Britain's new Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng delivered a blistering mini-Budget this week that was anything that small. A wave of tax cuts were unleashed. Some had been heavily trailed, such as spiking the National Insurance hike and a stamp duty reduction, but there were also two rabbits out of the hat: a cut in basic rate income tax to 19p from April and abolishing the 45p income tax rate too. Those tax cuts joined a wave of spending commitments, most notably the huge energy price guarantee bailout...
Sep 23, 2022•49 min
The Bank of England is tipped to raise interest rates by at least 0.5 per cent this week, but the pound fell to a 37-year low last week - reaching $1.351, a level not seen since 1985. That comes against a backdrop of inflation edging down slightly to 9.9 per cent - taking Britain out of the double-digit inflation club - with a colossal rescue plan to save households and businesses from spiralling energy prices about to kick in. The details on that energy price guarantee rushed out by new Prime M...
Sep 16, 2022•44 min
This is Money's pensions guru Steve Webb racked up his 300th column answering readers' questions this week. Over the past six years, Steve, with the help of pension and investing editor Tanya Jefferies, has been guiding readers through the retirement maze - with his column regularly among the most popular stories of the week. To celebrate his 300th column, Steve joins Tanya, Georgie Frost and Simon Lambert for a special podcast episode to answer your questions. It's a dive into much of what you ...
Sep 10, 2022•47 min
Belts are already being tightened but as bills head even higher more people will look to save where they can. But are there some things that you should avoid doing or cutting back on at all costs? Campaigns to get people not to pay their bills have obvious flaws, but what about only paying for the energy you use, diverting your pension saving elsewhere or cutting back on ditching saving or investing. Some are at breaking point and will have little choice but to do some of these things, but what ...
Sep 02, 2022•58 min
Inflation is soaring and if predictions are correct, it would result in the Consumer Prices Index measure hitting 13 per cent this autumn. That could result in a state pension rise of around £1,000 a year to £10,900 while even at the current level of 10.1 per cent it would be upped to £10,600. However, last year, the triple lock was scrapped. Would a new Prime Minister dare do the same this time around? Lee Boyce, Tanya Jefferies and Georgie Frost discuss. Inflation is hitting those with pension...
Aug 26, 2022•49 min
Inflation is up again with CPI now measured at 10.1 per cent, the highest since February 1982, when Margaret Thatcher was Prime Minister. How does this bout of inflation compare to then? Lee Boyce, Helen Crane and Georgie Frost discuss the higher than forecast inflation rate and what is driving it. With that rate of inflation soaring, a majority of economists believe another 0.5 percentage point increase in base rate is on the cards next month. But what would a base rate of 3, 5 or 7 per cent do...
Aug 19, 2022•52 min
Rising bills and the cost-of-living crisis are forcing many to dip into savings pots, if they have one to begin with. At the same time, with base rate rising to try and curb inflation, savings deals have become far better than they have been in the last decade. This week, Georgie Frost and Lee Boyce are joined by a special guest: James Blower, AKA The Savings Guru, who gives his take on where savings rates are heading next. With lesser known challengers paying the best rates, how do you know the...
Aug 12, 2022•1 hr
The idea of the Bank of England raising base rate by 0.5 percentage points at the same time as warning about a long and painful recession would have been unthinkable a year ago. But things have dramatically changed and central banks are desperately trying to get a grip on runway inflation that just seems to keeo getting worse. Base rate has risen from 0.1 per cent in December to 1.75 per cent now and is set to keep climbing, but why trigger a recession to get inflation driven by outside forces u...
Aug 05, 2022•53 min
This summer has seen travel demand rebound and for many, it could be their first overseas jaunt since before the pandemic. For that reason, there may be some rusty holidaymakers out there. But fear not, Lee Boyce, Helen Crane and Georgie Frost are at hand to help get you in the holiday mood (kind of). They talk about what you need to think about before a trip, from sorting out your passport with plenty of time to why it is imperative to have good quality insurance. It may not be sexy, but it is ...
Jul 29, 2022•56 min
In this special bonus This is Money podcast interview, Simon Lambert speaks to Barney Whiter, whose The Escape Artist blog helps others to try to achieve the same financial independence he has. Barney tells Simon what financial independence means to him, relates how he got there and his successes and mistakes along the way, gives some tips for budding FIRE savers, and explains why he still choses to do some work.
Jul 25, 2022•11 min
Financial independence and retiring early sounds great, but could you sacrifice enough of your spending to get there? The so-called Fire movement involves living a frugal live, saving as much of your income as possible – 50 per cent or more – and investing to build a pot to retire early on. Ideally, this needs to be 25 times your annual spending requirements, so that you can follow the 4 per cent rule on how much of your pot you spend each year. Advocates of financial independence will tell you ...
Jul 24, 2022•1 hr 2 min
Jul 15, 2022•1 hr 1 min
Boris Johnson finally came unstuck this week and resigned as Prime Minister after one scandal too many caught up with him. Whatever you thought of the PM - and he certainly has the ability to divide a room almost as well as he can entertain it - there is no doubt that this ushers in another bout of 'what next?' instability for Britain. The economy is struggling, an inflation crisis is in full swing and the Bank of England is raising rates into a recession, yet at the end of a tumultuous week we ...
Jul 08, 2022•1 hr
In recent times, private parking firms have come under scrutiny from motoring organisations, the Government… and This is Money. Many motorists will have received a dreaded charge in the post and in some cases, unjustifiably so. If that’s you, it’s time to fight back. This week Georgie Frost, Simon Lambert and Lee Boyce take a look at whether private parking firms are playing fair. It comes as Lee received a third private parking charge in the post in four years, and for the third time appealed a...
Jul 01, 2022•1 hr 4 min
A mortgage stress test designed to stop borrowers overstretching themselves will be scrapped, it was revealed this week. The mortgage industry has long bemoaned this supposedly unrealistic test that makes lenders check if borrowers can afford their repayments at a level higher than the fix or tracker deal they may be taking, their lender's standard variable rate plus 3 per cent. Yet, isn't a bit of an odd time to finally get rid of this, just as interest rates are finally rising and the base rat...
Jun 24, 2022•55 min
Base rate has gone from 0.1 per cent to 1.25 per cent in the space of six months, in a flurry of rate rising that would have been considered unthinkable a year ago. Yet, as the Bank of England delivered another 0.25 percentage point raise, voices were raised in some corners to demand why it hadn't gone further. Why not a 0.5 per cent jump or even a 0.75 per cent one, as the Fed had delivered in the US? With inflation running at 9 per cent and expected to head north into double digits, the onus i...
Jun 20, 2022•1 hr
Women have already been hit by a huge state pension blunder in recent years, but now it seems the DWP is messing up again. After This is Money's Steve Webb and Tanya Jefferies exposed a £1billion women's state pension scandal, which emerged from a reader question sent in to his column, you'd think the Government would be keeping on top of payments. But it has turned out that more women appear to being told they aren't due the right amount, or in one case that we reported on this week anything at...
Jun 12, 2022•52 min
Just when you thought it was safe to go back on holiday... Britain descended into holiday chaos this week, as airlines cancelled hundreds of flights, airports struggled to cope and even Eurostar ended up with a day of disruption. For those who suffered at the hands of airline chaos, it was a harsh and unfair experience - with many of those travellers taking their first post-Covid trip abroad and others heading off for what were meant to be celebratory family events. Both airlines and airports le...
Jun 04, 2022•56 min
Sudden Wealth Syndrome. It's a thing apparently and something that many of us probably wouldn't mind suffering from. That's the term used to describe those who suddenly - and perhaps unexpectedly - come into a very large sum of money. And doing so brings plenty of benefits but also its own problems. Over the past week, we have heard about the couple who won £184million on the Euromillions, but what are the challenges they will face and how do you deal with that sum of money. We spoke to a number...
May 27, 2022•45 min
Inflation continues to surge, the Bank of England says there is little it can do to stall it but is raising rates any way, and at the same time is warning of a potential recession looming. It seems safe to say this isn’t the Covid recovery year that many people were hoping for: the longed-for bout of calm and optimism has turned out to be a cost of living crisis instead. So, with inflation now at 9 per cent and set to rise further and central banks swiftly changing their tune on low interest rat...
May 20, 2022•46 min
The pandemic house price boom caught almost everyone by surprise and has continued to run for longer that most expected, but is it now about to end. Rising interest rates and the cost of living crunch are putting a serious squeeze on how much buyers can borrow - and that means they can't keep paying ever higher prices for homes. Meanwhile, stories are emerging of banks and building societies getting cold feet on some of the offers that ambitious buyers have had accepted and the lenders are down-...
May 14, 2022•43 min
More than 40 years after Margaret Thatcher introduced Right to Buy, the current Prime Minister is considering plans to revamp the scheme. Could it unleash a home buying revolution and help give a much needed boost to the Government, or is it a bad idea rehashing an old scheme? This week, Simon Lambert, Lee Boyce and Georgie Frost discuss the plans, how it could work and why it may be unleashed in the near future. Would it be unfair to private renters? With ever increasing property prices, would ...
May 06, 2022•52 min
Is there any point trying to save when inflation is so high? Interest rates are rising and savers can now get a far better return than a year ago, but compare those rates to inflation and they are losing even more money. So why bother? That's the question that Georgie Frost and Simon Lambert tackle on this week's podcast. From what the best rates are and where you can get them, to why you should avoid what Simon calls your bank or building society's 'insult account' – with a special mention for ...
Apr 29, 2022•51 min
Much bigger energy bills are on their way to households for and a warning was sounded this week that there is much worse to come. Energy bosses told MPs that 40 per cent of households could end up in fuel poverty and raised the prospect of a ‘truly horrific’ winter, with the price cap tipped to rise another 30 per cent or more in October just as the heating goes back on. Energy firms are not responsible for the surge in gas and electricity prices but watchdog Ofgem warned that some may not be tr...
Apr 23, 2022•1 hr 6 min
For many homeowners it's been the case for some years that each time they remortgage, their rate comes down. But with the Bank of England liftng base rate three times in a matter of months, inflation soaring to 7 per cent, and banks and building societies hiking mortgage rates, that is no longer the case. It must be said that mortgage rates are still low by historic standards, but whereas borrowers with the biggest deposits or equity could fix for under 1 per cent last year, now they will be pay...
Apr 15, 2022•38 min
This week has seen a number of changes to our personal finances in the wake of energy bill and council tax rises, along with a number of key utilities such as broadband and mobile contracts. It also marks the start of a new tax year and with it a National Insurance rise, a meagre state pension hike and the start of new 'no fault' divorce system. Georgie Frost, Lee Boyce and Helen Crane run through what these changes potentially mean for you and why they're important. Renting is set to become che...
Apr 08, 2022•50 min
It's the time of year when we are urged to put our money into an Isa or pension, but faced with the choice which should you pick? After all, most of us don't have the £52,000 needed to max out both (£20,000 into an Isa and £32,000 into a pension plus the £8,000 tax relief added). So, we must make a decision: take the upfront tax relief of a pension and that lovely boost to the money you pay in, but not be able to get the cash until at least age 55, or opt for the tax-free gains of an Isa and its...
Mar 31, 2022•50 min
Investing in the stock market has been proven over time to be the best way to grow your wealth and doing so in an Isa can turbo-charge those returns. There’s no tax to pay on investment profits or dividends and that means the magic of compounding can work that bit harder – and when you draw on your investment Isa in future the money is tax-free. But what are the essential things you need to know about a stocks and shares Isa and investing in general, whether you are just getting started or an ex...
Mar 29, 2022•36 min
Why would you cut tax and raise the same tax at the same time? That’s been the slightly baffled response from many people to Rishi Sunak’s Spring Statement. Effectively, the Chancellor both cut and raised National Insurance – lifting the threshold it is paid at but ignoring calls to 'spike the hike' and ploughing ahead with the 1.25 per cent being added to rates. Bizarrely, the tax rate goes up in April, only for the threshold to rise and reduce bills shortly afterwards in July. And we wonder wh...
Mar 25, 2022•49 min
It's a hat trick. After all those years of waiting in vain for a rate rise after the financial crisis, now the Bank of England has the wind in its sails and has raised rates three times since December. The shift up in the base rate to 0.75 per cent hardly takes rates into the stratosphere but moving from 0.1 per cent to here in four months stands at serious odds with the lower for longer mantra that dominated the past decade and a bit of central bank thinking. It's being done to combat inflation...
Mar 18, 2022•38 min
