Flying Doctor Scheme Set To Land In The UK

A new contender is lining up to join the fiercely competitive international health insurance market The aim is to let patients seek second medical opinions from leading experts and treatment anywhere in the world The ground-breaking product from medical second opinion service, Best Doctors, is now gearing up for a UK launch. It’s already up [...]

Problems Stack Up For Popular Shoebox Homes

Growing interest in ‘shoebox’ homes could help not so well off buyers get a toe hold in the property market in some Asia Pacific countries with rocketing home prices. More popularly known as capsules, the homes are already popular in China and Japan. Now, the government in Singapore has already moved against developers trying to [...]

EIS Breaks Records As Firms Seek Private Backers

A growing number of small businesses are looking for private backers under the Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) as they struggle to find funding from the banks. EIS applications to HM Revenue and Customs, which monitors the scheme, were up by almost a half last year. A record 2,147 won approval to enter EIS – a [...]

Gas Boom Sparks Price War In Europe

A massive increase in gas drilling around the world is fuelling a price war for consumers. Russia supplies 25% of Europe’s gas and has held many countries to ransom over high prices with threats of switching off supplies. European energy companies are fighting back with threats to buy elsewhere if prices are not cut, leading [...]

Women’s Pensions Are A Third Less Than Men’s

Women retiring from work this year can expect their pension to be up to a third lower than that for men. In addition, financial experts are flagging up a mortgage time-bomb for people aged over 50 who haven’t cleared their home loans before retirement. When it comes to pensions, female retirees this year can expect [...]

Clock Is Ticking On Spanish Homes VAT Discount

The countdown is nearly over for overseas property buyers seeking cheap homes in Spain as the deadline for a VAT increase approaches. The call comes after the government slashed VAT by half in a bid to boost home sales in a market that has a glut of unsold properties. The discount rate is currently 4% [...]

French Bewilders Expats With Flexi Property Taxes

Brits with homes in France could be made dizzy with the regular changes being made to the property tax rate in the country with news that a new surtax is on the way. The French government is attracting criticism for its changes – many of which are politically inspired and not always designed to help [...]

World’s Wealthiest Man Wants The Rich To Pay More Tax

A call to soak the super-rich with more taxes has been floated by one of the world’s richest and most influential economic thinkers. Legendary investment guru Warren Buffett shook up the debate about how to reform America’s tax system in 2011 when he demanded that the rich pay more in tax. Now, he says that [...]

Coloured diamonds – forever tempting investors

Diamonds may well be a girl’s best friend, but they are fast becoming best buddies of investors as well. Over the past 10 years, coloured diamonds have provided a higher rate of return than most other investments. Indeed, someone investing in a five-carat yellow diamond 10 years ago would have seen the value increase by [...]

Expats Tricked Out Of Cash For Scam Job Offers

Desperate expat students are forking out £2,100 each to scammers for non-existent job offers, warn officials at Immigration New Zealand. Fraudsters are sending the bogus job offers under the guise of a real firm – Kelly Services. Now Immigration New Zealand, the country’s visa and immigration handler, has issued a worldwide warning about the fake [...]