Apacs says that fewer of us are making purchases with our balance transfer credit cards.

The organisation warns that people can get stung by spending on the cards, which are originally taken out in order to avoid paying interest.

In the past, many people found themselves transferring their balance to a new card, only to purchase more products.

This can put the cardholder in a dangerous situation as some credit card providers will revert you back to a normal interest rate if a payment is missed.

However, as a generation of cardholders grows up, Apacs believes that this practice is becoming less common.

“The point is that if you are taking out a balance transfer card you should only use it for balance transfers,” said Sandra Quinn from Apacs.

“Don’t do other things with it. I think increasingly people are starting to realise that.”

People who continually transfer their credit card balance between providers in order to benefit from zero per cent balance transfer rates are popularly known as rate tarts.

If you want to join the rate tarts and benefit from good introductory offers, make sure that you will be able to keep up the repayments and avoid making purchases on your new card.

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