PERSONAL FINANCE NEWS
£900M SPENT ON OVERSEAS CARD FEES
Holidaymakers are wasting almost £900m in credit and debit card charges every year by using these cards abroad. Research by FairFX.com showed that 56 per cent of travellers don’t know what charges they incur by using their credit or debit card in an ATM abroad. Charges average 2.75 per cent on debit and credit card transactions. Almost a third use their credit card to take out cash and as many as 19 per cent use debit or credit cards as their primary source of cash abroad. UK travellers are spending a massive £19.9bn on purchases and £7.9bn from withdrawals.
CARS MORE PRECIOUS THAN PENSIONS
Britons care more about their cars than they do about their pensions, according to the latest research from Standard Life. Only 46 per cent of people say they care about their pensions compared to 54 per cent who care about their cars. Almost a quarter of consumers say they don’t care at all about their pension. One third admit that they don’t know how their pensions are invested and 10 per cent have not reviewed their pensions since they were set up. Women were found to care more about their jewellery than their pension.
SCOTTISH WIDOWS’ NEW BOND FUND
Scottish Widows Investment Partnership launched a new strategic bond fund to the retail market earlier this week. It aims to capitalise on opportunities across gilts, investment grade bonds, high yield bonds and cash markets in a sector that is set to continue gaining market share through 2010. It will be managed by Roger Webb and Luke Hickmore, who jointly have over 45 years experience in the fund management industry. It will initially be targeted at discretionary fund managers and aims to have a broad spread across both discretionary and advisory channels.