Friday 9 May 2008

SUCCESSFUL TAX FREE ISA INVESTING

Time for a sneak inside look at what's covered by the new book SUCCESSFUL TAX FREE ISA INVESTING, by ALAN DUNWIDDIE. Here's the contents page, to give you some idea what it covers :-

  • Introduction
  • About Isas
  • Financial Advisors
  • Isas and the Tax-free Myth
  • Inflation
  • Cash Isas
  • Investing in Shares
  • Choosing a Broker
  • Unit Trust Isas
  • Investment Trust Isas
  • Exchange-Traded Fund Isas
  • Commodity Isas
  • Gold Isas
  • Bond Isas
  • Property Isas
  • With-Profits Isas
  • Isa Mortgages
  • The Future Of Isas
  • Summary
  • Recommended Resources
  • Official Inland Revenue Guidance on Isas

Wednesday 7 May 2008

Selftrade mismanage Freedom4 tender

To Update People on the Pipex/Freedom 4 situation, Halifax did their bit and tendered 85% of my shares, Selftrade on the other hand, mismanaged it and only did 58%, despite me knowing a huge number of their nominee shareholders didn't put their tenders in in time.

I complained about the fact they only tendered 58% when I specifically said tender ALL or as much as possible. The official written reply is :-

"Unfortunately we do not have direct access to the Halifax to substantiate your claim that they tendered 85%..."

Not impressed.

Should Britain Join the Euro

I used to be strongly in favour of a single European currency, and my partner is from the continent, but after living over there for 3 years, I've completely revised my opinion.

Culturally, Europe is much more socialist and controlling, when compared with the historic British attitude of an island nation based on international trade and financial freedoms, as evidenced by our reputation as one of the best places to conduct international business, and our base as the world's leading financial centre.

Using the old dictum that "he who controls the currency controls the nation", by giving up the national currency, you are also giving up much of the control and handing it to another power, with vested interests of its own.

Fortunately, at this point in time, most Britons realise this and are opposed to the single currency. We all know this, so why even bother going to the expense and hassle of a referendum?