Robert Liebman            Journalism    Copywriting    Media Training

Personal Finance

Wealthy on paper (namely, the deeds to a property that has soared in value) but cash poor, many elderly people are tempted by equity-release mortgages, which give them cash against the value of their homes. Good idea, or bad value? Robert looked at this issue for Bloomberg Money (see below) and The Independent: "Raising Cash on Your Home is the Last Resort," 27 January 2001.

The Money section of Channel 4's website published Robert's financial advice for novice property investors: "Top 10 Tips for Would-be Landlords".

He also dissected dot-com bubbles, property bubbles, and day-trading and other quick-money schemes and scams.

A weekly column in the Birmingham, UK-based Sunday Mercury enabled Robert to explore the whole panoply of consumer financial issues. Some columns:

Giving our Teams the Shirts off our Backs: Football Shares, 26 March 2000

Will You Take the Bull by the Horns?: Write a Will, 2 July 2000

Don't Fall for Salesman's Extended Warranty Line, 5 December 1999

Cover Yourself by Sorting Out Best Policies: Critical Illness and Mortgage Protection, 18 July 1999

Interest-Free Credit: Bargain or Gimmick (or both?), 6 June 1999

"The future of tech stocks is crucial to every investor. So are we seeing a South Sea Crisis or is this just the mother of all corrections?"

"After precipitous declines, many shares rebounded and NASDAQ ended the day with nothing worse than a mundane decline. The market had quickly wiped the bubble off its nose and popped it back into its mouth."

"Forever blowing bubbles," The Independent Investor Supplement

"Trading fees these days are modest--£10 or so, much reduced from the £100 or more per trade that applied in pre-internet days--but they add up, especially considering the many trades per day of the typical daytrader." 

America's Securities and Exchange Commission cites a hypothetical day trader who makes 50 trades per day at a firm with moderate fees ($16.70 per trade, $150 per month).  "This trader must generate $16,850 each month in trading profits to recoup the costs of the trades."

"Putting your neck online," Investor, Special Supplement, The Independent. Complete article

"A pittance for your property"

"If you are asset-rich but cash-poor, you may be wealthier than you realise.

Home income and other equity-release plans are not the only options available, and they are certainly not the best.  Although improved safer models have arrived, they retain the key vice of the older versions: borrowers--usually elderly homeowners--surrender a large chunk of their homes tomorrow for a small amount of money today.

By whatever name it is known--home income, home reversion, shared appreciation mortgage--the sacrifice of all or part of the property's value for cash may suit people with no heirs who don't mind raiding their estate.  But many borrowers simply misunderstand or miscalculate the real costs--and the consequences."

Bloomberg Money