Money Zone : How to Be Young, Free and in Control of Your Financial Health

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Format: Paperback
Pub. Date: 2000-09-01
Publisher(s): Trans-Atlantic Pubns
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Summary

Picture this. You've got a degree in hand, you've broken free of the family threshold, and your feet are firmly on the rungs of a 'glittering career ladder'. Sounds okay, doesn't it?<>But simmering beneath this, there are niggling voices in your head (and many more coming from parents and peers), muttering words like 'pension', 'tax', and 'mortgage'. Whether you stick your head in the sand or not, you know these are matters you are going to have to deal with at some stage, and sooner is probably better than later.<>Let's face it, trying to clear your student debt is a big enough headache, let alone organising life assurance or making your first investment. What happens when you want to buy a house? How do you go about setting up your first business? Are you ever going to need a financial adviser and what for?<>In your 20s and 30s you make the biggest financial decisions of your life. Most of us find it frightening, bewildering, and at the very least, painfully dull.<>Well, this book is for you. It's not written by grey-suited men who still think the Rolling Stones are cool. The Money Zone is written with you in mind - your needs, your worries, in a style and language that won't confuse more than it confirms. It will guide you through every financial decision you will need to make, from getting a student loan, renting your first flat, to investing in your future and planning for your retirement.<>The Money Zone: young, free and solvent. <> "A money book for the Freedom Years that's both funky and factual. Packed with career and finance tips but cool enough that you won't have to hide it on the bookshelf." <>- Marianne Curphey, Editor, Money Unlimited

Table of Contents

Preface: La dolce vita xi
Section 1 Debt before dishonour 1(40)
Student days: Swimming with the loan sharks
3(16)
Student debt
5(1)
Tuition fees
5(3)
Living costs
8(2)
Your new best friend - the LEA
10(1)
Repayment of the loan
11(2)
Additional sources of finance
13(2)
Not satisfied?
15(4)
Current affairs
19(12)
Which type of account?
21(2)
Banking facilities
23(2)
Pre-college years
25(1)
Student bank accounts
26(5)
Plastic fantastic lovers
31(10)
So what is a credit card?
32(2)
Which type of card?
34(2)
The annual percentage rate
36(1)
Troubleshooting
36(5)
Section 2 Work is a four-letter word 41(40)
My brilliant career
43(12)
Your benefit shopping list
44(3)
Top tips for the negotiating table
47(1)
Overseas secondments
48(7)
The company of wolves: the new entrepreneurs
55(14)
Why are you going into business?
57(1)
Structures for business
57(1)
Why do you need money?
58(1)
Financing your business
59(1)
How to present your case
60(2)
Your business plan
62(1)
Business support
63(6)
Big brother is watching
69(12)
What is tax?
70(1)
Income tax and national insurance
71(2)
Students and tax
73(1)
Self-employed and tax
73(2)
Self-assessment
75(2)
Capital gains tax
77(4)
Section 3 Room with a view 81(36)
Rising damp
83(10)
Why rent?
84(1)
Association of Residential Letting Agents
85(1)
A fast-moving market
85(1)
Key considerations
86(7)
Home a loan
93(16)
Leasehold v freehold
95(1)
Seeking advice
95(1)
Making an offer
96(1)
How much can you borrow?
97(1)
What is a mortgage?
98(1)
Which type of mortgage?
98(2)
Your choice of interest rates
100(2)
Mortgage-related insurance
102(3)
Mortgage-related investments
105(4)
The caretaker
109(8)
Business opportunities in property
110(2)
Buy to let
112(1)
The loan
112(1)
Which type of property?
112(1)
The letting agent
113(4)
Section 4 A fistful of dollars 117(44)
The money pit
119(14)
Risk
120(1)
Securities
121(1)
UK equities
122(1)
Overseas equities
123(1)
Bonds
124(1)
Index-linked gilts
125(1)
Cash
125(1)
Property
125(1)
Risk and reward
126(3)
Styles of institutional management
129(4)
Nightmare on Wall Street
133(12)
Rainy days and Mondays
134(1)
Collective funds
135(2)
Individual savings accounts
137(1)
Unit trusts
138(1)
Open-ended investment companies
139(1)
Investment trusts
140(2)
Insurance company bonds
142(1)
Offshore funds
142(3)
Farewell to arms
145(8)
Ethical Investment Research Service
147(1)
Defining an ethical policy
148(2)
The impact of ethical screening on performance
150(1)
Alternative investments
151(2)
The tax man cometh
153(8)
Keep it legal
155(1)
Your tax allowances and exemptions
156(1)
Income tax
156(1)
Capital gains tax
157(1)
Inheritance tax
157(4)
Section 5 The long goodbye 161(42)
Gold watch blues
163(16)
State pension? Forget it!
164(1)
Company pension schemes
164(1)
How occupational schemes work
165(3)
The main types of pension scheme
168(1)
Final-salary schemes
168(5)
Money-purchase schemes
173(3)
Divorce
176(1)
Transfers
177(2)
Pensions - this time it's personal
179(12)
How personal pensions work
181(2)
Standard personal pensions
183(2)
Personal pensions with greater investment scope
185(6)
Your money and your life
191(12)
Life assurance
192(1)
Which type of policy?
193(2)
Tips on buying your life assurance
195(2)
Income protection insurance
197(1)
Income protection plans
197(2)
Critical illness insurance
199(1)
Mortgage payment protection
199(4)
Appendix 1 Help! 203(6)
How to choose your financial adviser
204(1)
Which type of adviser?
204(1)
Paying for advice
205(1)
The client agreement
206(3)
Appendix 2 Financial planning and investment advisers 209(4)
Stockbrokers and investment managers
210(1)
Financial planners and advisers
210(1)
Accountants
210(1)
Solicitors
211(1)
Pension specialists
211(1)
Other useful organizations
211(1)
Complaints
211(2)
Appendix 3 Where there's a will there's a relative 213(4)
What happens if you don't make a will
214(1)
Points to consider
214(1)
Distribution of an estate under the laws of intestacy
215(2)
Appendix 4 Bluffer's guide to the jargon 217(6)
Index 223

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