Social care is a mounting problem for Britain but the issue is a can that has been kicked down the road repeatedly. Rather than tackle the fact that the state can't afford to care for today's elderly - let alone those that our ageing population will deliver in future - politicians have dodged and fudged. This week a new suggestion emerged involving a hike in National Insurance contributions for over-50s. Editor Simon Lambert, assistant editor Lee Boyce and host Georgie Frost take a look and ask:...
May 03, 2019•57 min
We haven't glued ourselves to train carriages, politician fences or the London Stock Exchange. No, this week's This is Money podcast opts for a less confrontational approach to the environment, with useful tips and tricks that are good for the planet as well as your wallet. Simon Lambert, Lee Boyce and Georgie Frost look at the green movement and what it means for the financial industry and businesses. Are they doing enough? Alongside that, we look at what we - the consumer - can do to help the ...
Apr 26, 2019•47 min
TSB says defrauded customers will now always get their cash back, which has piled pressure on other banks to do the same. But will they – and should they have to? That's the question assistant editor Lee Boyce, reporter George Nixon and host Georgie Frost tackle in this week's podcast. In all, £354million was stolen last year authorised push-payment frauds and until now, banks had refused to pay compensation, claiming the victims should have been more careful. Elsewhere, we take a look at some o...
Apr 18, 2019•50 min
There are three certainties in life. You know the drill. You’re born, you will die and you will listen to this podcast about tax. As another new tax year is upon us, editor Simon Lambert and host Georgie Frost explain the tax changes that will affect you. There is a nice pay rise for more than 20 million people as the personal allowance is raised. And Simon answers some of the questions on everyone’s lips: What is the lifetime allowance? What is inheritance tax? Why do married couples get a tax ...
Apr 12, 2019•32 min
As we fast approach one fifth of the way through the 21st century, the world of finance is modernising in ways that would have been unimaginable a few years ago. And not always in a good way. The language of ‘savings’ has evolved to the point of dishonesty and even fraud. On this week’s podcast editor Simon Lambert and reporter George Nixon join host Georgie Frost to look at fancy new Innovative Finance Isas, at savings products that claim to offer 8% returns and to be protected by the official ...
Apr 05, 2019•39 min
The end of the financial year is looming - April 5 - and it means the clock is ticking if you haven't sorted your Isa or pension. Editor Simon Lambert, assistant editor Lee Boyce and host Georgie Frost have an Isa special for your ears this week. When it comes to cash Isas, you may already be too late as some banks and building societies have already pulled their best buys. Lee reveals his top cash picks for 2019, why there has been a move to cash tax-free accounts and why they are still worth h...
Mar 29, 2019•37 min
The Government wants to scrap gas boilers in new homes by 2025 – but what are the viable alternatives? And how much will they cost? This week, This is Money editor Simon Lambert, reporter Grace Gausden and host Georgie Frost explore the options. And on the energy theme, you can now ask Alexa: when will my electricity bills be cheapest? Energy company Octopus has teamed up with Amazon, the creator of Alexa, and will pay customers to use electricity at off-peak periods. Sound too good to be true? ...
Mar 22, 2019•43 min
With all the shenanigans in Westminster this week you could be forgiven for failing to register we had a Spring Statement at all – let alone clocked its finer points. Editor Simon Lambert, assistant editor Lee Boyce and host Georgie Frost fill you in on what you may have missed. It includes forecasts from the Office for Budgetary Responsibility on the UK economy, along with income growth, interest rates, the pound and house prices. We also have the true scale of the tax burden on families and bu...
Mar 15, 2019•45 min
Put on your party hats, it's Isa season! After years in the doldrums could we have a proper Isa battle on our hands in 2019? Santander and Coventry Building Society have launched two best-buy easy-access tax-free deals, and that appears to have put some wind in the sails of This is Money assistant editor Lee Boyce. Editor Simon Lambert and host Georgie Frost – along with Lee – talk all things Isas: whether they are worth it, the options and importantly, are the new top rates a potential catalyst...
Mar 08, 2019•46 min
National Savings and Investments has launched Ernie 5.0 – its fifth generation machine that draws the Premium Bond numbers. It now takes just 12 minutes for numbers to be generated by the Electronic Random Number Indicator Equipment compared to 10 days back in the early 1970s. This week, editor Simon Lambert, assistant editor Lee Boyce and host Georgie Frost answer the question – what would you do if you gained a windfall, big or small, either from the Premium Bonds or by other means? What does ...
Mar 01, 2019•46 min
A will may be considered the expression of someone’s last wishes, but more of them are being challenged. High property prices and increasingly complicated families are being blamed for the rise in disputes, but would you challenge someone’s will? In this week’s podcast, Simon Lambert, Lee Boyce and Georgie Frost dive into why inheritance rows are more commonplace and how difficult it is to try to overturn a will. Also this week, alongside some money-saving tips for millennials a heated debate ki...
Feb 22, 2019•48 min
Inflation has slipped to 1.8 per cent - below the 2 per cent target - and the Bank of England has downgraded the UK's growth prospects and indicated interest rate hikes are on hold. But at the same time, wages are rising by more than inflation and unemployment remains low. So has the clock already started ticking on a slowdown in the UK economy, or is this just some pre-Brexit jitters that could eventually be followed by a bounce? This is Money editor Simon Lambert, alongside assistant editor Le...
Feb 15, 2019•45 min
Investing has proven to be the best way to beat inflation and grow your wealth over the long-term, but how do you get started? And if you do already invest but feel you’ve lost track of your goals or ended up with a jumble of investments, how can you improve things? In this second edition of a two-part podcast special on saving and investing, Simon Lambert and Georgie Frost dive into how to be a smarter investor. They bust the jargon and look at why people should invest, how to get started, what...
Feb 01, 2019•50 min
In part one of two This is Money podcast specials, we tackle savings. When savings are mentioned, the first thought that springs to mind for many is: rates are low, what's the point? In the latest This is Money podcast, assistant editor Lee Boyce and host Georgie Frost are joined by James Blower, the Savings Guru to explain why savings are important. James has inside knowledge of the industry, having helped a number of challenger banks set up their savings business. We talk about what the point ...
Jan 25, 2019•56 min
Inflation is within a whisker of its long-term target of two per cent – does that mean an interest rate rise off the table in 2019? Assistant editor Lee Boyce and host Georgie Frost talk about the latest inflation figures in the This is Money podcast – including why it has fallen, where it is heading next and what it means for savers. Savings rates are up, with nearly 100 accounts now matching or beating inflation. Lee explains a nifty trick on how to beat inflation with a one year fixed-rate sa...
Jan 18, 2019•50 min
Just how bad was Christmas for Britain’s shops? Retailers sounded the alarm early when advent brought a string of warnings about a terrible November, but this week we started to find out what the crucial festive period really brought. A rush of results arrived, as everyone from the big supermarkets to M&S, Debenhams and John Lewis updated on Christmas sales. The bar had been set low, but it turned out to be not quite so bad as thought – with a few winners and a bunch of losers who escaped th...
Jan 11, 2019•42 min
Happy New NHS? Among last year's big stories was the 70th anniversary of our beloved health service and whether we are prepared to pay for it through higher taxes. Our campaign to out the rogue, sometimes criminal, private car park operatives began with a vengeance and will continue long into 2019. Editor Simon Lambert and host Georgie Frost also explain how to avoid losing your home because of inheritance tax. And are you ready to ditch your fossil-fueled car for an electric one yet? This story...
Jan 04, 2019•57 min
Happy Christmas and welcome to the last This is Money podcast of 2018. Today, we cover the ghosts of Christmas past, present and future. For the ghost of Christmas past, we look at what has gone wrong for high street retailers and if that is spilling over to online firms. Ghost of Christmas present… or presents, we give five reasons why you should think twice about giving gift cards this festive period. And for the ghost of Christmas future, how you can give friends and family a gift that will l...
Dec 21, 2018•57 min
Nobody can escape the Brexit bedlam that has been playing out before our eyes, especially in the last week. In between backstops, trade deals, Norway, contempt of parliament, no-confidence, withdrawing withdrawal votes… what is really going on? Editor Simon Lambert, assistant editor Lee Boyce and host Georgie Frost discuss Brexit in the latest This is Money podcast. Are we going to leave? Should we really have a second referendum and can you do anything to Brexit-proof your cash? We talk it all ...
Dec 14, 2018•50 min
It might not be on the top of your to-do list when you have a child, but investing and saving for them to build a tidy nest egg for when they reach adulthood is best done sooner rather than later. In the latest This is Money podcast, editor Simon Lambert, assistant editor (and new parent) Lee Boyce alongside host Georgie Frost look at the best ways to save for your children. We discuss investment options, Junior Isas, a pension and other ways, and why 'the hardest step is the first, but it is al...
Dec 07, 2018•52 min
Inheritance tax is a conundrum. Just 5 per cent of estates currently incur it but it’s been voted Britain’s most unfair major tax. Even with the number of people hit by it expected to double, it seems we just don’t like the concept. It’s no wonder then that the Chancellor commissioned a report into it from the Office of Tax Simplification, but no one forecast that to be as damning about the system as it was. It’s complicated, more than ten times as many bereaved families have to fill in forms as...
Nov 30, 2018•41 min
Hello, I’m Simon Lambert, the editor of This is Money, and I’d like to introduce you to our new podcast the Investing Show. It is not replacing the weekly This is Money podcast that you know and love. But it is the new podcast of our popular video show that helps you to make more of your money, through smarter investing. Every fortnight we invite fund managers and professional investors to explain how they invest and tell us about the companies and parts of the world that they think will deliver...
Nov 27, 2018•16 min
A year ago bitcoin could do no wrong – now it has slumped to 79 per cent below its peak. So what went wrong for the much vaunted cryptocurrency? The mania of a year ago gave way to a bust after Christmas and apart from a few short-lived rallies bitcoin has been mainly on the slide since. That’s not to say it has no use - the cryptocurrency and underlying technology are fascinating - but just because something has some value does not mean it can’t end up in a bubble. On this week’s podcast, Simon...
Nov 23, 2018•39 min
House prices move in an 18 year cycle. That is the theory of Fred Harrison, who used his cycle to forecast the 2008 slump after the financial crisis. If his theory holds, the housing market will have a short wobble this year and next, followed by a final sharp rise in prices to 2025. Does that stand up to scrutiny? Simon Lambert and Georgie Frost discuss the 28 year property cycle on this excerpt from the This is Money podcast. Follow us on Instagram @dmgnewmedia. Follow us on TikTok @dmgnewmedi...
Nov 21, 2018•6 min
This is Money has relentlessly campaigned to fight online fraud – and in a major victory, Britain's biggest banks are now trialling a new system to trace stolen money. Is the end nigh for scammers? Editor Simon Lambert and host Georgie Frost talk about bank fraud and our long-running campaign to help protect our readers from the growing crime. We also talk through new rules to come in early next year that will spell out exactly what banks have to do to help prevent customers falling victim of ba...
Nov 16, 2018•46 min
Are you trying to save for retirement, make the most of your income in old age, navigate the state pension maze, or just feel baffled by some bit of pension jargon? In the This is Money podcast this week, former Pensions Minister and our regular columnist, Steve Webb, is on hand to help you out. Editor Simon Lambert and host Georgie Frost are also joined by The Pensions Advisory Service boss Michelle Cracknell to answer reader questions about retirement savings. Topics include: Am I being overch...
Nov 09, 2018•57 min
Is austerity really coming to an end? And are the rich getting richer thanks to the Government? In the This is Money podcast this week, editor Simon Lambert, assistant editor Lee Boyce and host Georgie Frost analyse the 2018 Budget. Money for the NHS, little extras for schools, cash for roads, help for the High Street and the baby rabbit in the hat - pulling the rise in the basic and higher rate tax thresholds to £12,500 and £50,000, respectively, a year earlier than promised. We also talk about...
Nov 02, 2018•48 min
As stock market turmoil spreads across the globe, the advice is to keep calm and carry on, folks. In the latest This is Money podcast, editor Simon Lambert and host Georgie Frost discuss what's causing it, how long will it go on for and how concerned we should be. Because we're a positive bunch, we also reveal the shares that have rocketed over the last five years, some by more than 1,000 per cent. Also, we answer a reader query about state pensions - can couples inherit it from each other and h...
Oct 26, 2018•36 min
With this year’s Budget moved to Monday, 29 October, we bring you a pre-Budget special. This is Money editor Simon Lambert, assistant editor Lee Boyce and host Georgie Frost debate the key areas that might feature in Chancellor Philip 'Spreadsheet' Hammond’s tax and spending review. This includes housing, inheritance tax, pensions and a whole host more, as he tries to find £20billion down the back of the Treasury sofa for the promised NHS boost. But this Budget has some extra spice, with both Br...
Oct 19, 2018•35 min
This week, This is Money launched another campaign - and we have the private car parking sharks and the DVLA in our sights. We talk about the horrific cases of drivers being fined and penalised we have received from readers and listeners so far, ask how the DVLA is able to sell our details on without permission and what can be done about the menace – along with what we want changed. Elsewhere, editor Simon Lambert, assistant editor Lee Boyce and host Georgie Frost talk about Dave and Marcus. The...
Oct 12, 2018•40 min
