Moneytimes with Jill Kerby - Some moneybag treasures to share

EVERY week my email inbox fills with press releases and statements and most of them are not of huge interest to me or you. Occasionally, however, a little flurry of useful or unusual notices arrive that I can turn into what I hope will be an interesting column, one that alerts you to something that could make a difference in how you spend your money, or better still, how you can save some money and last week was one such week. Swings and roundabouts The Danish owned National Irish Bank has just announced a new fixed term deposit account with an interest rate of 3.2 %.  NIB, like the Dutch on-line bank RaboDirect and UlsterBank, has been noted for not offering the highest interest rates to savers since the collapse of the Irish banks, for that very reason. The inordinately high demand and fixed interest rates from the Irish state-owned banks is a reflection of the insolvency, re-capitalisation and merging of these banks in the last three years and the fear of withdrawals if they weren't offering such generous but not sustainable (without ECB support) rates. NIB has adjusted other interest rates as well. Rates have gone up on some mortgage products as part of the savings account changes, but savers are being rewarded, and as the ECB comes under more pressure to cut their base rate, fixing your lump sum at a decent rate in a solvent bank, regulated outside the eurozone, is no small achievement. NIB savers who want to explore other non-euro deposit options, should the worse happen and Ireland were to leave the euro, should speak to the manager in their branch. Parents offered free life cover The country is awash with special offers these days and Irish Life has joined in. The company is giving away €10,000 worth of free life assurance to up to 20,000 parents of young families on condition they are under age 55, have no existing medical conditions or nights in hospital in the past year except to have a baby. Your children must be under age 13. There's no catch that I can see to secure the 12 months worth of cover, though no doubt Irish Life will be in touch next October in the hope that you'll be happy to sign up for much more cover for many more years. (Keep in mind that term cover is very competitive amongst all the providers). Since straightforward term life insurance is something every parent should have â€â€ and should be one of the last things you give up entirely if you're having financial difficulties â€â€ this campaign is a good way to highlight how important such cover is. The offer is on a first-come, first-served basis so contact www.irishlife.ie  or your broker as soon as possible. Sense of money Personal finance colleague, Sinead Ryan, officially launched her terrific new book for young people, Cents & Sensibility â€â€ A Financial Guide for Young Adults, that takes them through the labyrinth of money and financial issues they need to be familiar with in order to survive in the real world of money and credit. Available from all good bookshops or from her website www.centsense.ie Smartcard spenders Credit cards can be lethal in the wrong spender's hands. The interest alone can crucify even the most diligent bill payer if they suddenly find themselves unable to keep making their minimum repayments. Phone company O2 last week announced they've added a Money Smartphone app for people to check the balances on their popular Money card, which they launched last February. Prepaid money cards like this one are loaded with cash in advance but only let you spend what is on the card and therefore budget more easily. The Money card can be used for on-line or shop purchases and you can also transfer money to card holder friends and family even when they're abroad. You download the app and can buy the cards in O2 shops or online at www.o2.ie/o2money. Meanwhile, third-level students are being offered an online loyalty scheme with Bus Éireann. The loyalty béClub member will enjoy deals and discounts on food, clothing, accommodation, games, days out and travel or use accumulated points to get free bus travel. Check out www.buseireann.ie. Irish TV online Do your teens with laptop access watch conventional television? No, mine doesn't either. He watches TV on his computer. Anybody with an internet connection and either a computer, smartphone or tablet can now enjoy access to free Irish TV services without the need for a set-top box, satellite dish, cable, or even a TV set. 11 free channels are available including RTÉ One and Two, TV3, TG4 and 3e as well as RTÉ One + 1, RTÉ News Now, RTÉ Junior, France 24, Russia Today and Dáil Éireann. Aertv.ie also has an integrated Twitter and Facebook facility, so you can share your favourite live events and TV shows as they air. Meanwhile, our increasing access to on-line TV viewing is, of course, one of the reasons why the proposed new household tax is expected to integrate the current RTE television licence fee. Four ways to wealth I subscribe to a number of very good financial and investment newsletters. A favourite is Steve Sjuggerud's Daily Wealth. It's aimed at traders but includes some of the best investing advice you'll find anywhere and last week, an article arrived containing four succinct pieces of advice to the middle-aged on how to become financially independent in seven years. The advice is as follows: â€Â¢ Accept that you are solely and completely responsible for your current financial situation. â€Â¢ Set realistic expectations (15 - 20 % annual performance growth is not necessarily realistic). â€Â¢ Thoroughly understand the difference between spending, saving and investing. â€Â¢ Know that your net investible income (the amount of cash you have after spending and saving) is the single most important factor in determining how quickly you will become wealthy. â€Â¢ There's no easy way to get wealthy. You need to earn more, spend less time doing unproductive things like watching TV and instead spend those hours building your wealth. Simple, isn't it?