| Streets ahead of the rest
Because the repayments were small, I could pay rent, pay off the loan and still lead the same lifestyle. I guess that was an easier option than going on a hardcore savings plan but it was riskier, too. In the end I didn't have to give anything up to pay off the debt sooner because my income was going up," he says. Rampono says he was lucky with his share investments because the market has been especially good during the past five years. "When I went into the market in 2002 it was a mug's market. Any stock you picked went up. It worked out but it could quite as easily have also turned to custard and I wouldn't have the deposit now," he says. David Darmali, financial planner with PSK Financial Services, says investment risk is the key consideration when saving for a home deposit.
Divided they stand
The reaction of the US Federal Reserve was swift and dramatic. That of the Bank of England was more cautious and measured. And the European Central Bank responded to pressure to follow the US with a determined 'Non', or, more accurately, 'Nein'. Can all three be right? And might this evident lack of co-ordination and joined-up thinking cause the markets to be even more worried than they are? Government officials and policy advisers at the World Economic Forum at Davos have been unnerved by the absence of a co-ordinated response. Calls for a global approach have now started to come thick and fast. Financial market veterans frequently note that one of the catalysts for the 1987 stock market crash was very public disagreements between the United States and Europe over the appropriate monetary and fiscal policy actions needed.
NFL's best team ever? It's in eye of beholder
I am George Seifert, and I don't know what I'm doing in this story. Okay, so I was the coach of the San Francisco 49ers in 1989. Of the five Super Bowl champions the Niners had from 1981 to '94, that might have been the most impressive team of all. But, c'mon, I was the Art Garfunkel of 49ers coaches. Bill Walsh created this dynasty - I was just singing harmony. Walsh was there for the first three Super Bowls, and then he handed me the playbook and a roster with Joe Montana, Jerry Rice and Ronnie Lott. And my backup quarterback was a guy named Steve Young. I may have finished my career with a 1-15 record in Carolina, but that '89 team was as close to unstoppable as any I have ever seen. I am Mike Ditka, and I think perfection is for pansies.
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