I've just finished paying off my Hoiday at Butlins. I was informed by Butlins that I would still have to pay the VAT increase. Can they do this??

Supposedly, we are now descending experiencing deflation,. which causes, or results from, recession. My question is: where did the money go? We have seen major inflation over the last 5 years (housing and commodities), which is, as we know, a monetary phenomenon - the Fed has run the printing press full blast, with their 'easy money' policy. Now, bust follows boom, and prices fall... but the...

IN the dawn of man's history, the exchange of goods was done by direct barter. Men's needs increased until barter became inconvenient, and it was out of the necessity for facilitating the exchange of the ever-increasing variety of goods among an ever-increasing number of producers and consumers that money was invented; money was thus a ticket for goods, a claim to goods. There was a time when...

How much do a married couple get when over 80? How much is sent to the man, and how much to the woman? And I understand there is to be an increase soon, but how much and when I do not know. Alan

Heya all, Just been investigating a few things and I want to Air my Thoughts here and get some feedback. With the looming/in progress Euro crisis,and the leaked German Memo outlining their plans for a "EU Superstate"-like financial commission with the ability to run a countries economy if they spend or borrow outside of EU set Guidelines. I have been thoroughly worried about the state of the...

http://www.gold-eagle.com/editorials_03/wallenwein050803.html Interesting..

I guess this question may come up a lot (apologies if so) but are there comprenehsive and trustworthy sites which give advice on retiring abroad? I'm thinking of something that runs through the common target countries with pros and cons, implications, how you move pensions, how you get visas, what if you want to switch domicile as well as residence (indeed, what those two terms mean)...

hi every one today i started my course and i felt confused becauce my lecture asked me to do report in some company in the uk , the problem is i do not have any idea how i can collect some important information about it. the question is prepare a report on a company quoted on the london stock exchange , whose prices are shown in a daily newspaper. please just tell me how i can find the...

We have a newly constructed strawberry planter where a bee has set up home. It has found a hole and is bringing in leaves and pollen. Now there is another smaller bee, of a different species, that sits outside the hole and when the home maker leaves the 'robber' nips in and steals the pollen.......... This surely is robbery without violence..............

Is the US government fiddling (the figures) as 'Rome' burns ? To come : dollar crash and global economic depression ? (Some good graphs here.... 'hyper bubble in real estate' ; M3 data, etc)........ http://www.financialsense.com/stormwatch/2005/0624.html THE CORE RATE by Jim Puplava

I have seen it stated in uk.rec.cycling moderated: "Pretty much every household insurance policy offered for sale in the UK covers third party insurance for all cycle accidents of any member of the household. I'd challenge you to find any that does not." Is that really true - and how would one find out?

Hi, apologies if this has been covered elsewhere, but I have gone back ten pages through the forum and cant find it covered. My question is how do I make my savings utterly safe in case the brown stuff hits the fan. I am not worried about interest rates, only that, if the world banking system goes tits up, my life savings will be safe. For example I have some money in NS&I premium bonds, these...

I am the main beneficiary to a family trust that has about £400,000 invested in bonds and shares and i receive a monthly income from that. My son and 2 grandchildren are also beneficiaries, my son will become the main benficiary when i die. There are high administrative costs accosiated with the trust and mainly for that reason i am looking to wind it up. There are three trustess, myself (70)...

I have a deferred pension with my former employer valued at £8552 per annum. I thought the term was "frozen" and "deferred" meant something completely different but I digress. The £8552 will rise wih inflation (or 5%, whichever is less) for as long as it remains deferred. I have the option in three years time (age 50) to start receiving it - except, the scheme documentation says it will be...

What is likely to happen to this over the next 2 or 3 months? OK, I know if people could answer that question we would all be millionaires but to a financial dunce like me what do the economic indicators predict will happen. Having climbed up to around $1.94 to the pound in December its had a bit of a roller coaster ride and the dollar has been rising in value since last month. What are the...

The Co-operative Bank is quoted in today's Sun newspaper at http://cma.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/2720040/My-cash-not-good-enough-for-Co-op-bank.html as saying that they are unable to accept cash payments for credit card bills following a recent EU directive. I have not found the actual directive to check it out myself but I find it hard to believe that cash is a no-no. I thought that...

Re charities in general, this is my latest effort. What Gates does with his money is his own affair but I think a distinction should be drawn between charity and humanitarian aid. http://www.financialreform.info/f_r_billionaires_club.html "Salvation Army under fire over tycoon's profits bonanza

Pensions: I am an employee paying into a company pension fund, also uptil 2002 I had a SERPS (State Earnings-Related Pension Scheme) account with Legal and General. Recently they sent me a statement which showed that I had around £4700 locked into that fund until I am 60 (retirement age) which will be in 18 yrs time. I have decided to paye £25 pm into that fund to enhance the fund for...

Hi, I acquired a good lot of canadian dollar coins and wanted to exchange them for pounds. The trouble is that bureau de changes do not accept coins as a rule. Is there another way of doing this in Britain? Thanks, Shimei

Hi there, I am trying to setup a way that people can make donations to my girlfriend who is an aid worker in Africa. She is working for a large charity, but I would like a way to have the money go directly to her, so she can choose how it is spent in the village she works in. Paypal is very pricey and they take a big cut. some other companies say you have to a proper registered chairty, which...