Fraud Investigation Proves Why You Should Stick To Established Regulated...

·        SFO probe fraudulent care home investment scheme promising high returns.

·        Stick to regulated investments unless you possess specialised knowledge

·        Groupon ordered by regulator to get its act together on customer service

·        High Court offers hope of compensation for borrower with unaffordable loans

·        Many people borrowed at high rates with Provident doorstep loans for years

·        Loan sharks may not break your legs but will break your heart.

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In both the above examples, people are being duped because they lack new financial education and knowledge. Education is key to becoming financially free and getting out of debt.

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Growing ‘Buy-Now-Pay-Later’ Crisis Charity Warns

A group of charities has sounded warning bells over the growing use of buy-now-pay-later to buy goods.

Citizens Advice, a network of legal, money and consumer groups, said many users were getting into debt and struggling to pay for food and bills.

Buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) is increasingly popular among young people buying online, and at some High Street outlets.

However, Citizens Advice said many consumers regretted using it.

The charity network did not want to name BNPL firms, but called for tougher regulation.

It found that 45% of 18-to-34 year olds have used the payment option in the last 12 months.

The repayment option is often advertised at online checkouts as an easy way of splitting or delaying payments on items such as clothing or electronics, with incentives such as it being "interest-free".

However, the charity network said it can be a "slippery slope into debt".

The charity network said that, overall, 27% of UK adults have used these firms in the last 12 months, rising to 37% of disabled people and 45% of people with a mental health problem.

The average person was repaying £63 a month, but CA found almost two-in-five (5.7 million) who have used BNPL in the last year didn't think it was "proper borrowing" and six million didn't fully understand what they were signing up for.

The BBC reported that a lady who signed up for more than she expected is Sharonjit, whose story was cited by Citizen's Advice as an example of the trouble people can get into.

Aged 32, she bought £600 worth of clothes and used a BNPL firm to pay in instalments. She didn't receive the goods and cancelled her payment to the firm while she waited for the issue to be resolved by the retailer.

She said: "The whole thing has been so stressful. I'm constantly on edge. I've just been barraged with calls, emails and letters from a debt collector - all for buying some clothes online.

"The firm said they were referring me on to someone and I had no idea it was a debt collector. I had no idea buy-now-pay-later could [hit] my credit score.

"I've never had issues shopping this way before. But this time it's like as soon as something went wrong they've washed their hands of me."

It found a quarter of consumers regretted paying using these platforms, with consumers frequently saying they cannot afford repayments or are spending more than they expected.

Citizens Advice said firms must overhaul their checkout processes and improve affordability checks.

Alistair Cromwell, acting chief executive of Citizens Advice, said: "Buy Now Pay Later borrowing can be like quicksand - easy to unwittingly slip into and much more difficult to get out of.

"It shouldn't be possible for people to sign up for credit without realising, and the fact this is happening so often signals that a drastic overhaul is needed.

"This industry more than trebled in 2020, and while these products work for many shoppers, the regulator has rightly recognised the potential for harm. It must ensure robust consumer protection keeps pace with changes in how we shop," Mr Cromwell said.

Several big - and smaller - names now operate in the fast-growing BNPL market, including Klarna, Clearpay, and Laybuy. PayPal launched a BNPL service last year.

The charity warned that four-in-10 of those who've used BNPL in the last 12 months are struggling to repay.

Other Money News

City of London Plans To Convert Thousands Of Office Into Residential Units As Workers Stay At Home

Over 50’s Hardest Hit By Unemployment

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has found older workers are amongst the hardest hit by unemployment over the last year.

The decline in the employment rate for the over-50s has double the rate for those aged between 25 and 49.

The Resolution Foundation added that after losing work, older workers take the longest to return.

The effects of last year’s recession have not fully hit most people. The job furlough scheme, rent and mortgage payment holidays, tenant eviction ban, Stamp Duty Holiday and other government financial stimulus packages have cushioned people from the full blow of the economic downturn.

Similar packages are running in the US and many are coming to an end or about to expire.

Whilst the government needs people to go out and spend to boost the economy, this is not the time to spend £600 of money you don’t have to buy clothes you cannot afford on credit!

Good debt and bad debt.

An example of good debt is borrowing to buy assets, such as a business or property which put money in your pocket.

An example of bad debt is the lady mentioned above or someone buying an expensive car they cannot really afford on credit.

Another example of bad or even crazy debt is borrowing to buy more risky investments such as Bitcoin or shares.

See also:

95% Mortgages are back in the UK - https://homebasedbusinessideasuk.blogspot.com/2021/04/property-news-95-mortgages-available-now.html

Property buyers overpaying to beat the Stamp Duty Holiday -https://homebasedbusinessideasuk.blogspot.com/2021/04/property-buyers-paying-higher-crazy.html

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The 4 D’s Of Getting Things Done And Feeling Better About Yourself Whatever The Outcome

This simple, 4 step process will help you stay on top of things and feel better about yourself what ever the outcome.

Do you find yourself feeling overwhelmed by endless to do lists and a tray full of things to sort out? If the answer to this question is, yes, join the club! Most of us have been there!

I want to give you a quick 4-step process to help you get more organised and, more importantly, feel better about yourself whatever the outcome.

The process has evolved from the combination of things I’ve learned over the years and the many books. For instance, Life Leverage by Rob Moore and Getting Things Done by renowned expert and bestselling author David Allen.

David Allen’s book is great, well I say great, but I haven’t actually read it! I’ve read bits and pieces and I think it will be a dipper rather than a page turner. It will, however, look great on my bookshelf and people will think that I must be super organised! 

My advice to David is, if you write in the book aimed at people who are overwhelmed and can’t get things done,there is no point in writing a 300 page, small print book, with no photos because no one will ever finish let alone someone who is disorganised! How will they ever get round to it? Your book will end up in that pile of unread books and things to do and cause them more stress!

Before I start, over the years I have observed hundreds of people, many of whom I have employed in my businesses, and I have come to the conclusion that there are two types:

Organised tidy desk person (OTDP)

Disorganised messy desk person (DMDP)

Sorry to disappoint you, but that’s the way it is.

Incidentally, I have a messy desk. I really do envy those OTDPs who can breeze into work on time and looking fresh and just eat admin, get everything done and then leave the office with a completely tidy desk, other than a photo of their loved one and their favourite personally washed clean mug! Bang on leaving time, they smile and wave goodbye to everyone, pick up their gym bag and walk out of the office knowing they have finished the jobs they set out to finish and some more.

Invariably, I have found that if you want to employ someone in an admin or an office based role you better make sure they are an OTDP.

When it comes to getting things done, how do you feel about things matters more than you imagine.

If you are already stressed about a task or hate doing that task, the chances of you getting on with it are slim. Invariably, you will leave until the eleventh hour and do it badly or miss the deadline altogether.

There must be a better way of going through life than being stressed all the time - becasue there will ALWAYS be things to do, problems, grass growing under your feet and so on. 

Have you read the book, 1000 places to see before you die? How on earth can you say 1000 places all over the world? It might well be called 1000 places you probably won’t see before you die, so get over it! I started reading that book a few years ago and at first it was great. There I was, highlighting the places I had already seen and would be visiting in the near future. But then it started to become a little overwhelming. How was I going to get to all of these countries in the time I had available? Even if 5 years off and went backpacking around the world I never get to all the places. Most people only have one or two main holidays a year where they travel abroad, so that's about 80 places you might get to in a forty year working life!

Back to getting things done and feeling good regardless. Here are my 4 Ds:

1. Do it
2. Delegate it
3. Defer it
4. Ditch it

1. Do it

Sometimes you’ve just got to knuckle down, lock yourself away, turn off the TV and get it done! Sorry, but nothing moves without action, so you may need disciplin or a kick up the arse from someone or yourself.

Things stop us getting things done are fear and not knowing how to do them. 

Fear is easy to overcome - just get started.

Not knowing how it's done is easy to overcome. There is a very simple way to learn how to do almost anything nowadays - Google it. You can now google almost any task on earth and quickly find out how to perform even the most technical things in minutes. When a friend of mine was locked out of her Porsche Boxster because the battery had gone flat. We got the door open and then realised that the boot lever was electronic and needed battery power! The battery was in the boot and the boot lever needed a full battery. 

After searching the manual in vain, I googled it and within minutes I was watching a video of how to get the boot open with a flat battery. It worked!

If you really can’t get things done you might need some help or you might need to go to step two

2. Delegate it

Delegation sounds obvious, but so many people fail to master it or think they are the only ones who can do the job right. 

You have to learn to let go, recognise your strengths and weaknesses and delegate tasks you don't like doing or don't do very well.

I don’t like admin and things like tax returns and forms. This is why I delegate it to a PA, accountant or bookkeeper.

I also get no fun out of cleaning and mowing the lawn, so I hire people at £10 an hour so I can either do things I enjoy doing or tasks that will earn me more than £10 per hour.

You can also delegate thousands of tasks using the millions of freelancers listed sites such as Upwork.

If it’s a job you cannot delegate you may need to go to step three.

3. Defer it

Deferring something will not cause the stress by not doing it and worrying about why you have not done it. 

In other words, you’re making a deal with yourself to say, I can’t do this right now, but I will do it at a future date. Pop it in your calendar. Stress over.

It’s ok to have a “someday Isle” list of things you may or may not do.

If you can’t do it, delegate it or defer it you know what comes next.

4. Ditch it!

This can be the most liberating step at all, but I would suggest you go through the first three steps before you start throwing everything away!

Ditching it can mean that you just tell yourself that you’re not going to do a certain task and you’re not bothered about it. You could still go back to in the future, but in the meantime it’s not weighing on your mind.

At the end of the day you can lower the high standards of efficiency you mentally set for yourself in many areas of your life. It's fine to have a messy garage or unpacked boxes from the last move. Don’t worry about it.

When I ran a business, I would have a good clear out of old papers every once in a while. It was amazing to find that many of the things that hadn't been done or responded to months back had not made any difference to my life. So many seemingly important things to do, which I thought were problems and caused me stress and worry at the time over time actually 'went away' by themsleves. I could have ditched those things at the time and never had to worry bout them.

I'm not suggesting that you ignore problems, but do apply the 4 D process to them.

Mark Twain once said something like, I’ve had many problems in my life, but most of them never happened.

Check out my Podcast version, "The 4 D’s Of Getting Things Done And Feeling Better " from Money Tips Daily by Charles Kelly, former IFA and author of on Anchor: https://anchor.fm/charles-kelly/episodes/The-4-Ds-Of-Getting-Things-Done-And-Feeling-Better-e1mrtf

Listen to my Podcast episode "12 Simple Steps 8 Get OutOf Debt Fast And For Good" by Money Kelly  

Listen to "How To Be Broke All Your Life" by Money Kelly

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