Just like secured loans, these loans have collateral. The collateral can be anything. You can secure these loans with any property you have that covers the sum you take. For example you can use your car as collateral. In this case you have to be the only owner of the car and you cannot have problems with it. Smaller loans can be secured with home equity for example.

The other aspect of these loans is that they are personal loans. Personal loans can be used for any need. The lender will not ask you for what you need the loan, so you can do with it whatever you want. Usually these loans are needed to solve different financial problems. For example if you had an accident and you need to pay the repairs, you can take a secured personal loan and you can solve this problem.

You cannot find many places where you can take a secured personal loan. The truth is that this type of loan is not so common, so you can only find a few of it. Usually secured loans are big loans and they are not used for personal needs.

On the other hand personal loans are usually small ones and they do not need to be secured. Personal loans have big interest rates on them, but they are small and in this way the amount you have to pay back is not much more than the loan itself.

When you mix the two, you get bigger loans that can solve your personal problems and they have small interest rates. It is not a miracle that these loans are rare. There are few situations when you have to use a big loan for personal needs. If something happens and you suffer an accident or loss of your property and have to resolve the problem, you will need a bigger sum. This is the situation that requires secured personal loans, but not just. If you want to buy an expensive gift for someone, like a pony for example, these loans do the job.

This article was contributed by Jossi Olstein of ResponsibleCredit.org.

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Remember that you can apply and get approved for many financial products right here at Your Money Marketplace:

• Credit Cards
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Lawrence explains:

I’d like to know how I can leverage my assets more to be able to invest in other properties. I really need to know how my finances will be affected with the current deals on the market. But I’m also keen to find out how I can save for the future with my current income and expenditure levels.

Writer at The Independent Julian Knight says,

With hopes to retire at 55 on £50,000 a year, he’ll [Lawrence] need to start soon.

The article talks about the things Lawrence needs to do to reach his goals. These things include:

• Making more of his savings
• Finding the most efficient ways of buying properties
• Get good tax advice
• Enroll in an ISA in the short-term, and enroll in a pension plan long-term
• Consider a lump sum critical-illness policy in addition to his life insurance investments and valid will

Read more about the financial recommendations for Lawrence by reading the full article: Wealth check: ‘I want to retire at 55 on £50,000 a year’.

1. You’ll need a Visa card or cash to pay for items at all FIFA World Cup venues. To get a Visa credit, debit or prepaid card visit your bank or go to www.visa.com/globalgateway.
2. Remember to notify your issuing bank that you will be traveling and that you will be using your Visa credit or debit card abroad to avoid any issues when transacting.
3. If you lose your card, report it to your issuing bank immediately! Put Visa’s Global Customer Care Assistance toll-free hotline number in your mobile phone, 0-800-990-475.
4. Take advantage of special merchant offers while in South Africa — for details read the Visa Visitor Guide: South Africa 2010. Visit www.visa.com/fifavisitortravelguide to view an interactive version.
5. While you're travelling, set up automatic bill pay for your credit card and make sure you have sufficient funds in your debit account.
6. In case of an emergency, keep records of your account numbers and PINs (personal identification numbers) in a safe and secure place.
7. Contact your issuing bank about travel-related benefits for Visa cardholders.
8. Look for the Visa or PLUS logo on cash machines or a point-of-sale to ensure international payment cards are accepted. To find the nearest cash machine or ATM visit www.visa.com/atms.
9. Always have a small amount of Rand, plus a Visa payment card on you while traveling throughout South Africa.
10. Carefully review your payment card statements and contact your issuing bank immediately if you see any suspicious or incorrect charges.

Remember that you can apply and get approved for many financial products right here at Your Money Marketplace:

• Credit Cards
• Car Loans
• Unsecured Loans
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Watch as David Cameron is confirmed as Prime Minister: David Cameron enters No 10 as prime minister

Now what does this “new coalition Government” means for you? Here are some policy highlights published by The Associated Press about an hour ago:

Economy: Prime Minister David Cameron has pledged an emergency budget within 50 days. The coalition wants to speed a reduction in the budget deficit, with plans to cut 6 billion pounds (US$9 billion) of government waste in this fiscal year ending in April. It also plans to stop an increase in the national insurance tax. The tax system will be reformed in phases to ease the burden on lower and middle incomes; the eventually goal is that those earning less than 10,000 pounds ($15,000) will pay no tax. The coalition promised tougher action against bankers’ bonuses and more regulatory power for the Bank of England, and a new committee will consider the possibility of separating retail banking from investment banking.

Political Reform: One of the Liberal Democrats’ key demands for joining the coalition government was overhauling Britain’s current voting system, which gives disproportionate advantage to the two larger parties. Cameron’s Conservatives promised a referendum on the “alternative vote” electoral system, under which voters rank candidates by preference and second-choice votes are allocated if no candidate wins 50 percent of the first preference votes. The result could give Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg’s party more seats eventually. Laws will also be changed to introduce five-year fixed-term parliaments.

Defense and Security: A new National Security Council will convene Wednesday to oversee all aspects of British security. The council will focus on policy on Afghanistan and Pakistan as well as review the terrorist threat to Britain. A strategic defense review is set to begin soon. Clegg’s party has dropped its outright opposition to replacing Britain’s fleet of nuclear-armed submarines, but Cameron has promised to more closely scrutinize the 20 billion pound ($32 billion) program.

Foreign Policy: New Foreign Secretary William Hague said Britain’s relationship with the U.S. will be “solid but not slavish” and that the so-called special relationship remained of huge importance. Britain will make it clear that no further powers will be ceded to the EU without referendum, and that the country will not join the euro in the next five years. There will also be new efforts to secure good relations with economic powerhouses in South Asia, North America and Latin America. Cameron promises inroads with India, Britain’s former colony and a potential major trading partner.

Immigration: An annual cap is expected on immigration from outside the EU to address worries that Britain was becoming overcrowded and that Britons were losing jobs to foreigners willing to take lower wages.

If you think you would struggle to cope without access to your money if you were to lose your credit or debit cards or wouldn’t know what to do if your identity was stolen, identity theft insurance could be well worth having. It could also prove to be very valuable in that it could save you the time and hassle of recovering from ID theft. Think about all the calls and meetings you might have to straighten things out – ID theft protection services have people to act on your behalf so you can go about your life as usual.

Policies generally cover the expenses you might incur if your identity is stolen. Such expenses might include legal fees for defending criminal charges associated with identity theft; telephone calls; postage; or rejected loan application fees and lost wages if you have to take time off work to reclaim your identity.

You will pay a monthly or annual fee for your identity theft protection policy, normally by direct debit. Most policies include access to your credit report and will notify you if any changes are made to your report – such as a loan being taken out in your name. If you start becoming concerned that you are a victim of identity theft – or have evidence that you are – your insurer will allocate you an identity theft expert to help you with your case. They will be able to answer any questions you have and help solve issues arising due to your stolen identity.

Remember that you can apply and get approved for many financial products right here at Your Money Marketplace:

• Credit Cards
• Car Loans
• Unsecured Loans
• Short-Term Loans
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Significant advantages of income drawdown are the ability to take the tax free lump sum of 25% while leaving the pension fund invested and improved death benefits for a spouse or beneficiaries. Although this option may be riskier than taking a pension annuity to begin with, you could save money by reducing your income in some years, thus avoiding higher rate tax liability.

For more information on unsecured pensions, visit The Pensions Advisory Service (TPAS) website.

Remember that you can apply and get approved for many financial products right here at Your Money Marketplace:

• Credit Cards
• Car Loans
• Unsecured Loans
• Short-Term Loans
• Shopping Cards
• Debt Help

The FSA cited that Kensington Mortgages imposed high charges on its customers and consistently failed to consider individuals’ circumstances in its attempts to collect unpaid mortgage payments.

To read more, click here for the full article published by the Telegraph.

Remember that you can apply and get approved for many financial products right here at Your Money Marketplace:

• Credit Cards
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Today, nearly any UK resident under 75 can take out a SIPP. Even if you are already contributing to another pension, such as a company or employee pension scheme, you can also put money into a SIPP at the same time, as long as you don’t exceed the maximum pension contribution limits.

So why would you want to take out a SIPP? According to PensionSorter, the most obvious benefit is the scale of the tax perks. ”Any investment in a Sipp is tax free, which for higher rate payers, means a discount of 40 per cent,” PensionSorter explains. ”And even for lowly ordinary tax rate payers, (like me [PensionSorter writer] - sigh…) savings of about 20% are not to be sniffed at.”

If you are interested in learning more about SIPPs, you can find more detailed information in Find.co.uk’s Guide to SIPPs and PensionSorter.co.uk’s SIPPs Pensions Guide.

Remember that you can apply and get approved for many financial products right here at Your Money Marketplace:

• Credit Cards
• Car Loans
• Unsecured Loans
• Short-Term Loans
• Shopping Cards
• Debt Help

Visit the Post Office or read the BBC article, Post Office to offer new mortgage plans  for further information.

IVA is a great option for people who are in knee deep debt. Why?

• Unlike bankruptcy, IVA is a private agreement. In this case your records don’t become public and your employers don’t get notified either. So IVA is a good option for people whose occupation prohibits them to file bankruptcy.
• IVA is free from certain restrictions that bankruptcy imposes on you. For instance you can hold a position in a public office or act a company direction while you are in an IVA program. This is not possible in bankruptcy.
• IVA is free from the socio-economic stigma that comes with bankruptcy.
• Throughout an IVA the creditors can neither take any legal actions against you nor can they contact you.
• Your credit rating can start improving after successful completion of an IVA. Bankruptcy on the other hand, fatally damages your credit report and stays on it for a long time.
• IVA permits you to have a savings account unlike bankruptcy.
• The amount that you have to pay to your creditors is much lower than the original debt. Once of the program is over, you are debt free. All you outstanding debts will be forgiven.

What are the drawbacks of IVA?

You must understand that IVA is not for everyone. To qualify for it, you must have a minimum debt of £15,000 and minimum three separate creditors as well.

• IVA is a longer program than its alternative bankruptcy. While an IVA can take 5 years to complete bankruptcy is just 1 year.
• The proposed payment arrangement should be approved by creditors who owe at least 75% of the debt.
• The debtor is bound by the terms of an IVA. If IVA fails, the debtor can be made bankrupt. In that case the costs of IVA will add to your burden.
• Debtors home and other valuable assets can still be at stake if the creditor decides not to exclude them.

IVA is a last resort for people who cannot repay their debt completely under any circumstance. If you have manageable debts then consider other options like debt consolidation or debt negotiation. So keep in mind the above points, analyze your financial condition and then decide if IVA is the right solution for you.

This article was contributed by David Brown, a financial writer with Oak View Law Group who writes about debt related topics.