Money Making Schemes

Nagesh answers:

It seems that a great deal of our criminals are in politics, seriously. A couple of years ago legislation was passed that allowed banks to clear checks electronically overnight. However the banks won’t allow you to access your own money the next day, they make you wait two to five days to access your funds while they are making interest on it. Thanks a lot legislators!

Nagesh answers:

There are two basic types of “Work At Home” job scams on the internet. The first is the survey site. You join up and have to give them all sorts of personal information. Immediately, your mailbox is filled with spam. As hard as you try, you never get to a level where they will send you a check. You quit the site, but the spam continues.

The second scam is joining a club or whatever that promises you endless money for a small entry fee. They are classical pyramid schemes. The only way you make any money is to dupe others into joining and you get a miniscule percentage of their entry fee. No new members, no money. That’s why you see so many of these offers here because they can’t find any more suckers.

Nagesh answers:

The state pension is paid at your state retirement age. The basic state pension is based on the number of years qualifying national insurance history you have. For this year the full basic state pension is £102.15 per week. In addition there could be an earnings related portion which is known as S2P.

A stakeholder pension is a private pension into which you can make contributions and an employer may also make a contribution. It is the simplest type of pension and the charges are capped.

There are lots of different types of employer pension scheme: the main ones are final salary, or money purchase. An employer may also set up group stakeholder pension schemes or group personal pension schemes. If you have the opportunity to join an employer’s pension scheme in most cases you should do so or risk missing out on the employer contribution.

Disclaimer:
The answers above are for guidance only and should not be acted upon without you receiving independent financial advice relevant to your circumstances. Please note tax rules are subject to change. To find an IFA please go to http://www.unbiased.co.uk

Danny Cox, Certified Financial Planner CM, Hargreaves Lansdown, www.hl.co.uk

Nagesh answers:

Charity shops are the main place to donate unwanted gifts. You could decide to spread the donations throughout a few months. I guess they get overwhelmed in early January.

All the charities with shops appeal for unwanted gifts to be donated after Xmas.

Very few charity shops can take electrical goods. Best to check first. Those that can usually have someone who’s qualified to test the items and make sure they’re safe to use. Some charity shops will take them, not to sell in the shop but to be sold to recycling schemes or another use found for them.

Children’s charities such as Barnardo’s, NCH and NSPCC are interested in taking unwanted children’s toys and clothing.

Local playgroups, children’s hospitals, hospices etc might also be interested in suitable toys and clothes etc. (Best to choose playgroups in an area of deprivation rather than affluence.) Children’s and old peoples’ care homes may be interested in good items of clothing, DVDs etc. Youth clubs in sports equipment.

More ideas on gifting toys here.
Http://www.charityguide.org/volunteer/fifteen/donate-toys.htm
AND
http://www.uk-energy-saving.com/charity_recycling.html

You could also sell them at a car boot sale etc or on ebay and donate the money to charity.

The Freecycle network helps people get rid of items without sending them to landfill.
Http://www.uk.freecycle.org/
AND
Recycle London
http://www.recycleforlondon.com/index.cfm

Another exchange scheme is vskips.
Http://www.vskips.co.uk/?gclid=CJvk0NfZw5ACFQiKMAodwGFKQQ

Donate bicycles, tools, shoes etc.
Http://www.nomoreclutter.co.uk/2006/links.html

The Body Shop (ActionAid and many other charities) will take old mobile phones. The Body Shop aims to convert them into mobile personal alarms. Sainsbury’s also takes them and passes them onto charity.

Unwanted spectacles can be sent to: Vision Aid Overseas, Unit 12 The Bell Centre, Newton Rd, Manor Royal, Crawley, West Sussex RH10 9FZ.

Unwanted bras: to
BreastTalk.co.uk – Bra Appeal. PO Box 71, Craven Arms, SY7 0WZ. England
http://www.breasttalk.co.uk/bra-appeal/

Unwanted vouchers
http://www.unwantedvoucher.co.uk/

Furniture reuse
http://www.frn.org.uk/

Many charities and recycling schemes will take PCs etc.

Horrifyingly in the UK we spend an estimated 1.3 billion pounds each year on gifts that aren’t appreciated or wanted.

Nagesh answers:

The general advice is to have 6 months’ living expenses put by as an emergency fund. See if you can find a Regular Saver account. They offer higher interest. I have one I pay into weekly, it gets 7%. I cannot make more than 2 withdrawals in a year, but if there was an emergency, I could take out a big sum each time. If I wanted instant access any time, the rate would be much lower. Towards the end of the tax year, many banks advertise savings schemes that are tax deductible. You could check the various options available to you online. Google regular savings accounts. For UK try
http://www.money.co.uk/savings-accounts.htm
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/best-regular-savings-accounts
http://www.everyinvestor.co.uk/comparison-tables/savings/regular-savings-accounts
For Ireland
http://www.itsyourmoney.ie/cs_tab.jsp
For US
http://best.lovetoknow.com/Best_Savings_Account
http://www.boundless.org/2002_2003/regulars/money_talks/a0000683.html
http://www.bankrate.com/
http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2007/03/21/which-online-high-yield-savings-account-is-best/ read all the readers’ comments