Posted on

Can Whole Body CryoTherapy Help Me Live A Healthy Lifestyle?

Whole-body Cryotherapy, which essentially means “cold treatment,” maybe a procedure that exposes the body to temperatures colder than negative 200degrees F for 2 to 4 minutes. While it has been wont to treat conditions like MS and atrophic arthritis in Japan since the late 1970s, it’s only been utilized in Western countries for the past few decades, primarily to alleviate muscle soreness for elite athletes, consistent with a 2015 Cochrane review of 4 studies.

Continue reading Can Whole Body CryoTherapy Help Me Live A Healthy Lifestyle?

Posted on

Travel Ban Expats With Debts Win Right To Work

Expats banned from leaving Bahrain because they owe money will have the right to legally live and work in the country under a new law.

Bahrain courts can stop expats leaving the country if they have an unpaid debt or civil legal challenge proceeding against them until the debts are cleared.

The law leaves expats in a legal limbo because they cannot work to raise cash to pay off their debts.

Under the new law, expats with debts will still have to stay in Bahrain, but will have the opportunity to work and pay off the money they owe.

Posted on

Ethics don’t replace private health cover for expats

Expats and travellers want too much from their free health cards that offer emergency cover in Europe. Most expect the card to give free emergency medical treatment and some believe the card entitles them home by air ambulance if they fall seriously ill or have an accident.

A few even try to get free medical treatment outside Europe by waving the card. The EHIC – the European Health Insurance Card – is a vital document and can save travellers money if they need emergency treatment.

Insurers will often consider discounting or scrapping private health insurance excesses, but the benefits are not as valuable and comprehensive to expats as many believe. In fact, an EHIC does not offer any protection to expats.

Posted on

China’s Prosperity Relies on Painful Economic Reform

The Chinese economy is likely to suffer if policymakers do not embrace painful but necessary changes to deal with over-supply problems.

Decisive reform is hampering recovery in the world’s number two economy and the country’s leaders need to take action before it’s too late, argues Kunjal Gala, senior investment analyst on the Hermes Global Emerging Markets Fund.

Not making the right decisions and implementing them quick enough is a failing that runs through China’s recent economic history, he says. Now, President Xi Jinping seems to be across what action is needed. “The transition will take time, but I have visited China and can see progress is starting to be made,” said Gala.

Posted on

Forget the cost of living – Dying comes at a price as well

Most of us worry about the rising cost of living without giving a thought to how big the bill for unraveling our financial affairs when we die is likely to be. Many of us asked to stand in as an executor for a friend or loved one when they die have no hesitation about stepping up to the plate without thinking about the hassle, time and money involved.

Former Prime Minister David Cameron promised to make inheritance tax cheaper, but this only applies to surviving spouses or close family members who gain property or other assets.

Posted on

Things to do in Dubai for UK expats

Dubai rises from the desert as a spectacular vision of glass and steel that attracts tourists and shoppers from across the world. While in Dubai, here are the 10 top places to visit, as voted by TripAdvisor:

Dubai Fountain

The world’s most spectacular choreographed fountains – a fantastic display shooting 500 feet into the air. The $218 million show includes 6,600 coloured lights, 25 projectors and measures just over 900 feet long.

  • WHERE: The lake between the Burj Khalifa and Dubai Mall
  • WHEN: 1pm and 1.30pm daily except Fridays, when the times change to 1.30pm and 2pm. In the evenings, the fountains go off every 30 minutes between 6pm and 11pm
  • COST: Free

Posted on

Investors Taking A Shine To Gold

Investors are flooding to protect their wealth by pouring money into gold, according to the latest research.

Trade body the World Gold Council reports the industry enjoyed a buoyant first quarter and the second best ever as demand was up a fifth year on year.

The council argues that turmoil in stock markets and uncertainty over the world economy is making investors move to gold as a safe haven.

“Negative interest rates in Japan and Europe, China devaluing the yuan and a slowdown of interest rate rises in the USA undermined confidence in other assets as turbulence rocked stock markets around the world,” said a spokesman.

“Negative interest rates significantly hit sovereign bonds as low risk assets and triggered huge interest in gold-backed ETFs.”

Posted on

Stamp Licks Shares, Gold And Property As Top Investment

Investors looking for first class returns should turn to rare stamps, claims a specialist firm. Stamps have outperformed the FTSE100 and British property prices since 1995 and in the past 12 months, some of the most collectible stamps have seen returns ahead of the best performing shares.

London-based philatelist Stanley Gibbons argues stamps are a better hedge against stock market and commodity volatility than shares, property, and gold. The firm has an index of Britain’s 250 most expensive stamps – and the price was up 1.2% year-on-year until the end of June 2016 compared to the FTSE, which lost 11% in the same period.

“Stamps are showing that they have an investment and wealth preservation pedigree during a time when world stock markets have had a difficult period,” says the firm.

Posted on

Fed blusters and delays US interest rate hike

The long awaited Federal Reserve decision to fire up US interest rates with another hike turned out to be a damp squib yet again. Fed chair Janet Yellen and her team of policymakers have hinted that the time is right to ratchet up the rate since the last rise from 0.25% to 0.5% in December 2015.

Despite sending signals and blowing smoke about putting interest rates up, the Fed has done nothing this year. The rate-setting committee only meets three more times before Christmas, including November when the USA goes to the polls to elect a new president. Traditionally, the Fed is unlikely to make such a major economic change.

Posted on

Dubai Property Prices Fall – But At A Slower Rate

Property prices in the glass and steel city of Dubai have fallen for the sixth quarter in a row. Home values dropped by 12% in the past year with prestige and luxury homes hit by the worst price declines. Prices were also down 2% in June compared to the first three months of the year, according to property specialists CBRE.

Rents were also down by close to 2% in the year to the end of June 2016. The firm blames the continuing property price slowdown on the strengthening US dollar and Brexit economic uncertainty unsettling the confidence of buyers.