Investments

Should I Make Lots of Different Investments?

There are lots of different type of investments that we can make such as shares, buying a second home, buying art etc and this might make people feel that they should be spreading their money across lots of different types of investments. There are advantages and disadvantage of doing this and it is a good idea to understand these before making a decision. Some of them are listed below. 

Spread the Risk

 Most of us will be aware of the concept of spreading the risk. This is where we invest our money across different things. This means that if one item does not do well, we hope that the gains made from others will mean that we will be able to still do okay on average. This can mean different things though. It can mean spreading your money across completely different things, so some in property, some in art and some in shares but it could also mean buying several different properties or shares in different companies or in different industry sectors. It is worth thinking about what it means to you and whether you think that it is an effective idea and will be a good technique to spread the risk. 

Harder to Research and Track

 However. There are disadvantages of spreading your money in lots of different places. It means that you have more work to do with regards to tracking how well it is doing. You need to think about those investments that you are making and review them from time to time. See whether they are giving you the return that you are expecting or whether you are finding that you are not getting back all of the money that you had hoped. It is important to make sure that you are tracking things. You will be wise to do this before you invest any money and track the market to make sure that you are making a wise investment decision before you start. Then keep checking it to see whether you still want to have your money invested in this area. Although investments should be long term, this is still something that is important to do so that you can be sure that you are making the right investments. The more different investments you have, particularly if they are completed different (art, house and shares as compared to shares in different companies) the more difficult it will be to track and make sure that you are doing the right thing. You may have a financial advisor to do this for you, but if you do not and you track it yourself then you will need to give this some thought. Also, even if you do have an advisor, you should still be doing some tracking yourself as you want some control in the decision making with regards to your investments. 

Some Need High-Value Investment

 It is also worth considering that some products require really high amounts of money to be invested in them. Things like buying a home will need a large lump sum unless you take out a mortgage. This means that it may not be possible for everyone to be able to invest this way. This means that you will need to consider how much money you have and then you will be able to think about what sorts of things you will be able to invest in. You may still be able to spread the risk a little bit, perhaps by choosing a few things, but your options will be more limited. It is wise to think about whether you want similar investments or things a bit different and also how many you think that you can manage. 

Online Banking

Should I do All my Banking Online?

Some people will exclusively bank online these days, but other people prefer to not bank online. There are advantages and disadvantages to both and it is a good idea to have a think through these and then it will help you to decide whether you should be banking online or not. 

Security

 A lot of people worry about the security of online banking. It is a concern that is genuine and something that you do need to be careful about. However, there are things that you can do to make sure that you are protected better from any problems. For example, make sure that you never follow a link to your online bank account either from an email or search engine but always type it in. Have a good virus checker and firewall and try not to log in, in a public place where you might be seen or your computer use might be tracked. Banks will have lots of information on how you can stay safe online and it is a good idea to have a look through it and this should give you the confidence to know that you are doing everything that you need to keep yourself safe. It can also be wise to ask your bank what might happen should there be fraudulent activity on your account as many banks will reimburse any lost money, which can help to give you confidence that even if it does happen, you will be protected. 

Access

 You will need an Internet connection to use online banking. Some people have a good connection in their home and some do not. Some people have no connection at all or one that is not reliable and others might decide to use their phone to access it. It is worth making sure that you are confident in your connection before taking on a bank account that is purely online accessible just in case you need money and cannot access the account for some reason. 

Convenience

 It can be a lot more convenient if you online bank. This is because you will be able to check your account balance at any time. You will also be able to do transfers and even apply for accounts and things like that from your home and outside of banking hours. If you work full-time then this can be very helpful as you will be able to use the bank when their branches are shut. You may not even have a local branch and so could find it much easier to use an online account as you do not have to travel a long way to organize your banking needs.

No Face to Face

 There could be situations where you might find it difficult to do business online and you might want to be able to talk to someone about it. This could be the case if you want to negotiate something, perhaps a better interest rate or if you want to reduce loan repayments to make them easier for you to manage, for example. Some accounts do not allow this sort of thing and you are limited to only being able to deal online which some people may not mind, but others may not like. You will have to think about whether this is something that is important to you. It could be that you will be okay with talking to someone on the telephone and you will need to check whether this is something that you will be able to do with the account that you have. Some will allow telephone and online support and others just online, so you will need to check this out. 

Payday Loans

Will I Qualify for Payday Loans?

There are many loan types and they all have certain criteria that you have to fulfil in order to qualify for them. Some are much easier to be accepted for than others. It is worth thinking about whether you will be accepted before you apply. This is not only because it can be a waste of time applying if you do not get offered the money that you need and it can feel demoralizing but it also looks bad on your credit report. It will document every rejection that you get. Some lenders will see a rejection and will immediately reject you as a result of that without even looking at your credit report further. You, therefore, need to be completely sure that you will be accepted before you apply. Some lenders will tell you which can be handy, but it is also useful knowing what their criteria are. With payday loans, there are not that many, which can be a relief to a lot of people. Although they may vary between lenders they tend to only require the following. 

Over 18

 To borrow the money you will need to be over the age of 18. This is not surprising as under 18’s are considered to be children and also most are not earners. Hopefully, most people below this age would not need to borrow money anyway. 

UK Resident

 In order to take out a payday loan in the UK, you need to be a UK resident. If you are not then you may be able to borrow money from the country that you are resident in. It is likely that you will be a UK resident if you hold a UK bank account anyway (although a few people may have UK bank accounts and live elsewhere). You will need a UK bank account as well. 

UK Bank Account

 You will need to hold a UK bank account. This is because the money that you borrow will be paid into the account and you will need to make the repayment(s) from this account as well. Without an account, the lender will not be able to set up the direct debit that will ensure that they get their repayment on the day that they need it. They will want to do this as it will increase the chance that they will get the money that is owed to them on time. 

Most people in the UK, that need to borrow money will fit these few criteria. These are very few compared to most loans. A lot of lenders will expect you to have a good credit rating before they lend you money as well. This means that you will need to be able to show that you can be trusted to repay the loan. Lenders do vary in what they look for, but many will look to see if you have a good record for repaying loans in full and on time and whether you are making other payments that are expected of you as well. The lenders may also look for proof of a permanent income, so that it can be tricky for those are self-employed, contracting or freelancing to get money This can mean that some people will therefore not be able to get these loans. This is where a payday loan can be useful as they do not look at the credit report as a means of judging the applicants. It is therefore extremely likely that you will qualify for a payday loan as there are very few criteria that you will have to fulfil in order to do so.