Money Towers

We have all suffered from poor service or products at some time and most of us have registered our dissatisfaction through complaining – either by letter, phone or e-mail. IF you are going to complain, letter is probably the best way and MoneyTowers.com is here to help you write that a fantastic complaint letter which will hopefully elicit a human response and not one of those bland non-apology corporate letters.

Be Clear
The first rule of writing a complaint letter is to be succinct and clear. Try and keep your complaint letter to one side or less and if possible, type up your letter rather than handwrite (unless you have impeccable handwriting) as this will allow for clear communication of your grievance.  Read more... (587 words, 1 image, estimated 2:21 mins reading time)

SIPP is short for Self Invested Personal Pension and is a do-it-yourself pension scheme that allows you to choose how your retirement savings are invested.

Sipps allow you free rein as to where your money is invested whereas standard personal pensions tend to have quite narrow choices.

The beauty of Sipps are that if your funds start to struggle, you can take full control and switch the investment to other areas to make your nest egg grow further.  Read more... (570 words, estimated 2:17 mins reading time)

It’s one of those really interesting questions you sometimes ask yourself when you are looking at your savings: If I left my money in my savings account and didn’t touch it, how long would it be until the amount doubled? Well, assuming that you don’t add any money to the pot and that the interest rate on your savings stays the same, it’s actually a pretty easy question to answer. Naturally, without even looking at any figures, it’s easy to see that the higher the interest rate, the shorter the time needed for your money to double in value.  Read more... (454 words, estimated 1:49 mins reading time)

Check you wallet carefully for £20 notes as the old style £20 note will no longer be considered legal tender as of June 30 meaning shops will no longer accept them and it is up to banks whether they are swapped for the newer notes or not.

From 1st July, £20 noted with the image of Adam Smith, the Scottish economist, will be the only £20 notes considered legal tender. These notes were first put into circulation in March 2007.  Read more... (222 words, 1 image, estimated 53 secs reading time)

Cashback websites are fantastic ways of making money on things you were going to buy anyway. With little effort, you can get as much as 6 percent back on your purchases – and this is a large amount if you are spending on something like a holiday.

Cashback websites make their money by earning commissions on any sales by referred customers or by on-site advertising. Some websites, such as Quidco, will pass on 100% of the commission they make to you in return for a small annual fee (in Quidco’s case, they charge a £5 annual fee and this is taken off the first £5 cashback that you earn).  Read more... (416 words, 1 image, estimated 1:40 mins reading time)

According to the latest research, millions of people who are set to retire in the next few years have unrealistic views of their pensions and are living in denial about their finances. Many still have hefty mortgages on their properties and have little or no savings.

Pension advisors are concerned that many people are looking to their properties to provide for their pension – however many people have large mortgages on their properties still and are also not looking to move in their retirement.  Read more... (212 words, 1 image, estimated 51 secs reading time)

Mortgage lenders have warned that there may be a shortage of credit in the coming months, leading to many first time buyers unable to secure mortgages.

The Council of Mortgage lenders has said that government schemes to keep mortgage lending afloat end in 2014, leaving a funding gap of £300 billion.

Before all the economic problems of the last few months, the gap between what the banks took in savings versus what they lent out was covered my the wholesale market in mortgage debt. However when the world financial markets were hit in 2007, the UK government was forced to plug this gap with the special liquidity scheme and credit guaranteed scheme.  Read more... (173 words, 1 image, estimated 42 secs reading time)