Wednesday, March 5, 2008

Bisnis Portal

Bisnis Portal

The Different Kinds Of Savings Account

Posted: 04 Mar 2008 09:34 PM CST

It’s always advisable to try and put some money aside for a rainy day, so that if you meet an unexpected expense or repair bill you’ll be able to cope financially. It’s also prudent to save some of your income as an investment for your future, especially in these days of uncertain pension prospects. Many people choose to invest in stocks and shares as over time this is likely to provide the best return, but for the majority of us the security of a bank savings account is more attractive. That being said, what kind of savings account should you choose?
The first kind of account we’ll look at is known as a regular saver. With these accounts, you deposit a certain amount every single month. In the past, this amount tended to be fixed at a specified figure, but these days most accounts allow you to deposit an amount within a specified range. These accounts are a good choice for people with no capital but some surplus income, and usually pay a good rate of interest.

The other kind of account is the deposit account, which has no stipulation as to how you pay money into it. You can put in small amounts as and when you can afford it, or you can deposit a large amount when you open the account and leave it there, or a mixture of the two. These accounts come in three basic flavours, depending on how easily you need to get at your money.

Firstly, the instant access type of deposit account places no restrictions on when you can withdraw your cash. Next, the interest penalty type of account will let you withdraw as you wish, but won’t pay any interest for the months in which a withdrawal is made. Finally, a notice account requires you to give thirty, sixty, or even ninety days notice before you make a withdrawal, or you’ll be hit with substantial interest penalties.

In general, the easier it is to get at your money, the less interest you’ll earn. Of course, this will vary from bank to bank, and you might be able to find an easy access account with a better interest rate than a notice account with a different bank, but the general rule holds. For these accounts, you need to trade off the likelihood of needing access to your money against the extra gains you could make by locking it away.

There’s one other kind of savings or investment account which takes this idea of access restrictions to the extreme, namely bonds. With these accounts, you invest a lump sum in the account which is then locked away for a specified number of years, with no access at all. In return, you’ll either get a preferential fixed interest rate which is much more attractive than normal accounts, a variable rate guaranteed to be better than average accounts over the length of the term, or a return linked to stock market performance with a guaranteed minimum return, These accounts will almost always give the best return out of all the types, but are only suitable for long term investments where you are certain you won’t need to access your funds before the term is up.

Finding Online Life Insurance

Posted: 04 Mar 2008 05:20 AM CST

When seeking online life insurance, it is helpful to use a specialist website that provides full access to the marketplace to find the best deal.

The great advantage of using a specialist website is that you only have to enter your details the once. It enables you to access the results in a matter of minutes, allowing effortless comparison of online life insurance, instantly reviewing the policy contents, which saves you both precious time and money. It allows you to change the way in which you view your quotes, simply list them in an order that best suits you, save the information and retrieve it later at your convenience.
Using this specialist website allows you to adjust the details entered so that you can instantly see how certain changes, such as the age, sex and occupation can alter the quotes given by the life insurance companies. Varying certain criteria, for example, the size of the monthly premiums or period of insurance cover, which are important factors that influence the ultimate end price of the policy, makes comparing online life insurance so straightforward and convenient.

You are able to use this website to make enquiries about any type of online life insurance. The cheapest life insurance is ‘term life insurance’, which is the most basic form of life insurance. It provides you with cover for a fixed period of your choice (known as the ‘term’) and pays a one-off lump sum should you die during that term. There are two types of term life insurance available: level term assurance and decreasing term life insurance. Level term assurance pays a one-off lump sum upon your death if it occurs within the duration of the life insurance term and the value of this sum remains constant throughout the period of the policy. Decreasing term life insurance also has the payment of a lump sum upon the event of your death but the value of the lump sum decreases during the period of the term. It decreases by a fixed amount, reaching a nil value by the end of the insured period. This type of term life insurance is usually used for mortgages or other loans where the amount owed decreases during its lifetime.

As this specialist website is independent and not affiliated to one particular life insurance company, it effectively means the elimination of the need for an agent and their subsequent fee. A fee, which if not paid directly by you to the financial adviser, is often incorporated into the price of the policy, sold. Therefore, using this unbiased service enables you to select the appropriate cover, from an extensive range of trusted life insurance providers. Safe in the knowledge that the information provided is impartial and there is no obligation to purchase any of the online life insurance policies quoted.

Once you have decided upon the policy that best suits your needs, you can proceed with its purchase without having to enter your details again. It is simple to set up the online life insurance and you can be assured that any payment on-line using this specialist website will be secure.

Essentially, it is the ease of use, which proves attractive, and the answers are immediately available allowing the individual to make a prompt and informed decision when buying online life insurance.

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