Einstein was right (not for the first time in his life)
about compound interest. It is indeed the most powerful force in the universe.

Unfortunately though, most people are suffering from this
force. A few days ago I posted a blog
entry entitled How long will it take me to pay off my credit cards. This blog
entry used an example of a person with a 5000 credit card making minimum
payments every month.

The result was astounding it would take 69 years (and
20,850 in repayments) to reduce the balance from 5000 to 100

This just shows the power of compound interest being used on
a daily basis by the banks & credit card companies.

However; there are people in the world that use Compound
interest in their favour.

I was recently introduced to a private members Investment club
where they achieve over 45% per annum return on investment. I am still
undertaking my own due diligence prior to working with them but so far the
figures seem to stack up.

So, I decided to do a few calculations just to illustrate
the power of compound interest and the results were amazing

For example; if you were to invest 500 per month (many
people that I speak to about their debts pay more than this each month in
credit card interest alone) in a fund that grew at 45% per annum, in a 10year
period you would have invested 60,000

This 60,000 will grow over this 10year period to a
staggering 1,133,000 (over 1million)

So, if you could find a way to reduce your monthly outgoings
by 500 and then find an investment vehicle to invest the money saved into In
10years, youd be a millionaire

As I said earlier Einstein was definitely right, Compound
interest is the most powerful force in the universe

As I do each day, Ive just been trawling through the national media (on-line of course I dont buy every paper every day Im daft, but not that daft)
How on earth can anybody make an informed judgement about the Recession & the UK economy with headlines such as these;
Lehman Bros files for Bankruptcy

Business confidence signals end of recession

Its a bit like playing Good news / Bad news but on much larger scale

My opinion is that nobody really knows whether were coming out of this recession or not (well, apart from the members of the Bilderberg group but thats a completely different topic altogether)
The only thing we can do is look after ourselves & follow Doris Days advice Que sera, sera Whatever will be, will be (I speak Spanish & this actually means what will be, will be but a little bit of artitistic licence never hurt anybody).
If you need any help with your financial situation, send me an email with the brief details or just give me a call.

All the best!
Paul

Individual Voluntary Arrangements The Advantages

IVAs dont suit everybody, but for those who do meet the criteria, the benefits are fantastic:

• You can legally write off up to 75% of your debt.

• You can reduce your monthly repayments by calculating how much you can afford to repay each month & then make just one affordable repayment.

• You can stop all your creditors, debt collection agencies & bailiifs hassling you (your Insolvency practitoner will take care of all this).

• You can avoid Bankruptcy.

Example Scenario:

Tony has 125,000 worth of Debt including 5 credit card debts, 1 personal loan, income tax debts & business debts (with personal guarantees). He also owns his family home which has a current open market value of 200,000 with an outstanding mortgage of 175,000.

Tonys monthly debt repayments (credit cards, personal loans etc) currently amount to 1200 per month but he is currently living off his credit cards to enable him to stay on top of these repayments he is basically robbing Peter to pay Paul.

Tony has been approached by a Company who claim they can write off all his debts for a fee of 1800. Tony has correctly stated that even if they are successful (which is a gamble in itself) he will still have his tax debts & business debts to worry about, so there really is no point (Nice try though, eh)

Tony has a monthly income of 2500 (after allowance for tax) and monthly expenses of 2225 (without the above debt repayments).
Tony has entered into an IVA that protects his family home by selling the equity in the house to his Mother & Father for 15000 (using a realistic immediate sale value, less costs) & paying just 275 per month for 5 years.

Tony has therefore cleared all his 125,000 debts by paying only 31,500 & reduced his monthly debt repayments from 1200 to 275.

Tony is a very happy man

IVA Services
Entering into an IVA can be very daunting, thats why I provide the following services, entirely Free of charge to all my clients:

• Initial Free assessment to ensure an IVA is the right debt solution for you & your circumstances.

• Preparation of your Income & expenditure account.

• Preparation of additional financial statements, including cash flow forecasts, budgets and forecasted Profit & Loss accounts where required.

• Advice on saving your family home in an IVA.

• Attendance at meetings; the IVA meetings themselves can often be quite daunting, if necessary I will attend your IVA meetings with you to advise & assist you through the process.

Call me now on 0800 533 5370 for further details of IVAs & how they can solve your debt problems.

For most people Bankruptcy really should be seen as a last resort, but if youre unable to take advantage of any of the other debt solutions available or if they simply do not suit your circumstances it may be the best way out.

The Enterprise Act 2002 came into force on 15th September 2003. It made various changes that reduced the effects of Bankruptcy, including:

• Reduce the number of restrictions that are automatically imposed on undischarged bankrupts and provide for the automatic discharge of nearly all bankrupts after a maximum of 12 months.

• Introduce Bankruptcy Restrictions Orders (BROs) to protect the public and the commercial community from bankrupts whose conduct before and during bankruptcy has been found to be culpable.

• Introduce Income Payments Agreements (IPA) as an administrative alternative to court-based Income Payments Orders (IPO). IPAs will carry the same conditions as IPOs and both will be able to run for a period of up to three years.

• Enable the Official Receiver (OR) to act as nominee and supervisor of new fast-track IVAs begun after bankruptcy order has been made.

• Require the Official Receiver to investigate why a bankrupt failed only where he thinks that this is necessary.

• Limit to three years the period in which a trustee may deal with a bankrupts interest in the sole or principal home of the bankrupt, the bankrupts spouse or a former spouse before that interest revert to the bankrupt.

For many people, bankruptcy is a way of drawing a line in the sand with regards to their debts & although it is never to be seen as an easy way out or an ideal solution, it can serve a purpose in certain circumstances if (and only if) all of the other debt solutions, e.g. IVAs are unsuitable.

If you think that Bankruptcy is your only option, phone me now on 0800 533 5370 & speak to somebody who has just been through it

Company Administrationis designed to protect companies from their creditors while a restructuring plan is developed. The type of creditor action that Company administration will stop includes:-

Bailiffs distraining on behalf of rating authorities

Landlords distraint for arrears of rent

Action by Revenue and Customs & Excise to enforce their debt

Following changes to legislation introduced in September 2003, the Company administration procedure is now streamlined which has resulted in reduced costs and better returns to creditors. An Administrator can be appointed by filing documents at court and with a few exceptions, the administration must be concluded within a year.

The purpose of the Company administration must achieve;

1) Business Rescue / Rescue of the company as a going concern or if that is not possible

2) Achieving a better realisation of the companys assets than in a Company liquidation

Only if the neither of the first two purpose are possible, can the administrator use the third purpose:-

3) Realising property in order to make a payment to the companys secured or preferential creditors

If you think that your Company can be saved via Administration, give me a call on 0800 533 5370 now to discuss it further.