Educating Widows in Personal Financial Planning

Posted by Ginger Makales in Financial News | No Comments

Korb, B. R. (2010). Financial planners: Educating widows in personal financial planning. Journal of Financial Counseling and Planning 21 (2), pp. 3-15.

Brief Description:  Financial planners and their widowed clients were interviewed. Research revealed that widows vary by age in terms of their knowledge level and risk tolerance as well as their needs for financial advice and education, with the younger widows were less risk adverse and more financially literate but in need of financial guidance for a longer time span. Because many older widows have relied on men for their financial management, they tend to be less financially knowledgeable than younger ones. They may have little time to add to their wealth, so many fear running out of money. The widows were seeking guidance in managing their cash flow, controlling spending, goal setting and estate planning.

Implications:  Widows reported that they would not be likely to attend a workshop on financial planning or seek advice from a financial planner unless they were referred by someone they trust. I

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Atlantic contagion

Posted by Clifford Mato in Financial News | No Comments

SORRY to be so stuck on news in Europe and America; these days it’s difficult to focus on much else. Earlier today, I mentioned that yields on Spanish and Italian debt were up sharply to start the week. That increase is partially a product of ongoing consideration of last week’s deal and it’s implications for the future of the euro zone. It was also influenced by a Moody’s downgrade of Greek debt. The ratings agency expressed concern that a Greek default would hit financial institutions in other peripheral countries, and it fretted that, “The support package sets a precedent for future restructurings should the finances of another euro area sovereign become as problematic as those of Greece”. In other words, having put together the machinery of a sovereign-debt restructuring, the euro zone is likely to use it more than once. That doesn’t mean that the euro zone made a mistake in putting these mechanisms together; it was simply acknowledging the inevitable.

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Increase in search for real estate in Croatia

Posted by Clifford Mato in Financial News | No Comments

A leading UK property portal has reported a dramatic increase in property searches for a number of European countries including Croatia. Not suprisingly, Spain leads the way with seven entries out of ten while Italy has overtaken Australia as 19 out of 20 Italian regions saw a rise in searches with Le Marche and Tuscany seeing the biggest increases. Australia experienced a decrease in searches for the third month in a row but searches attributed to recent press reports the market is cooling, prices are high and interest rates continue to rise. Searches for property in Croatia also increased 20% month on month as lower advertised real estate prices combined with recent press reports of Croatia’s imminent EU entry visible across European media.

The US Economy: July Isn’t Looking Any Better

Posted by Zak Howard in Financial Reviews | No Comments

Next week the Bureau of Economic Analysis will release its estimate of Q2 US GDP growth. Of 69 economists polled, the bloomberg consensus is that the US economy grew at a 1.8% annualized rate spanning the months of April to June over January to March. In all, this quarterly growth rate implies just 1.9% annualized growth during the first half of 2011. Not much of an expansion.Economists have put their ‘hope’ into the second half of 2011. But high frequency data show that the third quarter is setting up to be a doozy as well. This is too bad because we’re talking about jobs and the welfare of American families here.I like to follow two weekly indicators to get a feel for the labor market and the corporate trucking business. The message is clear: the economy is not improving.

First, the bellwether of the state of the US labor market – weekly initial unemployment claims – continues to disappoint. In the week ending July 16, seasonally adjusted initial claims increased 10,000 to 408,000.

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Calling all UK affiliates: the 2011 Affiliate Census is now live

Posted by Zak Howard in Financial Reviews | No Comments

In partnership with A4u, Econsultancy has this week launched the 2011 Affiliate Census, which is aimed at shining a spotlight on the affiliate publishers who drive billions of pounds in revenue for advertisers every year. 

As with similar studies published in 2007 and 2009, the research will be based on a survey which is open to affiliates operating in the UK marketplace or promoting UK advertisers from abroad.

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Three big banking wheezes to avoid!

Posted by Clifford Mato in Financial News | No Comments

We highlight some bad banking practice you need to watch out for.

Unfair banking practice is undermining consumer trust, new research has found.

The study, by think tank the Social Market Foundation, revealed the widespread use of short-term incentives, like cash bonuses and ‘teaser’ interest rates. However, the analysis found that these are often cross-subsidised by unfair practices like interest rates that fall over time, the use of hidden charges, and reduced insurance coverage.

As always, it seems we need to keep a very close eye on our banks and building societies, and regularly hold them to account. Her

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