STUDENT LOANS
A quarter of all parents say they will have to work beyond 65 to pay for
their children’s university education. And 200,000 parents fear it might take
ten extra years’ work to do so. Others dip into savings to help their offspring
out as parents and grandparents feel they should try to help students with the
cost of university. These figures, from Prudential, reflect the growing debts
that students run up. This year Barclays Bank says new graduates have on average
more than £12,000 of debt each. The bank estimates that could reach £17,500 for
the graduates of 2006 and will then soar higher still when the new top up fees –
up to £3000 a year – hit hard. By 2010 Barclays says the average graduate will
owe £33,000.
Source: Barclays
All this is a long way from the experience of most Saga readers who went to university, when a debt meant a small overdraft at the campus branch of a High Street bank. Until 1990 students got grants not loans. The small loan introduced then rose steadily as the grant was cut back until the two were roughly equal in 1997. But within two years the new Labour government phased out the grant and since 1999 all student support has been through a loan. Tuition fees of £1000 a year were introduced in 1998 and the Government has decided that from 2006 universities will be able to charge up to £3000 a year. Almost all universities have indicated they will charge the maximum. Different arrangements apply in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
More than one in four parents and grandparents are saving up to help pay for their offspring’s degree course. And there is no shortage of companies which use these figures to get parents and grandparents to put money aside, even from birth. If you want to do that, then it is best to avoid risky investments – with annual charges and no guarantees – and to rely instead on cash savings accounts which can pay up to 6.5 per cent a year with no annual charges eating away at your investment.
Gratuitous advice on tipping
It can be hard enough to know how much to tip waiters, porters, and taxi
drivers in the UK. But when you go abroad it can be a nightmare. So the consumer
organisation Which? has produced its own guide to tipping round the world.
In New Zealand no-one expects a tip – indeed could be offended if you left one. Denmark is similar and in Portugal and Greece no-one will mind if you don’t tip. But almost everywhere else certain jobs do seem to come with the expectation of money from customers – grateful or not – as well as pay from the employer.
In the USA a tip of 10 per cent in restaurants is almost compulsory. And in Russian restaurants tips of up to 25 per cent are left for good service. Even when service is added to the bill, tips can still be looked for. French restaurants often include service by adding up to 15 per cent to your bill. But waiters then expect a tip of around €1.50 if service has been good.
For coach drivers Which? suggests £5 to £30 depending on the journey, though the only tip many people want to give is on driving more slowly! On a two week cruise reckon to spend £85 a passenger in a mixture of 15 per cent on drinks at the bar as well as a daily ‘tips’ charge. Though Which? Lists Saga is listed as one of the few cruise companies which includes all tips in the price you pay.
Which? also recommends making tips in cash and to the person you want to get it. Money added to credit card slips or given to managers may not reach the people who have given the service.
Mortgage rules tighten
From this month anyone who sells you a mortgage – including lifetimes
mortgages designed to raise money later in life on the value from your home –
will have to be regulated by the Financial Services Authority. Until October 31
anyone could set up as a mortgage broker and arrange mortgages secured against
your home. Now, they must all reach a certain standard and if they do mislead
you or sell you the wrong product then you will have a quicker route to complain
and seek compensation. However, so-called ‘home reversion’ schemes will not
be covered. With those, you do not take out a loan. Instead you actually sell a
part of your property to an insurance company or speculator. Because they do not
involve a mortgage they are not covered by the new regulation. The Government
has said it will include them, but that needs Parliament to pass a new law. That
could take some time.
Next year general insurance sales will also be regulated for the first time. From 14 January 2005 anyone selling insurance ranging from home and contents to life assurance will have to be trained and regulated and fulfil certain standards. However, staff who work in shops who sell breakdown insurance for household goods – which they usually call ‘extended warranties’ – and travel agents selling holiday cover will be exempt. So they will still be untrained and often sell you unnecessary and expensive products.
Lifeline for struggling post offices
The Government has extended the short lifeline for rural post offices which
are facing increasing problems after losing a lot of their business – not least
because the Government is trying to get everyone to have their pension and other
benefits paid straight into a bank account. The 8100 rural post offices have
been promised another £300 million over two years when the present £150 million
a year subsidy runs out in 2006. The Government feared that many of them would
close if the help was not extended. Trade Secretary Patricia Hewitt – who once
worked for Age Concern – admitted "the rural post office network continues to
face real challenges. For many individual offices the number of customers they
serve is simply too small to make the business attractive or sustainable." Some
800 offices are reported to have as few as 20 customers a week. She said the new
money would give the post office "time to develop and test new ways to meet the
changing needs of its customers" before the money finally runs out in 2008. The
Post Office boasts that 94 per cent of the population lives less than a mile
from a post office branch. But almost 500 have closed in the last three years
and there are still fears that hundreds more may follow.
Moneyspinners in the garage
The dark red Jaguar driven by John Thaw in the Inspector Morse detective
series will be on the market in the next few weeks. Originally won in a
competition after the series ended in 1993, the Mark II Jaguar was bought at
auction in May 2002 for a record £53,100 by John Potts, a director of a property
company. When the business got into financial difficulties earlier this year the
liquidators seized Morse’s Jag and have now had it thoroughly refurbished. The
2.4 litre, six cylinder car may fetch up to £80,000.
That price represents a huge premium on the £15,000 it would cost to buy a similar model from a dealer. And who could tell the difference? For significantly less you could relive The Professionals in a Ford Capri Mk1, like the car they drove, for about £2500. Or pretend to be The Sweeney in a 3 litre Ford Granada Consul for less than £3000. But if Miss Marple is more your cup of tea (and cake, please dear) you will have to dig deeper. A 1950 Morris Minor MM similar to the one she drove will cost you closer to £5000 in nice, not to say genteel, condition.
If you want to relive the original The Italian Job a Mini Cooper, normally in green, will set you back more like £7000, though you can find a bog standard mini in top condition for about a third of that price.
If you have an old car in the garage, remember that there comes a moment when even an ordinary car stops going down in value and moves up again as rarity and age boost its price. Anything from the 1950s or 60s may now be worth money. Austins, Dafs, Fords, Hillmans, Opels, Reliants, Renaults, Rovers, Wolseleys – and many more – all have their collectors’ clubs and a premium value in good and original condition.
Any car registered before January 1st 1973 is free of car tax – the Vehicle Excise Duty. You still have to get a tax disc, and of course need an MOT certificate and insurance to do so, but the cost of the tax itself is zero.
More at Classic Car Magazine
November 2004
e-mail Paul Lewis on paul@paullewis.co.uk