For the past seven years I have been travelling to Los Cristianos, on a regular basis, for family holidays and weekly breaks. In that time, much had changed on the Island; but the climate is still the number one attraction as far as I am concerned.
The airline service to Tenerife has improved dramatically and you no longer have to rely on purchasing a 'seat-only' from one of the tour operators. Ryanair have a regular service from Dublin and Shannon and Aer Lingus fly from Dublin; and from Cork for 5/6 months of the Island's 'peak season'. I would consider a 4 hour return flight, at a cost of €125, to be pretty good value for money. Of course, this is probably at the lower end of the cost scale and at times it can rise to about double that, depending on timing.
I was there last week and the Island is very quiet. Even allowing for the fact that the Summer months would not be considered the busiest time of the year, there was a genuine lack of buzz around the place. As the kids in the UK have not got their school holidays yet, this may have contributed to the scarcity of people. On average there are usually about 25 beds out around the pool area where I stay; 12/14 was the most that were there this time.
Some other negatives would be : UK retirees that had their pensions paid to them while living in Tenerife are finding that the money is not stretching as far as it used to due to the current exchange rate (some have even returned to the UK). The young people that worked in the clubs and bars are returning to the UK as many have been let go and I believe that they are entitled to little or nothing in the form of social welfare in Tenerife. Taxi fares have increased, what I used to pay €2.75 for two years ago has now gone up to €3.75. There are lots more of Se Alquila and Se Vende (for rent/ sale) signs up around the place for shops and apartments; and it is very difficult to sell a property at the moment. My local Chinese restaurant manager told me that he was doing very little take-away business.
On the positive side : It's still Duty Free, even though it is in the EU. Medication and Prescription Drugs are a fraction of the cost that we have to pay here. Finnish has been added to some of the menus in the restaurants that I frequent (more holiday makers from Finland, I presume). The Local Police are now patrolling the promenade on their 'electric' motor cycles. There is little or no new development of accommodation complexes in Los Cristianos.
So, if you like the climate there; can arrange your flight for around €125; don't mind that there are less people around; are fond of walking; want to buy a reasonably priced apartment; are a smoker and/or a spirit drinker or are on some form of medication, it's not a bad stomping ground at the current moment in time.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Blogger Interview - Miriam Ahern
What is the best business/investment decision you ever made? Setting up my own organisation development and human resources consultancy practice, Align Management Solutions, in 2001.
What kind of car do you drive? Jaguar XJ8
What is the worst financial advice that you ever received? To take out an endowment mortgage in 1987 – Thankfully I didn’t!
Do you own property abroad? Yes
How does the economic slowdown effect you? Like any other industry, in professional services it’s now harder to get new business and harder to get paid.
Do you contribute to a pension plan? Yes
What's your favourite film of all time? Billy Elliott because it shows what can be done against the odds when you have an unshakable vision and the passion to back it up.
Have you ever won money? Not yet but I’m ever hopeful!
Do you own your own home? Yes
Do you invest directly in the stock market, through funds or both? I had fantastic share options at one point during the dot com frenzy but they lost their value before I could exercise them. That reality check put me off the stock market somewhat.
What is your preferred method/system of saving (Deposits, Funds, Shares, Property)? Deposits and Property
What financial product/s do you consider to be bad value for money? Car loans, some credit cards, critical illness insurance (sounds good in principal but very tricky when you try to make a claim)
Do you trust your bank? I trust them but it really annoys me that having had personal and business accounts with them for twenty years, they still don’t know me when I visit.
Miriam Ahern is Managing Partner of Align Management Solutions
What kind of car do you drive? Jaguar XJ8
What is the worst financial advice that you ever received? To take out an endowment mortgage in 1987 – Thankfully I didn’t!
Do you own property abroad? Yes
How does the economic slowdown effect you? Like any other industry, in professional services it’s now harder to get new business and harder to get paid.
Do you contribute to a pension plan? Yes
What's your favourite film of all time? Billy Elliott because it shows what can be done against the odds when you have an unshakable vision and the passion to back it up.
Have you ever won money? Not yet but I’m ever hopeful!
Do you own your own home? Yes
Do you invest directly in the stock market, through funds or both? I had fantastic share options at one point during the dot com frenzy but they lost their value before I could exercise them. That reality check put me off the stock market somewhat.
What is your preferred method/system of saving (Deposits, Funds, Shares, Property)? Deposits and Property
What financial product/s do you consider to be bad value for money? Car loans, some credit cards, critical illness insurance (sounds good in principal but very tricky when you try to make a claim)
Do you trust your bank? I trust them but it really annoys me that having had personal and business accounts with them for twenty years, they still don’t know me when I visit.
Miriam Ahern is Managing Partner of Align Management Solutions
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Pension & Investment Calculators
I have been flirting with the idea of providing Pension & Investment Calculators on my websites for a while and I have come to the conclusion that they may not be as reliable as some may believe them to be.
The natural tendency for an individual would be to rely on the information generated as absolute. However, I feel that the following points are worth bearing in mind should you decide to use them.
# The information generated can be based on multiple assumptions. The results are therefore obsolete when one of these assumptions changes and you need to recalculate on a regular basis.
# The assumptions used vary; depending on the calculator provider.
# The 'result' generated may deter an individual from making savings/pension provisions as they may deem the result to be impractical or unaffordable.
# Not all investment calculators are equal. The assumptions and results can vary depending on what Country the investment company is Regulated in.
# Variables, such as Taxation, are constantly changing.
# Calculators do not pay too much attention to Investment Strategy.
# Estimators of levels of Life Insurance cover are generic. Every ones circumstances and requirements are not the same.
# Calculators are generally provided by product providers that can weigh the premium/contribution in their favour ie. quoting an unrealistically high level of benefit.
In isolation, calculators/quotes/estimators are no better than the general rules of thumb that are put forward by product providers or intermediaries. They may be a required starting point for some, but I would not bet the house on them fulfilling reasonable lifetime expectations for the average saver/investor. They are not a substitute for specific advice; that incorporates a common sense approach, from Financial Advisors.
The natural tendency for an individual would be to rely on the information generated as absolute. However, I feel that the following points are worth bearing in mind should you decide to use them.
# The information generated can be based on multiple assumptions. The results are therefore obsolete when one of these assumptions changes and you need to recalculate on a regular basis.
# The assumptions used vary; depending on the calculator provider.
# The 'result' generated may deter an individual from making savings/pension provisions as they may deem the result to be impractical or unaffordable.
# Not all investment calculators are equal. The assumptions and results can vary depending on what Country the investment company is Regulated in.
# Variables, such as Taxation, are constantly changing.
# Calculators do not pay too much attention to Investment Strategy.
# Estimators of levels of Life Insurance cover are generic. Every ones circumstances and requirements are not the same.
# Calculators are generally provided by product providers that can weigh the premium/contribution in their favour ie. quoting an unrealistically high level of benefit.
In isolation, calculators/quotes/estimators are no better than the general rules of thumb that are put forward by product providers or intermediaries. They may be a required starting point for some, but I would not bet the house on them fulfilling reasonable lifetime expectations for the average saver/investor. They are not a substitute for specific advice; that incorporates a common sense approach, from Financial Advisors.
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