Business for Life

The USA is more then 14 trillion dollars in debt. What do you think needs to be done to shrink this debt. Do you think we will ever get out of it, it is only getting bigger by hundreds on the second.

With the announcement that annual inflation in the UK had risen dramatically to 4 per cent, the Bank of England is under pressure to increase the base rate from its record low level of 0.5 per cent.

The inflation rate hit a two-year high last month, primarily because of the hike in the rate of VAT to 20 per cent and the surge in the cost of petrol, and many experts argue that rising prices is putting the Bank of England under more pressure to push interest rates up from their low point, where they have remained since March 2009, especially as the Bank had targeted a rate of just 2 per cent for inflation.

The consumer price index (CPI) for inflation in the UK increased to 4 per cent last month from 3.7 per cent in December, although it did fall short of the 4.2 per cent that was expected by the market.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said that soaring oil prices, now well over USD100 per barrel, and recent increase in the level of the VAT sales tax were the main contributory factors for the high level.

With oil and food prices rising globally, Spain and China also recently announced their consumer prices had risen dramatically, with the former hitting 3 per cent and the latter hitting 4.9 per cent in January. Read more…

The wife and I are approximately ,000 away from being completely out of debt (sans the mortgage). We’ll never be going into debt again, ever. One thing we’ve discovered is getting debt free is that the things that we went in debt for ultimately aren’t worth it.

For example: that ,000 car was nice, until we faced the reality of paying for it for the next 60 months. A ,500 used car will get you from point A to point B just fine, and without monthly payments.

For those who are out of debt and/or almost out of debt. What’s your opinion on taking on debt now? Would you be so eager to do it again?

I ask this because a few months ago I had about ,500 in credit card debt at about 9% interest. I thought this was a lot. Then I read that the average American has credit card debt in the amounts of 2x-10x what I have here, and at double the interest rate.

Why are Americans willing to borrow so much? Does this correlate to the national savings average being a negative percent? And lastly, once everyone is totally broke and so far in debt that they can never pay it off, who is going to foot the bill in the end? For the record, I am an American, living in America. I have no idea how anybody got the impression that I wasn’t from America.

www.facebook.com – add me as a friend on Facebook! I don’t know about you, but I could use a bigger flow of MONEY in my life! Are you one of the many who are dreaming about unique ways to allow money to flow into your life? Working an hour to get paid an hour is a start, but doesn’t feel like freedom, does it? Here’s an excerpt from 2004 where Esther Hicks / Abraham is talking to a woman about her recent adventure in procuring a nice chunk of money without buying a lottery ticket, without winning the lottery, without anyone dying, and without having to slave at a job for it for months. Some of the parts I found the most interesting were just the bits where the lady was talking about how she allowed various visions of how the money would come to her to. Inspiri

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The NY Senate Republicans have released their analysis of Governor Cuomo’s budget, including the proposal to merge the Insurance Department, the Banking Department and portions of the Consumer Protection Board. In the document they conclude that there are no savings to be achieved and a cost of $6-$9 million primarily in consolidation expenses. The document doesn’t contain a narrative discussion of the merits of the proposal – it merely states the conclusions on costs.

The National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF) has announced a major review of the current private sector pensions system in the UK, to be carried out by Lord John McFall, the former chairman of the Treasury Committee. NAPF were prompted into commissioning the report due to a recent poll that revealed 55 per cent of workers think that they hold insufficient retirement savings .

The review, entitled the Workplace Retirement Income Commission, and due to be completed by this October, will examine the problems faced by many young people who are facing a “long retirement spent in poverty,” and a lot of occupational pension schemes now providing less retirement income, according McFall.

A recent poll found that 79 per cent of respondents wanted a simpler pensions system, and also showed that keeping pension payments up-to-date is no longer a priority for many due to the economic climate, with 43 per cent of respondents claiming they could not afford to save for retirement. Read more…