P533 Teletext 533 Jul18 23:12:03 ———————————— —————————————————————— TAX CREDIT SYSTEM UNDER FRESH ATTACK More than 100,000 familes with incomes of £50,000 or more are receiving means tested tax credits designed to help the less well off, official figures show. Of these, some 7,000 have incomes totalling more than £57,500, figures obtained from the Treasury by shadow chancellor George Osborne reveal. He said the figures provided evidence of "distorted priorities" at the heart of Gordon Brown's tax credit system. ——————————————————————————————————1/8—— "Best buy" personal loans 546 UNLOCK YOUR PENSION ITV1 p359 Product Homes Save Loans AdP533 Teletext 533 Jul18 23:16:09 ———————————— —————————————————————— OVER HALF ASK FOR LOANS (O PAY OFF DEBT Over half of all loan applications in June were for debt consolidation, an increase of 10% since May, says website PolarLoans Money Monitor. The average loan to pay off debt was for £25,366. 24% wanted money for home improvements, 13% for business, 3% for a car and 8% for weddings, holidays and remortgages, the average being £25,321. 76% of applicants were employed and 14% self employed. ——————————————————————————————————2/8—— Are you a Premium Bond winner? 539 WANNA FLIRT? CHAT ON TV BY (EXT! SEE ITV1 p369 Product Homes Save Loans AdP533 Teletext 533 Jul18 23:23:26 ———————————— —————————————————————— FINANCE ALERTS DIRECT TO YOUR MOBILE (ext the word CITYNEWS to 8899 to get City news and end-of-day updates for the London stock market on your phone. Send CITYNEWS STOP to cancel. Each alert costs 25p. Subscription message is charged at your normal text rate. ——————————————————————————————————3/8—— City headlines 501 Shares index 510 = = 100'S OF GIRLS WAITING FOR YOU! = ^^^^ Product Homes Save Loans AdP533 Teletext 533 Jul18 23:27:52 U ———————————— —————————————————————— LONG-TERM SAVING 'ALIEN CONCEPT' Long-term saving is an alien concept to nearly two thirds of the population. That's the finding of IFA Promotion, which supports the work of independent financial advisers. It said about 65% of people had never saved for anything longer than a decade while 10% had never saved for anything at all. Just 31% of people said retirement was their long-term savings goal, falling to 25% among women. ——————————————————————————————————4/8—— "Best buy" credit cards 546 ACCIDENT ADVICE HELPLINE ITV1 p385 Product Homes Save Loans AdP533 Teletext 533 Jul18 23:14:28 ———————————— —————————————————————— WOMEN MILLIONAIRES OVERTAKE THE MEN The number of wealthy women is rising, with 2.4 million holding more than £25,000 in savings, according to Investec Private Bank. Around 16% of them are single, while 60% are married, separated or divorced. Women account for 45% of those opening a high investment account since 2003. There are more women millionaires aged between 18 and 44 than men, says Centre for Economics and Business Research. ——————————————————————————————————5/8—— National Savings rates 540 Fancy seeing Barcelona play at the Nor Camp? Go to p680 ITV digital now! Product Homes Save Loans AdP533 Teletext 533 Jul18 23:11:15 U ———————————— —————————————————————— CONFIDENCE IN HOUSING MARKET IS STABLE Confidence in the housing market remained stable over the past three months, despite a dip in December 2004, according to The Woolwich. Around 49% of homeowners said they expected prices to rise over the next year, the same number as in May, but this was still below the 65% who said the same thing in June last year. The Scots were the most confident, with 61% expecting further price rises. ——————————————————————————————————6/8—— Personal finance headlines 531 NEED CHEAP CAR INSURANCE? SEE p618 Product Homes Save Loans AdP533 Teletext 533 Jul18 23:11:11 ———————————— —————————————————————— ASKING PRICE INFLATION 'ALMOST ZERO' Asking prices for houses fell by 1% during the four weeks to July 9, as sellers' expectations became "more realistic", website Rightmove reported. The fall brought annual house price inflation down to 0.2%, its lowest level for 10 years and well down on the 18% annual growth seen in July 2004. The time it took to sell the average property also rose by nearly a week, from 70 days to 75 days. ——————————————————————————————————7/8—— Your tax allowances 543 NEW CARS REVIEWED p703 Product Homes Save Loans AdP533 Teletext 533 Jul18 23:12:17 Advertisement Mortgages >>> 8/8 A GREAT RANGE OF SPECIAL RATES We may monitor and record calls YOUR HOME MAY BE REPOSSESSED IF YOU DO NOT KEEP UP REPAYMENTS ON YOUR MORTGAGE. Halifax plc.Registered Office:Trinity Road,Halifax,West Yorkshire HX1 2RG. Registered in England No.2367076. Compliance No.5/00189.1 Product Homes Save Loans Ad