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Is Egg really the best balance transfer credit card?

30 June 2008

As more and more of us grab a balance transfer credit card to shift debts, are we being suckered by the credit card comparison best buy tables?

David Stevens looks at the market leading Egg credit card and wonders if it really is the best credit card for balance transfers.

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This Month's Special Offers

All the personal finance offers worth looking at this month

Barclaycard Platinum credit card

FREE Gadget & Personal Possessions Cover from Barclaycard

Offer ends: 5/9/2008

Apply for a Barclaycard Platinum credit card before the 5th September 2008 and receive 6 months FREE gadget and personal possessions cover. Offer is available on any of the Barclaycard Platinum credit cards.

Our review of Barclaycard Platinum credit card

Barclaycard Platinum Cashback credit card

4% Cash Back with Barclaycard

Offer ends: 31/7/2008

Barclaycard's Platinum Cashback credit card is currently offering 4% cash back on all spending until 31st July 2008 (up to £30 cash back earned per month), and then 0.5% cash back on all spending until 1st January 2010 (up to £30 cash back earned per month).

Our review of Barclaycard Platinum Cashback credit card

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Money News Roundup

What's going on in the personal finance world this week?

By Julia Kukiewicz Staff Writer Friday, 4 July 2008

THIS week why you shouldn’t panic about your bank, why you should about your retirement fund and why even M&S is getting credit crunched.

Don’t Panic Darling

NEVER fear Darling is here and this week he’s making sure we don’t turn to the Bank of Mattress to protect our cash.

New measures will raise the threshold for guaranteed deposits to £50,000 per person per bank.

Although Darling’s plans are only provisional they show that the government is serious about protecting consumers from another Northern Rock-style run on the bank.

It also aims to allow higher authorities to take control of a failing financial institutions.

Old Age Problems

YOU’D think these sort of money worries would be over by the retirement. Wrong.

Life Trust insurance have been raising the nations’ heart rates this week with the news that 20 years in retirement will cost the average couple over £400,000.

If you live to 100 that may even rise to a million.

Rising life expectancy and inflation mean that the average pension pot of around £1250 a year will fall way short and even those with multiple pensions may struggle.

Of course, there is an element of miserlyness in complaining about this sort of thing. Death is very cheap.

So start saving up for your 92nd birthday party - it’s the peak year for spending according to the report.

This is not just a credit crunch...

... THIS is a M&S credit crunch.

Retail giants Marks & Spencer revealed tumbling sales yesterday.

The iconic store’s shares fell by nearly 25 per cent to 240p and it took hundreds of other retailers down with it.

It’s not really surprising that a chain whose advertising emphasises decadence should be amongst the first to feel the squeeze, with rising prices and gloomy money news everywhere you look consumers are bound to downsize their budgets, but for much-loved M&S the dip is the first since their turnaround in 2001.

Only the bargain-bins and the posh brands seem to be safe. Burberry, Aldi and Lidl are amongst those bucking the trend.

And Finally, if you only do one thing this week...

AND finally, if you only do one thing this financial week why not see if you could start a rewarding relationship with your credit card.

Last week, I mentioned credit card comparison as an easy way to save you money - provided you’re careful - but you can also make a profit from your plastic by taking advantage of cash back and rewards.

Get cash back as you spend with an American Express Platinum card, up to £25,000 off the price of a car with a GM card or hundreds of Nectar points with...er... a Nectar card.

You can compare the best cash back and reward credit cards here.