Months of intense cross-party debate has resulted in the US Senate completing congressional approval of a controversial $1.1tn (£700bn) federal budget which will now be sent to President Barack Obama to sign. Both Democrats and Republicans have made concessions in order to pass the bill, which was settled late Saturday night by a vote of […]
The UK construction suffered a sharp fall in output during October official figures have illustrated. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said output dropped by 2.2% from the month before. However, the good news is that they made a revision to construction output growth for the third quarter of the year, which doubled to 1.6%. […]
A China based construction giant is about to buy one of Australia’s most sizeable construction companies for $1.15bn Australian dollars. ($951m; £603m) China Communications Construction International (CCCI) is a subsidiary of China Communications Construction Company (CCCC), which is the world’s fourth largest construction firm by revenue. IT will buy Leighton Holdings’ building unit, John Holland. […]
Financial Planning, INFOgraphic, Long Term Savings, Retirement Planning
I don’t know about you, but after a long week of watching the markets and discussing people’s futures, I find it hard not to dream about my own retirement. The golden age. Time to put my feet up and live the life that I have always dreamed of. Sadly, not one part of that dream […]
Expatriate, Long term Savings, Offshore Savings, Pensions, Retirement Planning, UK
In an effort to tackle inflation, Russia’s central bank has raised its interest rate to 10.5%, just six weeks after it raised the rate to 9.5% from 8%. The bank’s official website has also stated that it won’t stop there, confirming that it would continue raising the rate “in case of further aggravation of inflation […]
In reaction to the risk of a snap general election in Greece, shares on the Athens Stock Exchange have fallen sharply for three straight days. The Athens general share index fell more than 7.5% on Thursday. Greece has only recently emerged from recession, and yet this week, seems to have been thrown back in to […]
Faltering economic growth and low investment returns are increasing the pressure on pension systems in developed countries in a fresh warning from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. We already have a problem with an ageing population, but that is being compounded by low investment returns, which is in part, due to low interest […]
Interest Rates, Long term Savings, QROPS, Retirement Planning, UK, UK Pensions
The “productivity puzzle”, and how it might resolve itself is the biggest threat to the UK’s economic recovery according to the head of the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR). Robert Chote said that the economy also faced uncertainty from the eurozone, and from other geopolitical pressures, but that the gap between increase output but decreased […]
About three weeks ago, an acquaintance at a networking event recommended a taxi company called Uber to me. I was dubious at first, but soon realised that this is an innovative company taking advantage of technology and bringing a competitive edge to an otherwise stagnant taxi industry. The company does not own cars or employ drivers, […]
Market watch, Personal Finance, Stock Market, World Business, World Economy
The price of oil has fallen to new five-year lows following two separate reports indicating a global supply surplus. Opec oil producers predicted less global oil demand next year and a separate US report, also pushed prices lower, as it showed a surprise increase in the country’s crude oil supplies. Influential commentators also believe that […]
Today, the city of Detroit will begin the process of paying off its creditors, as it exits the largest civic bankruptcy in US history, officially! The world’s traditional automotive centre, home of the sixties soul movement Motown, and once a symbol of US industrial power, Detroit declared itself broke in July 2013, with $18bn (£11bn) […]
