When you want to grow your money or just keep it safe, probably your first impulse is to look for a bank account that offers good interest rates and put it in there. This is how most of us will keep our money safe and amass a little interest over time, but are you really making the most of your cash when you put it away like that and forget about it? Could you be doing more with your cash or enjoying more benefits? Here we will look at how to get more from your money and how to choose the right account or service for you and your money.

Understanding Bank Accounts

Before you put your money into any account, you should make sure that you understand precisely what a bank account is and what it does. What you might not be aware of for instance, is that when you put your money into an account that money gets invested into properties, projects and businesses as though you were playing the stock market with it. The interest you accumulate is the customers’ cut of the profit the bank makes by making those investments.

Now generally this interest is pretty low in a current account, but you can make more interest by putting it into a range of savings accounts which generally make accessing your money more difficult. Because you take your money out of a savings account less frequently, the banks can make more profit from investing it and thus they can offer you higher APR (annual percentage rate). If you pay into an ISA that doesn’t allow regular access, then this will provide you with even higher interest.

Choosing the right bank account then should mean choosing the bank that you most trust, choosing the deal with the highest APR (make sure it’s cumulative interest) and choosing the one that offers the easiest access. In general you should also make sure that you have multiple bank accounts with different organizations. This will keep your money safer because it won’t all be in one ‘pot’ should anything happen to that bank, and it will also help you to keep track of your own money and to budget more wisely.

Other Options

The problem is though that with any bank account you will still only be taking a cut of the profit they get from investing your money – and a very small cut at that. There are ways you can increase this amount further though, which include investing yourself in stocks and shares (or bonds) or alternatively using something like a self-managed super fund which means essentially teaming up with some other people to invest your cash jointly and choose which investments you want to make.

There are also other ways you can keep your money safe which provide other benefits or which are more suitable for particular groups. For instance if you run a large business and are worried about potential bankruptcy you might be interested in asset protection in which case you may be interest in a Swiss Annuity which pays you back your own money with interest over a set duration. If you need to take out life insurance to protect your family meanwhile, then life assurance policies can help you to invest your cash while at the same time protecting your family and could be a great way to protect your family.

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Rather Depressing Trend

Skate’s Art Market Research, which has observed the sector since 2004, recently published the first part of its ‘2012 Annual Art Investment Report’, which examines its Top 5000 ranking of the world’s most valuable works of art as determined by public auction price. In this latest report, the Skate’s team address the various changes that occurred in this premium segment of the art market by comparing the sector’s performance to 2011 as to artist rankings, sales volume and value, investment performance, and general changes in the ranking structure.

As reported by Forbes earlier this month, the Skate’s findings point at a new trend in the art investment sector. The conclusion of the Skate’s analyst team is that fewer yet wealthier people are buying more expensive art from a limited selection of established names. Confirming the trend, the total capitalisation of artworks in the research firm ranking climbed nine per cent in 2012, while the number of new artists appearing in the ranking declined to 38 in the past year from 81 in 2011.

Returns on Repeat Sales Down

Sales for the priciest of artworks ranked in Skate’s Top 5000 fetched $2.3 million (£1.4 million) and above, totalling $33.3 billion (£21.1 billion), with painters Gerhard Richter, Pablo Picasso and Andy Warhol leading the pack for most auction sales overall. Joining Richter, Warhol and Picasso, Jean-Michel Basquiat was amongst the artists in the category of most repeat sales above the $2.3 million mark in 2012, where only 118 sales of artworks in the ranking had appeared at auction before. The weighted average return on those repeat sales was 4.87 per cent, down from 7.2 per cent in 2011, with an average holding period for those works of 9.3 years.

2012 Biggest Gains and Losses

Skate’s art investment report also tracked the repeat sales in 2012 which generated the greatest financial gains or losses for their former owners. The highest return on a repeat sale was produced by Italian-born painter Giuseppe Castiglione whose work “An Imperial portrait of Consort Chunhui” generated a return on investment of 46 per cent after a seven-year holding period, selling for $4.5 million (£2.8 million). Not everything made money though. One notable loss was produced by Marc Chagall’s “La Musique” which sold for $2.1 million (£1.3 million) in 2012, producing for its vendor a 25 per cent loss after a one-year holding period.

As announced earlier this month, Skate’s will publish its ‘2012 Annual Art Investment Report’ in three parts. Towards the end of this month, the research group is set to publish the second volume which will focus on the global art industry, while the final part is expected to cover Skate’s predictions for 2013.

You can learn more about art investment here

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There are many questions that you are assuredly going to be confronted with when applying for a credit card. These questions are important to answer, and answer honestly because of the credit card companies need for accurate information. The information that you provide will help them to determine what credit card is right for you and what financial offerings they can provide you through their institution. Lying about this information is not only problematic but also fraudulent. Whether you are applying for credit through a large institution, such as would be the case if you were applying for a Lloyds TSB or Barclays credit card for example, or are just looking for more data for a future application, the following is some of the common information that you will most likely be asked during this process.

Income

Though personal, a credit card will assuredly be asking you what your income level is. They will want to know what your annual take home is and may want to know what the monthly is as well. This information is important to a credit card company for many different reasons. First, it will help to determine how much financing and credit they can provide you with. They do not want you to be at risk of being unable to pay so knowing how much disposable income you have can allow them to provide you with an appropriate amount of financing. They will also want to know what income bracket you fall within to better help determine the type of credit card that is right for you. An individual with a high level of income may be eligible for a bonus or rewards card, while those with less monthly income or annual revenue may not. This serves as a protection to both the credit account holder and the lending institution.

History

Before issuing a line of credit to an individual, the financial history of that individual will be assessed. This is done by doing a credit report. The individual applying will have to provide information on application that agrees to this assessment. If not, they may not be able to move forward in the application process. A bank or credit card company wants to know that their risks are worth it. If an individual does not have an established credit history or has one that is highly flawed, this can reduce the chances of them issuing a card. If the individual has a stellar report, they may be more inclined to accept the application and even to increase the amount of credit that is issued. Either way, it will be unlikely when applying for a credit card that you will be able to move forward without answering questions regarding your credit history.

Employment

Another way in which a bank or financial institution will seek information on an application for a credit card is to ask for your employment history. This is important because it shows whether an applicant has a consistent source of annual income as well as how stable their career is. This section may or may not be included on the main application, but you should be prepared to answer it just in case.

Laura was getting ready to apply for a Lloyds TSB credit card. To prepare, she wanted to gather all the information that she may have needed before beginning the process.  Then she created the above list to help others.

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The insurance industry is footing an ever increasing bill for the devastation being caused to thousands of homes and vehicles across the UK as a result of climate change. The huge rise in payouts over the past decade or so for risks such as floods could render the insurance industry unsustainable if the current trends continue.

The insurance industry is being urged by the Chartered Insurance Institute (CII) to step up their efforts to engage the government and policymakers on the issue and increase awareness of the dangers climate change poses. It is feared that without swift action insurers will be unable to offer cover to residents in high risk areas of the UK as well as oversees.

The CII recently published the third in their series of reports looking closely at the impact climate change is having on the insurance industry. The report put forward three visions of the future, devised by leading climate change and insurance experts, and the risks each posed for insurers and society as a whole.

Best case scenario

This favourable scenario looks at the future in a world that has managed to harness renewable sources of energy effectively and successfully minimise the amount of green house gases produced by the burning of fossil fuels. Governments across the world have been able to develop infrastructure sufficiently to ensure there are early warning systems in place to allow them to counter any climate risks without the destructive consequences such events bring today. In this scenario insurers encourage the development of sustainable practices by incentivising their customers financially.

The middle ground

In much the way the insurance industry is headed at present, this scenario bases its premise on a limited endeavour to introduce sustainable practices and sporadic efforts by governments to increase the use of renewable energy sources. In this scenario the insurance industry would be left with little choice but to withdraw cover from high risk locations prone to extreme weather conditions.

Worst case scenario

In this scenario only very little effort is made to increase the use of renewable energy sources. This would push the climate of the earth beyond the point of redemption, whereby efforts to increase sustainability in the future would be essential, but their implementation would be extremely costly and would only have limited success. The insurance industry would be unable to meet the costs of such an increasingly turbulent natural environment, with freak weather events and localised devastation becoming commonplace.

Although these scenarios are future predictions and far from definitive, they have been created based on detailed analysis of current and historical trends. The consequences of neglecting to act now and allowing our climate to become increasingly tempestuous are clearly severe, and potentially irreversible.

Claire White is an employee of ConstructaQuote, one of the UK’s leading insurance comparison sites, working with some of the UK’s leading insurers to find businesses and private customers alike great prices on a wide range of insurance products .

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Do you remember the 1988 comedy starring Tom Hanks as Josh Baskin; the 12 year old boy who wishes on an enchanted fairground fortune teller machine to be “big” and wakes up the next morning aged to an adult overnight? “Big” is the “13 going on 30” of the 80s and if you haven’t seen it, find yourself a copy and make some popcorn. Not only is this sweet and funny 80s comedy entertaining, it actually can teach you a lot about money management and success.

Here are a few of the lessons that this classic film has to offer:

You are Richer than You Think

While Josh is trapped in the body of a 30 year old man and is trying to figure out how to get back to his normal 12 year old self, he rents a room in New York City and finds himself a job at the MacMillan Toy Company.

There is a great scene where Josh receives his first pay check and when he opens it he loudly exclaims “A HUNDRED AND EIGHTY SEVEN DOLLARS?” Josh is obviously thrilled by this amount of money but Scotty, his cubicle neighbour, assumes that his surprise is negative and remarks “Yeah, they really screw you don’t they?”

Josh’s pay, calculated for inflation since 1988, is really only moderately higher than minimum wage. Scotty, the adult, sees this amount as practically worthless and not enough to get by on. However, from a kid’s perspective it is a fortune. It’s enough for Josh to pay his rent and treat himself and his best friend to pizza, snacks, soda and much more.

What this scene really shows us is the reality of lifestyle inflation. As we get older, we tend to continue to increase our lifestyle to match our pay with nicer clothes, cars, houses, etc. After we get our first raise, the money we lived happily on before is just not enough anymore. This means that we never really feel like we have enough extra money to save or do the things we want.

Think about this in your own life; have you inflated your lifestyle to match your earnings? What would a younger version of yourself think about how much you are earning and how much you are spending?

You’ll Earn More Money When You Love Your Job

After a while of working in his entry level job, Josh runs into the owner of the company Mr. MacMillan at the famous NYC toy shop FAO Schwarz (remember the iconic giant keyboard scene?). He impresses him with his extensive knowledge of current toys and his vibrant youthful enthusiasm, (which comes as no surprise, because he is a 12 year old after all). Mr. MacMillan offers him a promotion to the ultimate child’s dream job: Toy Tester.

Now Josh is getting paid a huge wage and he is able to move out of his dodgy flophouse and into a gorgeous apartment which he fills with a pinball machine, a trampoline and a Pepsi vending machine. His success brings incredible jealousy from his workmates, including ultra-competitive Paul Davenport.

But there is a reason why Josh gets the sweet high paying job and Paul doesn’t; it’s because Josh has a passion and a love for the business whereas Paul only wanted the promotion for the money. When you go into a career that you love and are passionate about, that will be naturally reflected in your performance. Your enthusiasm will make you great at what you do, which will increase your potential for success.

These are just a few lessons that we can learn from the classic 1980s comedy ‘Big’. Who knew a kid trapped in an adult’s body would have so much to teach us about money and success?

Sarah Fox is a finance blogger and huge 80s movie fan. She provides her readers with helpful tips for everything from finding payday loans online to balancing their family expenses.

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