Debt is an increasingly significant problem for pre-retirees, it has been claimed.
Research from Payplan has found that the average unsecured debts of those aged 50-60 stood at £41,400, 25 per cent higher than the level owed by other age groups.
In addition, it revealed that the average repayment period that pre-retirees agreed to under a debt […]

Backpackers are turning to prepaid cards in an attempt to avoid credit card debt while they are travelling, it has been claimed.
Tom Griffiths, founder of gapyear.com, said the prepayment method is also popular with backpackers as traditional cards often get cancelled when people use them abroad.
“This is because the computer sees a card that hasn’t […]

Worry over debt is spoiling many Brits’ holidays, it has been claimed.
Several people are unable to forget about financial concerns while they are taking a break abroad, according to research from American Express Travellers Cheques.
Despite holidays being intended as a time of rest and relaxation, 70 per cent of respondents said they are troubled by […]

One in three Brits are eating less healthily as a result of the economic downturn, new research has suggested.
Christians Against Poverty, a charity that offers debt advice, commissioned YouGov to carry out a study into how the credit crunch is affecting people’s finances.
It found that 32 per cent are turning to cheaper processed food - […]

The term ‘funt’, or financially untouchable - used to describe a person who is finding it nearly impossible to be approved for credit - has been included in a dictionary expert’s new book, it has been reported.
It appears in Susie Dent’s Words of the Year book along with ’stagflation’, an economic term used to describe […]

Channel 4’s Countdown word expert Susie Dent is the author of a new book published by Oxford University Press - “Words of the Year”.
The book lists and comments on words and phrases that have started to become widely used over the past year.
Unsurprisingly, many phrases coined by reporters and journalists to describe the global economic […]

Although the introduction of Chip and Pin has made life more difficult for fraudsters in Britain, overall card fraud losses have risen, new research has found.
Figures released by Apacs, the UK payments association, show that total losses caused by card fraud increased 14 per cent in the first six months of the year.
This could lead […]

House prices fell by 1.7 per cent in September, meaning that more people may be facing the prospect of negative equity, a new report has shown.
The average value of a home was £161,797 in the ninth month, compared to £164,654 in August, according to building society Nationwide.
Chief economist Fionnuala Earley said that the development […]

New measures designed to protect people who take up an equity release plan on their home have been unveiled.
Safe Home Income Plans (Ship) has made a change to its code of conduct meaning that any solicitor working on an equity release case must sign a certificate asserting their independence from the lender.
They must also confirm […]

More parents are funding children through university in an attempt to help them remain debt free, new research has suggested.
A study by Halifax has found that this year, the highest proportion of student funding came from parents, whereas last year the most popular form of finance was through a job.
Currently around 53 per cent of […]