MAKE ME RICHER
Sunday December 17 2006
Compiled by NICK WEBB
SAVINGS 'TIS the season of goodwill. But no one told the mean, mean, Grinch-like people at Northern Rock - once the good Samaritan of the Irish savings market. The latest 0.25 per cent ECB rate hike has been translated into a savings interest increase of just 0.15 per cent. Er . . . where's the other 0.1 per cent going? Right into their back pockets. No surprise that Northern Rock's British parent company makes about ?1bn in profits each year. Despite stiffing its customers Northern Rock is still the best value, though.
BEST Northern Rock Demand Online 4.15 per cent
AVOID An Post 0.1 per cent
PERSONAL LOAN There's still time to get into hock for Christmas. Everyone needs a Nintendo Wii, a Sony Bravia continent-sized telly, Heelys, loads of Littlest Pet shop stuff, a week in the Maldives and some Marks & Sparks pants. Will four grand borrowed over a year cover it? Quotes from simply mortgages.ie
BEST One Direct ?342.32 per month.
AVOID BOI ?353.16 a month.
Saving ?130.08
MOBILE PHONES Ugg-booted teenagers, right, sending 10 texts per day plus about two picture messages, while only using up 60 minutes of voice calls - largely to their folks' mobiles - should scuttle down to 3 Ireland for its best value deals.
BEST 3 Pay ?46.37 per month (prepaid)
AVOID Vodafone Social Life ?80.28 per month (prepaid)
Saving ?406.92 per year
CREDIT CARD Forget the personal loan. Make the worst financial decision in the world (other than buying magic beans) and borrow like mad on your credit card. There are some really wretched ones out there. If you don't qualify for American Express, doing anything with Ulster Bank's poxy standard Visa is nearly as silly.
BEST NIB Platinum Mastercard 8.6 per cent APR
AVOID American Express 18.9 per cent APR
CAR INSURANCE Cover for a pointless Cork 30-year-old chap, driving a ?50,000 Audi TT (2006 mind you), with a mileage of under 10,000 km per year.
BEST Insureme.ie ?544.68
AVOID Quinn Direct ?858.31
Saving ?313.63 per year
MORTGAGE Borrowing ?200,000 over 35 years should be just enough dough for a couple of young first-time buyers to fund the purchase of a three-bed semi d in a new estate somewhere "a short drive from Dublin" - like Roscommon, based on simply mortgages.ie quotes. At least the developers are bound to have taken pride in their work and all the infrastructure and utilities will be in place.
STANDARD VARIABLE
BEST AIB ?926 per month
AVOID BOI ?963.92 per month
Saving ?455.04 per year
TRACKER
BEST Halifax ?915.79 per month
AVOID BOI ?958.93 per month
Saving ?517.68 per year
5-YEAR FIXED
BEST ICS ?990.74 per month
AVOID First Active ?1008.10 per month
Saving ?208.32 per year
HOLIDAY INSURANCE Share the season of goodwill with your family and relatives. Even the ones with no teeth who've taken the boat back from England. Eat your body weight in Ferrero Rocher and wait for The Poseidon Adventure to come on the telly. Or you could just make a run for Dubai, right. Travel insurance for a couple on a week's holliers.
BEST toptravelinsurance.com ?51.20
AVOID The AA ?152 (includes online discount - wow!)
Saving ?100.80
HOME INSURANCE Cover for a ?300,000 pad in Roscommon with ?150,000 rebuild costs and 20 per cent contents cover, for a 66-year-old with an alarm.
BEST simplymortgages.ie ?190.34
AVOID AIB ?223.00
Saving ?32.66 per year
MORTGAGE PROTECTION Decreasing cover for a ?200,000 mortgage taken out by a pair of 28-year-olds over 35 years, based on LABrokers.ie figures.
BEST Caledonian ?32.17 per month
AVOID Canada Life ?41.05 per month
Saving ?106.56 per year
Based on figures from simplymortgages.ie, LABrokers.ie, the Financial Regulator, Comreg and the financial institutions.
