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Archive for December, 2009

Credit cards could be heavily used at Scottish ATMs. An increasing number of cash withdrawals from bank and credit card accounts are likely to be made in Scotland during the festive period.

According to analysis from Clydesdale Bank, a total of £1bn will be withdrawn from the nation’s ATMs in December.

Transactions will average £40 a time during the month, 10% higher than in November.

The credit card provider also said that the value of cash machine withdrawals will rise by around 25% over the weekend before Christmas.

Steve Reid, retail director for Clydesdale Bank, said: “Christmas is always the busiest time of year for shoppers but they can avoid the rush at ATMs by starting early in the morning or picking up cash in mid-week when there are considerably fewer transactions.

“Those out to celebrate the season face less problems with queuing; they tend to stagger their withdrawals across the day and evening.”

Clydesdale Bank also urged customers to “take care” to protect themselves against the possibility of debit and credit card theft when using a cash machine at night.

Figures from the firm show that its five busiest ATMs in 2008 were those located in West George Street and Sauchiehall Street in Glasgow, in East Kilbride’s Olympia Arcade and in the Glasgow Fort and Silverburn shopping centres. < Read more…

There are lots of statistics out there about the costs of college and the rate at which college tuition is increasing every year. We generally plan and save to try to cover the costs of college tuition, which are the most substantial cost faced by future college students and their parents. However, there is a long list of other costs that most people don’t think about until they arrive on campus and a failure to plan for these costs can lead to financial problems for college students that follow them through life beyond graduation day.

Understanding the costs above and beyond tuition for college students and how to navigate these costs can make a big difference in the college experience for most students. Many students work part time as students to cover some of these costs that are impossible to avoid.

Textbooks: If you’ve visited a University bookstore, you’re familiar with the high prices of college textbooks. Techn

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04
Dec

7 ways to shield your market gains

Feeling queasy? After soaring for more than six months, stocks have started to wobble lately. Despite the recent indigestion, stocks remain way above their March 9 lows. The Dow industrials ($INDU) this week were more than 60% above their nadir, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index ($INX) and the technology-happy Nasdaq Composite Index ($COMPX) were up about 70%.

How to rebalance your portfolio

Clearly, stocks could not continue to rise indefinitely at their earlier pace, and some would argue that a correction is not only inevitable but also healthy. So maybe the Dow will drop a few hundred more points and then resume its ascent.

But what if things get worse first?

What if the recovery proves to be shallow or stalls? Worse still, what if the economy falls back into recession? What if another major financial company fails?

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Now what? Investors can be forgiven if they’re at a loss, after seeing the stock market decimated in 2008, followed by this year’s partial comeback. Was 2008 a fluke? Was this year?

In other words: Now what?

To get some answers, Daisy Maxey, a reporter with the Dow Jones Newswires, sat down with six financial advisers to talk about what they’re recommending for next year. They talked about their general philosophies and their specific recommendations, about traps to avoid and opportunities to go after.

Here are edited excerpts of that discussion.

DAISY MAXEY: Can each of you start by saying what you expect for the next year?

MICHAEL JOYCE: I think that there is probably a wider range of potential outcomes for the economy and the markets than perhaps we’ve seen in a long, long time. And we need to be prepared for all different scenarios.

In the economic and financial downturn, there was a lot of criticism that there was lack of imagination on what could go wrong.

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If you are looking out for an effective way to deal with the mounting debts, you can use the equity of your home for this purpose. In order to do this, you must obviously be a homeowner and must also have built up some equity on it. Those who are fortunate enough to have that can apply for debt consolidation using home equity loan. Following are some of the simple steps that you have to follow in this regard.

How Much Equity You Have Built Up
The first thing that you have to do is to calculate the amount of equity sitting in your home. You can do this by subtracting the amount you have already paid on the mortgage from the current value of your home. Is the final amount sufficient enough to pay off your debts?

Do A Thorough Research
There are lots of companies in the market who offer various programs related to debt consolidation using home equity loan. Therefore, it is always wise to do an extensive research.

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