The government’s pledge of support for household incomes is welcome. But that can’t be the end of it. Outgoings are also of concern, not the least of which are debt repayments.

Debt weighs most heavily on the poor, both in terms of borrowing costs, type of debt and as a proportion of income. The government should learn from the mistakes of the 2008 financial crisis and make sure it is not just the wealthy who benefit from the bailouts.  

The poorest quarter of the population are far more exposed to consumer debt than anyone else, the median level of consumer debt constituted 17% of their pre-tax income, compared with only 4% for those in the richest fifth of the population.

Households are also struggling with other debts. If you miss a single payment of council tax, for example, then the whole yearly sum can become due. In 2018, the charity Citizens Advice found that 2.2 million households in England and Wales were behind on their council tax.

The number of callers to the National Debt Line with council tax arrears hit 30% last year, up from 15% in 2008. Mortgage and rent payments and debt to energy and car companies add to the burden. It would not take much for the poorest among us to “go to the wall” and this current emergency is “anything but small”. Claims for universal credit are already soaring. 

The financial regulator has just taken steps to help by ordering banks to offer interest-free overdrafts of up to £500 and payment holidays on credit and store cards and loans. Such measures are welcome, but could go further.

Payment holidays on car loans, utility bills and on rent, for example, would make sense, and credit ratings need to be protected. The state should forgive late payments of council and other taxes and loosen terms on the debts owed to it.

It is the moral and financial responsibility of the government to prevent this turning into a widespread personal debt crisis and one that especially impacts the poor.

A widespread bankruptcy crisis would hurt creditors as much as debtors and suppress the value of assets for years and years to come. In 2008, the finance industry was saved by bailouts.

It is now time for the institutions concerned to play their part in saving the people.

Do The Opposite   

Clark Wolfsberger has spent the bulk of his career developing and marketing energy drinks, but his latest venture couldn’t be more different. Because in his latest venture, he’s launched a drink called Beauty Sleep, which as the name suggests, is a sleep enhancer.

The drink is sold at over 500 spa’s and is on target to sell 265,000 bottles this year.

There are often valuable insights (and lucrative opportunities) to be had in turning a business on its head. If your business is all about keeping people warm, how about keeping them cold instead?

That might lead you to think about the reasons and circumstances that people need to be kept cold, and a whole new product line – air conditioning perhaps. If your business is about helping people lose weight, how about helping them gain weight instead?

That may lead you to start thinking about the type of people who want to gain weight…bodybuilders, people convalescing from illness etc…and how you might be able to tailor a weight-gain product for them.

Whatever business you’re in, there’s the possibility to turn it on it’s head and see what otherwise hidden or unconsidered opportunities the process throws up.

Today’s National Day

NATIONAL WORKAHOLICS DAY!

PUBLISHERS NOTICE

Dear Streetwise Customer,

Imagine sitting down this afternoon and tapping out a simple letter. It takes you perhaps a couple of hours to get it right…

And Then Over The Next Few Years It Brings In Over £5 Million. 

Pure fantasy? 

Not at all. I’ve done it. I’ll even show you the letter. And I’ve written lots of others just like it, although they weren’t all quite as successful as that one.  

But Even So, Many Of Them Landed Thousands Of Pounds In My Bank Account Within Days, and Hundreds of Thousands Within Weeks. 

Like to learn how to do the same?

Well there has really Never Been A Better Time for three reasons… 

1. These letters bring in serious money when times are tough – and they don’t come much tougher than they are right now.

2. These letters are even more powerful when the world is relying on the internet for its requirements, just like it is right now.

3. You probably have some free time available to learn how to do this at the moment.

Allow me to show you, for more details CLICK HERE

This is an exciting and realistic alternative to the gloom which is all around us today – an escape route. It’s an alternative that can quickly see you banking more than enough money to see yourself and your family right through this current crisis and then into uncharted financial success when all this is over.

This comes with a 100% cast iron 90 day money back guarantee. There is absolutely no risk to you to take a look.

Kind Regards

www.streetwisenews.com/OLR

With UK government borrowing running into the hundreds of billions, how can we stop any future recovery from being crushed by the sheer weight of debt?

One answer is monetisation.

Rather than central banks printing money and buying government bonds only in a crisis, they would do it all the time to fund ordinary spending. Rather than turning to international money markets to finance deficits, the state could effectively fund them itself.

We are already well on the way: the Bank of England now owns about one third of the UK’s national debt. After so many political failures, the left smells an opportunity.

Long mocked as believers in “magic money trees”, the response to Covid-19 suggests that such arboreal wonders do exist after all. If money can be summoned out of thin air to fight a virus then why, the argument goes, can it not be used to fight other deadly plagues: poverty, unemployment and climate change?

The first objection is economic. You can print infinite money, but there are limits on the goods such money can buy.

We still live in a world of scarcity. Unlimited demand for limited resources eventually generates hyperinflation. The currency would crash and the price of imports would soar.

Yet with so many countries monetising their debt at the same time, perhaps the pound would not fall relative to other currencies. Perhaps serious inflation could be avoided.

Preparing For The Worst   

A few years ago, I found myself at a hotel in Florida hosting a huge conference on Hurricane Preparedness, so I know that preparing for the worst can be big business. And that’s the premise behind a California based company. Earthquake Solutions makes it’s money from both consultancy work and the sale of emergency kits to the public.

Now I know that hurricane or earthquake preparedness isn’t a big issue here in the UK, but I do think that most of us (and I include myself here) are woefully unprepared for a natural or manmade disaster.

How would people cope following an unprecedented weather event, huge terrorist attack, total disruption of the transport system, the National Grid going down or fuel supplies drying up? Would they have the food, water, shelter and alternative power supplies they’d need?

Most would not.

I can’t pretend this is the easiest sell… people don’t like buying stuff when there’s no immediate need… but there’s no doubt that they would benefit from having a kit containing all the essentials to hand. If you can figure out a way to market this effectively there’s big money to be made.

Every home in the UK is a potential customer.

If this interests you, do some research on what’s available in the United States where preparing for the worst seems to be a National obsession?

Today’s National Day

NATIONAL RUNNING DAY!

PUBLISHERS NOTICE

Dear Streetwise Customer,

Imagine sitting down this afternoon and tapping out a simple letter. It takes you perhaps a couple of hours to get it right…

And Then Over The Next Few Years It Brings In Over £5 Million. 

Pure fantasy? 

Not at all. I’ve done it. I’ll even show you the letter. And I’ve written lots of others just like it, although they weren’t all quite as successful as that one.  

But Even So, Many Of Them Landed Thousands Of Pounds In My Bank Account Within Days, and Hundreds of Thousands Within Weeks. 

Like to learn how to do the same?

Well there has really Never Been A Better Time for three reasons… 

1. These letters bring in serious money when times are tough – and they don’t come much tougher than they are right now.

2. These letters are even more powerful when the world is relying on the internet for its requirements, just like it is right now.

3. You probably have some free time available to learn how to do this at the moment.

Allow me to show you, for more details CLICK HERE

This is an exciting and realistic alternative to the gloom which is all around us today – an escape route. It’s an alternative that can quickly see you banking more than enough money to see yourself and your family right through this current crisis and then into uncharted financial success when all this is over.

This comes with a 100% cast iron 90 day money back guarantee. There is absolutely no risk to you to take a look.

Kind Regards

www.streetwisenews.com/OLR

You might not be able to shield your shares from a falling stockmarket, but you can at least protect your investments from the taxman with a stocks and shares individual savings account (Isa).

The Isa “wrapper” is a tax-efficient way to invest in shares, unit trusts, investment trusts, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), open-ended investment companies (Oeics), real estate investment trusts (Reits), and both corporate and government bonds.

You can even park your cash here while you’re scouting around for what to buy next. Just make sure to be aware that, depending on your provider, you may not earn interest on your cash while you decide what to subsequently invest in. That’s what cash Isas are for.

Still, with a stocks and shares Isa, you won’t pay any capital gains tax (CGT) on your investments. Better yet, any income, whether dividends from shares or interest on bonds, is also sheltered from tax in your Isa.

Remember that the value of your stocks and shares Isa can go down as well as up. If it does fall then you can’t top it back up if you’ve used up your £20,000 allowance already. And remember, that £20,000 allowance is spread between all of your Isa accounts, not just the one.

So, for example, you might put £10,000 in a cash Isa and £10,000 in a stocks and shares Isa. But in this scenario, if the value of your stocks and shares Isa falls, you will have to wait until the start of the next tax year to pay in more money. You can, of course, transfer money into your stocks and shares Isa from, say, your cash Isa.

What if you already have investments outside of a tax wrapper that you would like to save into your stocks and shares Isa? Not a problem. There is quite a useful trick known as the “bed and Isa”.

First you sell your investments on your trading platform. Then you can buy them back inside your stocks and shares Isa. It’s as simple as that. Because the investments were outside of the tax wrapper when you sold them, they will be subject to your £12,000 CGT allowance for the year.

If you are in danger of breaching that limit, consider selling your investments in different tax years. Otherwise, you can transfer an investment to a spouse who hasn’t yet used up their allowance. They can then sell it and buy it back in their Isa.

Because investment platforms do the selling and then the buying in rapid succession when they carry out Bed and Isa services, the good news is your exposure to price movements in the market is kept to a minimum.

There are several things to consider when choosing an investment platform for your stocks and shares Isa. Some charge a flat fee, good news if you have a lot of money invested (over £25,000). Other platforms will charge a percentage of the value of your funds, which suits better if you are investing smaller sums.

Then there’s the fee you will be charged for buying and selling investments. And finally, there’s the range of investments that they offer, as well as the small, but important things, such as reliability and customer service.

Lockdown Shaming 

“Lockdown shaming” has become the latest ammunition in neighbourhood feuds. Police are urging the public to stop exploiting the coronavirus lockdown to settle neighbourhood vendettas after forces reported being “inundated” with thousands of daily allegations of people breaching coronavirus restrictions.

The West Midlands police, the second largest force in England and Wales, revealed it had been receiving 1,000 Covid-19 related calls a day. The majority of reports were for low-level incidents, such as neighbours reporting someone they had seen walking the dog twice in a day.

However, some are ongoing neighbour disputes and nothing to do with coronavirus. The police have asked the public to curb “deliberate false reporting” to punish nuisance neighbours or settle long-running feuds. However, the other side of the coin is overzealous policing.

We’ve had a glimpse of what a very British police state might look like. Police across the country have confused government guidance with actual law, busting people for illicit Easter egg purchases and scrambling drones over the Peaks to reprimand walkers.

Today’s National Day

NATIONAL GO BAREFOOT DAY!

PUBLISHERS NOTICE

Dear Streetwise Customer,

Imagine sitting down this afternoon and tapping out a simple letter. It takes you perhaps a couple of hours to get it right…

And Then Over The Next Few Years It Brings In Over £5 Million. 

Pure fantasy? 

Not at all. I’ve done it. I’ll even show you the letter. And I’ve written lots of others just like it, although they weren’t all quite as successful as that one.  

But Even So, Many Of Them Landed Thousands Of Pounds In My Bank Account Within Days, and Hundreds of Thousands Within Weeks. 

Like to learn how to do the same?

Well there has really Never Been A Better Time for three reasons… 

1. These letters bring in serious money when times are tough – and they don’t come much tougher than they are right now.

2. These letters are even more powerful when the world is relying on the internet for its requirements, just like it is right now.

3. You probably have some free time available to learn how to do this at the moment.

Allow me to show you, for more details CLICK HERE

This is an exciting and realistic alternative to the gloom which is all around us today – an escape route. It’s an alternative that can quickly see you banking more than enough money to see yourself and your family right through this current crisis and then into uncharted financial success when all this is over.

This comes with a 100% cast iron 90 day money back guarantee. There is absolutely no risk to you to take a look.

Kind Regards

www.streetwisenews.com/OLR

Most of the non-essential parts of the British economy have been put on hold by the coronavirus lockdown and the housing market, core as it may seem to many of our lives, is no exception.

With moving during the lockdown period being heavily discouraged by the government and many lenders now refusing to lend to those with anything less than a 40% deposit, property website Zoopla reckons that the number of houses sold in UK will fall by at least 60% in the next few months.

There are several factors behind the move – the shutdown has reduced banks’ capacity to process loans, surveyors are unable to value properties as easily and estate agents can’t show people around homes.

On top of that, it’s hard to value a house when transactions have dried up and there are no comparable deals going through, and it’s hard to write loans when job security across almost all industries and seniority levels is suddenly in question.

So for now, the property market is effectively frozen. Price data will be virtually meaningless in the coming months, as pretty much the only deals being done right now will be between those who are forced to sell and those who are cash buyers.

So what happens when the lockdown is over? A lot depends on the state of the economy, and also the level of restrictions on movement that remain. On that front, estate agents argue that there will be plenty of pent-up demand from both buyers and sellers, given that mortgage approvals in February hit their highest level since 2014.

Cheap funding available to banks from the Bank of England should mean the mortgage market remains open and rates stay low once the worst of the crisis is past, even if the riskiest loans are no longer on offer. But this might be wishful thinking. House prices are indeed largely dictated by the price and availability of credit.

Meanwhile, a key source of demand in some areas, mini-Airbnb empires in tourist hotspots, will also suffer as holiday landlords who were burned during the lockdown sell out.

In the longer run, interest rates are unlikely to rise because the Bank of England will be forced to hold them down, given soaring government borrowing. In time that could result in inflation, which would make property appealing as a “real asset”.

But that may take time, we expect house prices to fall by just 3% this year, but there are many risks that could undermine this forecast, a larger-than-hoped rise in unemployment being the key one.

That said, if you are keen to move, then look to the shires.

In relative terms at least, if there is any wider shift to working from home more regularly, you’d expect country properties to outperform city ones, while towns and villages once deemed to be on the fringes of commuting range of London and other big cities might also see a benefit.

Today’s National Day

NATIONAL YOGA DAY!

PUBLISHERS NOTICE

Dear Streetwise Customer 

I hope that you and your family are well. 

I don’t have to tell you that the Coronavirus outbreak has changed everything, and nowhere more so than in the world of sports betting. With almost all our regular ‘go to’ profit makers like European football, horse racing and golf on hold, you might be excused for thinking that the opportunity to make a lucrative extra income from sports betting was gone – at least for now. 

That’s what we thought until we heard from a guy called Craig Russell and how
he was… 

Making an extra £150-£250 a week exploiting the ‘invisible’ betting opportunities exposed by the Coronavirus mayhem.

 You see Craig isn’t your typical sports bettor. Long before anyone had heard of coronavirus, he was shunning the sort of events most of us bet on in favour of little-known sports, events and fixtures taking place in obscure locations. 

Why did he concentrate on those? 

Because he figured that the less ‘pro’s’  there  were  looking  at  these  obscure markets, and the more time he spent studying them, the greater edge he’d have over the competition. 

Obvious when you think about it. 

So why this message? 

Because it seems like now is the perfect time to bring this to a wider audience…but not much wider! 

You see, in conjunction with Craig we’ve put together a totally unique service which is tailor-made for the times we find ourselves in. But there will only be 100 places available. Ever.

For full details on what’s involved and why the limit, take a LOOK NOW.If an extra couple of hundred pounds tax-free income would be worthwhile to you right now, I’d urge you to get in touch without delay. These places are really going to go fast.  

  For full details CLICK HERE

  Very Best Wishes, 

  John Harrison
  Streetwise Publications 

  P.S   Almost forgot…you can get started with this for just £9.95.  I’m pretty sure that makes it our cheapest service ever. Why? Well take a look now  and all will be revealed. 

www.streetwisenews.com/LP

If your income has been hit by the Covid-19 lockdown and you are worrying about making your debt repayments, don’t panic. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has announced plans to freeze loan and credit card payments for up to three months as part of emergency measures.

If confirmed, the scheme would mean that you can apply to your loan or card provider for a break in your repayments that wouldn’t affect your credit rating, as with a mortgage holiday. Lenders would also have to waive interest charges on arranged overdrafts of up to £500 for the same period.

This will relieve pressure on many people facing an income shortfall, but the government isn’t waving a magic wand over your debt. 

When the crisis passes your debt will still be there. However, you can take steps of your own to tackle your debt. If you have credit cards you can’t afford to pay off, apply for an interest-free balance transfer credit card.

The longest interest-free balance transfer deal currently available is 29 months from Virgin Money with a 3% fee. But you can avoid the balance transfer fee simply by switching to Santander’s 18-month completely interest-free balance transfer deal, a much better deal.

A £500 interest-free overdraft, meanwhile, is great news if you need that little bit of extra help getting through the lockdown days. But, we would advise to be very careful about building up debt on your overdraft.

Last month a long-planned change to overdraft charges came into full force, meaning banks can no longer charge daily or monthly fees, merely a simple interest rate. Most banks planned to charge a set rate of around 40% on overdrafts, which will also still apply even when the current crisis has passed.

Tips on dodging overdraft interest rates: avoid that enormous interest rate by shifting your overdraft debt onto a money transfer credit card instead.

These cards allow you to pay money from an interest-free credit card straight into your bank account, giving you a bit of breathing space to clear the deficit without that interest mounting up. MBNA will give you up to two years interest-free with a 2.99% money transfer fee.

Unfortunately, if you have a car finance deal the government has yet to announce any help here. If you are going to struggle to meet your car repayments, you will need to contact your car finance provider and ask them for a payment holiday. Many are offering holidays or contract extensions, but unfortunately it isn’t guaranteed.

The Best Way We Can Bail Out The Airlines

Coronavirus has wreaked havoc in the airline industry, for obvious reasons. British Airways, easyJet, Ryanair and Virgin Atlantic have all approached the UK government for help.

There is a strong case to be made for protecting the industry – about 80,000 jobs are attached to those four airlines, and some see them as too important to fail, both for the labour market and for the wider economy.

Others, however, suggest that this was already an industry in decline and that there are better ways to support affected workers. If the industry is bailed out, the government should learn from past mistakes.

First of all, be transparent about the rationale for any bailout, and upfront about the expected costs.

Second, make sure private investors pay their fair share. It’s only right. Those who enjoyed the profits in the good times must expect to be “bailed in” in the bad.

Third, require protection of jobs, employment rights and green standards.

Finally, be realistic about the future. Airlines were already facing strong headwinds – the government must take a more realistic view of the future profitability of the industries it tries to save.

Today’s National Day

NATIONAL HAMBURGER DAY!

PUBLISHERS NOTICE

Dear Streetwise Customer 

I hope that you and your family are well. 

I don’t have to tell you that the Coronavirus outbreak has changed everything, and nowhere more so than in the world of sports betting. With almost all our regular ‘go to’ profit makers like European football, horse racing and golf on hold, you might be excused for thinking that the opportunity to make a lucrative extra income from sports betting was gone – at least for now. 

That’s what we thought until we heard from a guy called Craig Russell and how
he was… 

Making an extra £150-£250 a week exploiting the ‘invisible’ betting opportunities exposed by the Coronavirus mayhem.

 You see Craig isn’t your typical sports bettor. Long before anyone had heard of coronavirus, he was shunning the sort of events most of us bet on in favour of little-known sports, events and fixtures taking place in obscure locations. 

Why did he concentrate on those? 

Because he figured that the less ‘pro’s’  there  were  looking  at  these  obscure markets, and the more time he spent studying them, the greater edge he’d have over the competition. 

Obvious when you think about it. 

So why this message? 

Because it seems like now is the perfect time to bring this to a wider audience…but not much wider! 

You see, in conjunction with Craig we’ve put together a totally unique service which is tailor-made for the times we find ourselves in. But there will only be 100 places available. Ever.

For full details on what’s involved and why the limit, take a LOOK NOW.If an extra couple of hundred pounds tax-free income would be worthwhile to you right now, I’d urge you to get in touch without delay. These places are really going to go fast.  

  For full details CLICK HERE

  Very Best Wishes, 

  John Harrison
  Streetwise Publications 

  P.S   Almost forgot…you can get started with this for just £9.95.  I’m pretty sure that makes it our cheapest service ever. Why? Well take a look now  and all will be revealed. 

www.streetwisenews.com/LP