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Are you looking for a savings account that will help you save diligently for the future but still be able to have easy and immediate access to the money in the account as and when the need arises? Look no further than the Instant Access Savings Accounts.  These accounts provide a way to save your money and still be able to use this money when the need arises, without having to pay hefty amounts of penalty fees.   They also allow you to move your money as you please as long, which enables you to move your money to an account that will attract maximum profit on your savings as soon as you discover that your existing savings account is no longer doing that. The best instant access savings accounts are usually the ones that earn you good returns through valuable and great interest rates, enabling you to make maximum profits on your savings.

When looking for such an account, do your research well and compare some of the best instant access savings accounts available in the market.  You can visit your bank or search online to help you choose from a list of some of the  best Instant Access Savings Accounts available in the finance market, that will suit your needs and attract great earnings. Online sites such as money.co.uk, moneysavingexpert.com, etc. will enable you to find these accounts and compare their interest payments and account accessibility. The sites will also allow you to access the account of your choice online and provide necessary information on accounts that are only accessible through bank branches or by post. Read the rest of this entry »

When moving from permanent to contracting, the change might be a little scary. However, there is no real reason for the fear. This article is a step-by-step guide into contractor-hood, hopefully making the process of change a little easier for you.

1) Find a Contract. Make sure your CV is completely up to date, engineering it with keywords and facts to suit the style of contract job you are after. With so many job roles and opportunities out there, make sure you utilise the internet by registering with as many online job sites as possible to maximise your chance of finding a contract.

2) Know you IR35 Status. IR35 legislation was introduced by the government to make sure that contractors have not taken on a work ethic which may be similar to that of a permanent worker. You might be taking home less home pay if you fall under IR35 legislation. Your recruiter should inform you as to where you are inside or outside of IR35.

3) Limited or Umbrella? Normally contractors choose to work through an umbrella company if working with short term, lower value contracts earning less than £25,000 a year. These contractors will normally earn between 60%-65% of their contract. Accountants for contractors will tell you that working for a limited company is the most efficient, and you can potentially take home about 75%-80% of your total contact worth. Administrative work-wise there probably is about 15 minutes a month on average that you will have to deal with, however, you will benefit from hiring a contractor accountant to deal with this plus help you with any other issues.

4) Appoint an accountant for contractors. Getting hold of an accountant who is experienced in the field of dealing with contractors is very helpful. A contractor accountant will give you advice, taking you on your journey through your contracting career.

5) Forming a limited Company. Using a contractor accountant will be able to help you with forming your own limited company. Any good contractor accountant should be able to supply you with the forms that you need to do so, which is a quick process enabling you to start trading that very same day.

6) Create your Business Bank Account. An experienced accountant for contractors will probably inform you that opening and setting up a business bank account is essential. Being a contractor, you need to keep your personal account separate to your business one – since your limited company is seen and treated as a separate entity. Therefore, all your business transactions should go through your business account, funnily enough.

Being a contractor has always had its advantages. Currently in this economic climate, people who are in permanent jobs are realising that their jobs might not be so ‘permanent’ after all – ergo turning their heads to contractual roles instead. Being a contractor ultimately brings a lot to the table career-wise. As a contractor, you have more control, flexibility, a chance to develop skillsets within a chosen field, financial bonuses and even scope to travel or even work from a home office – just to name a few aspects. What attracts people to permanent jobs is the perceived security combined with schemes for pensions and annual paid leave. Making the decision to turn contractor can be intimidating for some at first who like the comfort of their permanent job, but as once made it is really possible to reap the rewards in all terms of your career.

Making the move to Contractor

The first step into becoming a contractor is, as obvious as it sounds, find a contract. You may be sat at your desk thinking that this not a smart move, since there are not many jobs available – however, recent years have shown a rise in contract roles for companies are hesitant to employ permanent staff simply because they are not able to support them long-term. Important things to remember when getting a contract:

• Refresh your CV – Highlight key skills that help you look the best as a contractor whilst talking about recent employment and what you achieved.
• Find recruitment agencies that concentrate on your denoted field of work.

Types of Contractor

There are different ways that a contractor can work by – limited and umbrella. Umbrella companies are great for short term, smaller value contracts, whereas limited companies are ideal for longer contracts where the take home money is £25,000 plus.

• Limited – take home pay around 80% of your contract total value – lots of paperwork and legal technicalities to take care of.
• Umbrella – take home pay around 60%.

IR35

IR35 is something you need to take careful note of when you become a contractor. One of the first things you need to check is your IR35 status, find out whether you fall inside or out of IR35 legislation – before you sign that contract. If you don’t do this, you could potentially find yourself in a lot of legal trouble. If you are within IR35, you will take home less money; simple. If you operate through a limited company if inside IR35, there are true benefits to be had, including; Flat rate VAT scheme enabling you to pay only 95% of your contract. This is where working with a specialist contractor accountant comes in handy.

Contractor Accountants

It is important to select the right contractor accountant for you. Be specific, don’t just wander down the high street and choose a general accountant – find one in the same field as you who can deal with you on a personal level. Take your time, don’t rush the decision. Always look for accountants who look trustworthy – you can see this from how long they have been established and how many awards they have obtained from top organisations.

Being a contractor has always had its advantages. Currently in this economic climate, people who are in permanent jobs are realising that their jobs might not be so ‘permanent’ after all – ergo turning their heads to contractual roles instead. Being a contractor ultimately brings a lot to the table career-wise. As a contractor, you have more control, flexibility, a chance to develop skillsets within a chosen field, financial bonuses and even scope to travel or even work from a home office – just to name a few aspects. What attracts people to permanent jobs is the perceived security combined with schemes for pensions and annual paid leave. Making the decision to turn contractor using a contractor accountant can be intimidating for some at first who like the comfort of their permanent job, but as once made it is really possible to reap the rewards in all terms of your career.

Making the move to Contractor

The first step into becoming a contractor is, as obvious as it sounds, find a contract. You may be sat at your desk thinking that this not a smart move, since there are not many jobs available – however, recent years have shown a rise in contract roles for companies are hesitant to employ permanent staff simply because they are not able to support them long-term. Important things to remember when getting a contract:

• Refresh your CV – Highlight key skills that help you look the best as a contractor whilst talking about recent employment and what you achieved.
• Find recruitment agencies that concentrate on your denoted field of work.

Types of Contractor

There are different ways that a contractor can work by – limited and umbrella. Umbrella companies are great for short term, smaller value contracts, whereas limited companies are ideal for longer contracts where the take home money is £25,000 plus.

• Limited – take home pay around 80% of your contract total value – lots of paperwork and legal technicalities to take care of.
• Umbrella – take home pay around 60%.

IR35

IR35 is something you need to take careful note of when you become a contractor. One of the first things you need to check is your IR35 status, find out whether you fall inside or out of IR35 legislation – before you sign that contract. If you don’t do this, you could potentially find yourself in a lot of legal trouble. If you are within IR35, you will take home less money; simple. If you operate through a limited company if inside IR35, there are true benefits to be had, including; Flat rate VAT scheme enabling you to pay only 95% of your contract. This is where working with a specialist contractor account comes in handy.

Contractor Accountants

It is important to select the right contractor accountant for you. Be specific, don’t just wander down the high street and choose a general accountant – find one in the same field as you who can deal with you on a personal level. Take your time, don’t rush the decision. Always look for accountants who look trustworthy – you can see this from how long they have been established and how many awards they have obtained from top organisations.

With the subject of IR35 feeling like a grey area for most contractors, it is recommended that any contractors unsure of their IR35 status seek expert advice from either an accountant or most of the time recruiters will also be able to advise you on this topic, however it depends how uncertain you feel about your IR35 status.

To avoid your contract and working practices falling inside IR35 legislation, you will need to clearly show that the way you are working is that of a self employed contractor. HM Revenue and Customs clearly define what in their eyes classes as ‘passing IR35’; visit their website for more information, but as ever it is worth speaking to a specialist contractor accountant who will be able to simplify things for you and discuss this topic further.

Some contractor accountants also offer free verbal IR35 contract reviews which is quite handy. You can also ask for a full written formal review with a report outlining areas of weakness; however nobody can guarantee or insure you against IR35. You can buy IR35 insurance which will cover the accountancy and legal costs to defend your case but nobody guarantee you’ll be inside as it’s based on what HMRC decide.

You can fall inside IR35 legislations and still work as a contractor through your own Limited company there are still tax gains to be had working this way, and you will only pay tax on roughly 95% if your tax able income rather than the full 100%. Again talking to a specialist accountant means they will be able to advise you on your current contracting situation and advise you on the best way to contract which will maximise your take home pay.

IR35 is in essence quite simple but just having a cleverly written contract isn’t enough, you need to also make sure your working practices reflect your contract.

“Small businesses are particularly vulnerable as they often don’t have the systems in place to protect themselves or the resources to draw on if they do become a victim. With identity theft on the increase, it is essential for SMEs to recognise the potential threat and take steps to ensure their business is protected. If they do suspect they have become a victim they should inform their bank or local police.”

- Danny Harrison, CPP Identity Fraud Expert.
Within the last year, 15000 businesses have claimed to have fallen victim to corporate identity fraud – showing a remarkable rise in crimes against SMEs. Within this article, the most common form of corporate identity fraud is explained – and ways of preventing it.
Companies House
SMEs are easily susceptible to fraud through criminals taking advantage of a small loophole within Companies House. Fraudsters can change the address of any business by submitting a false AD01 address, so they can apply for a company credit card or order fraudulent goods on the company account. This can be done without anyone noticing due to Companies House not alerting the company director or secretary that there has been a change of address. SMEs believe that corporate identity fraud is normally committed by previous employees of the business, working directly – or through an associate of theirs.
The majority (68 per cent) of SMEs are unfortunately unaware of this loophole, mistakenly believing that Companies House checks and verifies the details of documents filed with them. A recent survey of two hundred small and medium SMEs revealed that, through a combination of ignorance and lack of information given to them, 87 per cent did not have the adequate insurance in place – leaving them wide open to corporate identity fraud.

Protecting your Business

Companies House does offer some basic protection in the form of the ‘Protected Online Filing System’ (PROOF) scheme. The added security which PROOF provides is a way to stop the fraudulent change of the registered office address and change of director or company secretary, helping to reduce the risk of corporate identity fraud. However, there are other precautions which must be taken to fully protect your business against fraud.

CPP’s top tips on protecting companies from corporate identify fraud:
 Limit access to company sensitive information to only key employees
 Make sure all company sensitive information is securely stored and only transferred using passwords and encryption in case it is lost or delivered to the wrong recipient
 Ensure that company staff are not able to remove sensitive documents from the office
 At Companies House file information online (WebFiling), submit all papers online (PROOF) and subscribe to an alert system that notifies companies when changes to their details are made (Monitor). More information about these services and combating identity fraud can be found at www.companieshouse.gov.uk

Like most people I find balancing the household finances at the end of the month a struggle. With three children all under eight and me not in full time work we need to watch every penny and I have become adept at making the money last and would be described by the popular press as a “Thrifty Mum”. I am probably not alone when I’m not only able to list all of my direct debits but also able to say the amounts I pay each week for each of them and the day they come out of our bank account. The control this gives me allows me to avoid worrying too much as I couldn’t cope with the thought of not being able to do so and the crisis I would be in would threaten everything I and my husband have worked together for. I have become very canny at looking out for offers and religiously cut vouchers out of the newspaper and keep an eye out for when the deals are on at the local Tesco supermarket. One of the most helpful ways of saving money I’ve come across in recent years is to use the comparison websites to make sure that you aren’t paying a penny more than you have to on your household bills. I used the mortgage protection quotes website and saved a fortune. I also checked to see if our buildings and contents insurance can be bought cheaper than we have it already. Changing electricity and gas suppliers is always worth considering as they tend to put up prices for people who don’t switch providers like the banks and building societies do for those who don’t move their money to the best savings accounts. I believe that we can save about one month’s salary a year by switching or threatening to switch suppliers. Sometime purely mentioning the fact that you are about to change provider to your existing provider will mean that they will drop their price by a huge margin. Its well worth trying, the alternative is too awful to contemplate.

Source: http://mortgageprotectionquotes.org/blog/2011/12/08/i-found-i-was-paying-too-much-my-life-insurance-when-i-made-online-comparison-using-mortgage-protection-quotes-website/

Most of us expect to live a secured life, yet few of us do. Secured credit cards with 0 interest can offer us a measure of security we need. Secured cards are available on the Web. Banks often promote cards for those with excellent credit scores, but everyone can get a credit card.

Those with poor credit scores may have to pay a deposit on the credit cards with 0 interest. Once the cardholder pays a deposit, his or her card becomes a credit line. These days lenders usually focus on the people whose credit is less than perfect because millions of people are in debt. Lenders know that those in debt need to reestablish their credit. Similarly, some people have no credit history. Credit cards can provide people with ways to establish a credit history by allowing you to make payments on time. Read the rest of this entry »

I’m keen to find out whether the coalition government may decide to make changes to Trusts or Business Property Relief in the near future, as it would effect my inheritance tax planning.

I have been working with a consultant from Inheritance Planning Review and we’ve got a strategy in place which would look to mitigate my liability considerably. However I have heard that the government may be reviewing the current rules regarding Chargeable Lifetime Transfers and Discretionary Trusts, and therefore do not want to put something in place which may not be suitable for our circumstances. There was also an article which said that Enterprise Investment Schemes which qualify for Business Property Relief, and therefore means the investment is considered outside your estate for inheritance tax purposes after 2 years, may also be reviewed by the government. It seems that they’re not happy with people using these plans in a low risk manner with the prime objective being to avoid paying tax.

I’m not sure if there is any truth in these rumours but if anyone has any opinion or information on this then I’d be grateful.

Anyone who has been turned down for traditional loans or refused high interest rates can borrow money with peer to peer lending. If you have been rejected from borrowing money from a traditional banking institute, you can apply for the peer-to-peer loans and get accepted if someone decides that he/she is willing to take the risk to loan you money.

Anyone can borrow money with peer to peer lending because social lenders instead of banks get you the money you need to buy a home. You may borrower money from one individual or a group of individuals. If you borrow from a group of lenders, then you will have to pay each member of that group back plus interest. You can choose the amount of interest you wish to pay, and you can choose the amount of mortgage you wish to repay on the loan.

If you have been turned down from, traditional banks peer to peer may be a good way to get a home. However, you still run the risk of being turned down. If the lenders decide that you are not worth the risk, they will not lend you money. They are authorized to view your credit score and debts once they consider lending you money.

If the lender(s) feel you owe too much out in debts, or your credit is below 300 they may not offer you money to buy a home. It is a risk you will have to take. In social lending (Peer-to-Peer (P2P) you can invest, borrow money, or lend money to others. Read the rest of this entry »