Most people know that you need a good credit score to be able to borrow money, but how to start building one is a mystery. First aired in June 2022, in this episode of Money Clinic, host and FT consumer editor Claer Barrett sits down with listener Emma, 22, who has never been in debt before, aside from her student loans. Emma has heard that getting a credit card could increase her chances of taking out a mortgage in the future, but before she applies for one, what does she need to consider? In t...
Feb 27, 2024•26 min•Ep 398•Transcript available on Metacast This bonus season, will the UK’s top earners invest their payouts tax-efficiently into pensions and Isas, or use them to pay down debts? In this episode, Money Clinic host Claer Barrett and FT communities editor Lucy Warwick-Ching discuss key findings from nearly 3,000 responses to the FT’s annual anonymous bonus survey. They are joined by Nimesh Shah, the tax expert and CEO of advisory firm Blick Rothenberg, and financial planner Adam Walkom, partner at Permanent Wealth Partners and author of P...
Feb 20, 2024•24 min•Transcript available on Metacast The viral ‘finfluencer’ Clare Seal, better known by her handle, My Frugal Year, to her almost 120,000 Instagram followers, is known for her compassionate approach to managing debt. Having cleared £27,000 of credit card debt, the author and financial coach sat down with host Claer Barrett to share practical tips on how to start repaying debt, manage the cost of parenthood and address feelings of shame surrounding indebtedness. If you need to speak to someone about your debts, please seek advice f...
Feb 13, 2024•28 min•Transcript available on Metacast Will taxes rise or fall in next month’s Spring Budget? Host Claer Barrett visits the recently appointed financial secretary to the Treasury, Nigel Huddleston. He addresses the topic of tax cuts as well as listener concerns about static personal allowance thresholds, reduced entitlements to child benefit and ISA withdrawal penalties. Back in the studio, FT’s Whitehall editor and Political Fix podcast host Lucy Fisher joins Claer to scratch beneath the surface of the minister’s comments on p...
Feb 06, 2024•26 min•Transcript available on Metacast The broadcaster and investment commentator, Justin Urquhart-Stewart, is well-known to millions for wearing bright red braces during his many TV appearances explaining the ups and downs of the investment world. The co-founder and former director of Seven Investment Management sat down with host Claer Barrett to recount his decades-long City career, during which time the ability for retail investors to put their capital to work has become measurably easier - and cheaper. For more tips on how...
Jan 30, 2024•27 min•Transcript available on Metacast Niamh is 24 but she wants to make sure she’s in a financially stable position when she is older. How should she go about saving and investing for her long-term future? Presenter Claer Barrett is joined by Holly Mackay, founder of Boring Money, and financial planner Michael Martin, founder of Cannizaro, who discuss the pros and cons of private and workplace pensions, Lifetime Isas, mortgage overpayments and index investing. Want more? Check out Claer’s column: Why do we think we can beat the mark...
Jan 23, 2024•29 min•Transcript available on Metacast Introducing Untold, a new podcast from the special investigations team at the Financial Times. In its first series, The Retreat, host Madison Marriage examines the world of the Goenka network, which promotes a type of intensive meditation known as Vipassana. Thousands of people go on Goenka retreats every year. People rave about them. But some people go to these meditation retreats, and they suffer. They might feel a deep sense of terror, or a break with reality. And on the other side, they’re n...
Jan 18, 2024•2 min•Transcript available on Metacast Mortgage lenders are cutting their rates. That’s good news for anyone thinking of buying or remortgaging a property. Presenter Claer Barrett and a panel of experts answer questions from listeners looking to switch, lock in a new rate, or wondering whether to go from fixed to variable rate deals. With Andrew Montlake, managing director of Coreco mortgage brokers, mortgage advisor Dan Knott, aka Dan Does Mortgages , and Rachael Sinclair, managing director for mortgages at Nationwide. For more tips...
Jan 16, 2024•28 min•Transcript available on Metacast First aired in September 2022, Claer Barrett takes to the supermarket aisles to find the best tips for keeping the cost of the weekly food shop to a minimum. She hears from Laura Gaga aka Reduction Raider on how and where to find yellow sticker bargains, while Richard Walker, managing director of Iceland supermarkets, explains why his chain has introduced interest-free buy-now-pay-later loans for struggling customers. Follow Laura Gaga on instagram @reduction_raider1 And if you would like to get...
Jan 10, 2024•24 min•Transcript available on Metacast ‘If you can tell a good story,’ says Morgan Housel, ‘you’ll get people to line up and listen to you.’ In this episode of Money Clinic, Morgan shares some of those stories with host Claer Barrett and challenges us to think differently about our attitude to wealth and wealth creation. To sign up for Claer's Sort Your Financial Life Out money series, visit FT.com/moneycourse More information on Morgan Housel and his books: https://www.morganhousel.com/ Follow Claer on social media @Claer...
Jan 09, 2024•27 min•Transcript available on Metacast With the bills rolling in after Christmas, this week’s episode is devoted to helping listeners tackle their credit card debts on a practical and emotional level - no matter how big or small they might be. Host Claer Barrett hears from experienced debt adviser Sara Williams of the popular Debt Camel blog and Instagram account, Helen Saxon, deputy editor of Money Saving Expert, and Dr Pamela Roberts, a shopping addiction specialist at the Priory Clinic. They give tips on balance transfers and on h...
Jan 02, 2024•32 min•Transcript available on Metacast If you’re looking for inspiration for managing your money more effectively in 2024, this episode is for you! Claer Barrett is joined in the FT studio by popular financial experts Bola Sol, Timi Merriman-Johnson aka Mr MoneyJar, and Damien Jordan. Between them they offer a wealth of tips for navigating next year’s expected financial challenges and share their own money stories and strategies. To sign up for Claer's Sort Your Financial Life Out money course, visit FT.com/moneycourse If you would l...
Dec 26, 2023•36 min•Transcript available on Metacast Algy Hall has four strategies for seeking out stocks that will outperform the index, highlighted in his new book Four Ways to Beat the Market . They are: quality, value, income, and momentum. Each one homes in on a very different kind of company – from the undisputed champion to the comeback kid, and from the slow-but-steady to the on-a-roll. Presenter Claer Barrett gets Algy to explain the thinking behind each strategy. The two also reminisce about their time working together as financial journ...
Dec 19, 2023•31 min•Transcript available on Metacast Lord John Lee of Trafford was the first person in the UK to reach £1mn invested in his stocks and shares ISA. He has a clear strategy based around choosing UK smallcap companies that pay dividends. This is another chance to hear him in conversation with presenter Claer Barrett, explaining his investment strategy and how he chooses stocks. To sign up for Claer's Sort Your Financial Life Out email series, visit this link Want more? My Isa has suffered - but I’m still a firm believer How to ...
Dec 12, 2023•24 min•Transcript available on Metacast Global equity funds are a mainstay in most investors’ portfolios, but few peer under the bonnet to examine the gigantic, global companies included in these investments. Host Claer Barrett speaks to veteran investor and FT columnist Simon Edelsten about the ‘Magnificent Seven’ US tech stocks that comprise up to a quarter of the weighting in some global trackers. Can their impressive performance in 2023 continue? Simon considers the potential impact of big global trends including higher inflation,...
Dec 05, 2023•28 min•Transcript available on Metacast Tax cuts were the centrepiece of the Autumn Statement last week – with national insurance bills set to drop in January for 27mn UK workers – but these savings stand to be wiped out by ‘stealth taxes’. Host Claer Barrett crunches through the numbers and explores the Autumn Statement’s impact on pensions, Isas and other investments, with Katie Martin, the FT’s markets editor and co-presenter of the Unhedged podcast, Sam Fleming, the FT’s economics editor, and Rafe Uddin, the FT’s UK politics ...
Nov 28, 2023•28 min•Transcript available on Metacast Inflation, interest rates, growth and taxes - they’re terms we hear on the news every day, but what impact do they have on our everyday financial lives? In a Money Clinic episode recorded in front of a live audience at the Bristol Economics Festival, host Claer Barrett hears from Sarah O’Connor, FT columnist and associate editor, and Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown. Plus, the audience pitches in with questions about property, mortgages, student debt and gettin...
Nov 21, 2023•30 min•Transcript available on Metacast Exchange traded funds, or ETFs, have been growing in popularity recently, but as Money Clinic listener Saranya has found, there’s a bewildering array of different types of ETFs to choose from. In an episode first aired earlier in 2023 presenter Claer Barrett is joined in the studio by Dave Baxter, funds editor at the Investors’ Chronicle, and Lynn Hutchinson, head of ETF and index solutions at investment manager Charles Stanley. They unpick the many different types of ETFs, how to use them to bu...
Nov 14, 2023•26 min•Transcript available on Metacast Are UK shares a bargain or a basket case? Nick Train has been an investment manager for more than 40 years and is renowned for sticking with his choices even if markets go against him. The man who’s been dubbed the UK’s answer to Warren Buffett tells host Claer Barrett why he has faith that shares in unloved UK companies will bounce back, even after years of underwhelming performance. Plus, he reveals why he seized the chance to secure a significant stake in Manchester United and why he’d like m...
Nov 07, 2023•31 min•Transcript available on Metacast Back in 2010, Money Clinic listener Kalyan bought an iPad with a monthly 3G subscription. Thirteen years later, that long-forgotten purchase might stop him from getting a decent rate on his mortgage. It’s a story that shines a light on how credit rating agencies score you and how things can easily go wrong. Host Claer Barrett hears from Sara Williams, who runs Debt Camel, a blog and popular Instagram account, as well as James Jones, head of consumer affairs at Experian, one of the UK's main cred...
Oct 31, 2023•34 min•Transcript available on Metacast Deborah Meaden, star of the hit BBC show Dragons' Den , is one of the highest-profile investors in the UK, famed for grilling entrepreneurs who want to secure financial backing for their businesses. She speaks to presenter Claer Barrett about how she goes about picking which companies to invest in, her commitment to green investment choices and about her new book, Why Money Matters , which explains money and finance to children. Want more? Free links: What Rishi Sunak’s net zero overhaul m...
Oct 24, 2023•31 min•Transcript available on Metacast Isas, or individual savings accounts, in the UK are tax-free vehicles that have made millions of investors richer since their launch in 1999. The government is now considering a shake-up that would simplify “a complex landscape” of Isa products - but questions have been raised about fractional shares, which are traded by tens of thousands of younger investors. Host Claer Barrett discusses the basics of using Isas to save and invest, as well as what the government might have in store, with Jason ...
Oct 17, 2023•29 min•Transcript available on Metacast The renowned economist and investor Mohamed El-Erian is chief economic adviser at Allianz, the parent company of Pimco, one of the world's leading providers of bonds and fixed-income investments. He’s also a contributing editor at the Financial Times, but his smiling byline photo on his weekly columns about the global economy is often at odds with the warnings and predictions he makes. He tells host Claer Barrett why he’s taking a wait-and-see approach to equit...
Oct 10, 2023•31 min•Transcript available on Metacast It's hard enough sorting out the personal finances of a loved one who’s died. It’s even more painful when you suspect they’ve been targeted for their vulnerability. In the second of Money Clinic’s two-part series about what’s been called ‘sadmin’, the FT’s Miranda Green tells host Claer Barrett about the nasty surprises that she uncovered in her father’s personal finances after he died. Miranda found her Dad had been targeted by brokers selling him pointless insurance products, while her Mum had...
Oct 03, 2023•29 min•Transcript available on Metacast When FT columnist Miranda Green lost her father, she expected the grief to be long-lived. What she didn’t expect was that she would still be attempting to settle her father's financial affairs nearly a year later with multiple calls to banks, building societies, insurers and utilities. She tells presenter Claer Barrett about her experience of inconsiderate call handlers and poor processes in the private sector and Claer puts Miranda’s concerns to Eric Leenders, the director of personal fina...
Sep 26, 2023•31 min•Transcript available on Metacast It’s a year since Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng’s mini-Budget sent the property market into a tailspin. No sooner had house prices begun to recover than they were dealt another blow by higher-than-expected inflation figures. At the recent FT Weekend Festival, the FT’s House and Home editor Nathan Brooker asked Yolande Barnes of the Bartlett Real Estate Institute, Andrew Montlake, boss of mortgage broker Coreco and buying agent Henry Pryor for their predictions on where prices will go next. Money ...
Sep 19, 2023•32 min•Transcript available on Metacast We all want to feel properly rewarded for the work we do, but getting a pay rise is a tough nut to crack. How do you even start the conversation? At the recent FT Weekend Festival in London, presenter Claer Barrett put listeners’ questions to Isabel Berwick, host of the FT’s Working It podcast and Jonathan Black, FT columnist and director of the careers advice service at Oxford university. If you want more: FLIC , the FT’s financial literacy charity: https://ftflic.com/ Working It newslett...
Sep 12, 2023•42 min•Transcript available on Metacast Sports betting is a relatively young industry in the US, in effect launching after a 2018 US Supreme Court ruling struck down a federal ban. Before then, those who wanted to gamble on sports legally had to travel to casinos in Nevada, or three other states that were exempt from the ban. Lifting the federal ban has led to a US sports-betting boom. How will regulators respond? It’s a subject that Oliver Barnes, the FT’s leisure industries correspondent, has investigated and he spoke to Brooke Mast...
Sep 05, 2023•22 min•Transcript available on Metacast Last year was one of the worst ever for the bond market. Fast forward to today and many people in finance say that despite the volatility, it is time for investors to get reacquainted with bonds. But what exactly are bonds, how do you go about investing in them and what are the risks? Brooke Masters, the FT’s US financial editor, stands in for Claer Barrett to discuss those questions and more with Edward Al-Hussainy, a senior analyst at Columbia Threadneedle Investments. Want more? Click on thes...
Aug 29, 2023•25 min•Transcript available on Metacast Zero day options are now almost 50 percent of the options market. But what are they? And why would anyone take these bets? Today on the show, host Ethan Wu and Alphaville’s Robin Wigglesworth discuss the latest way to gamble on the markets and address concerns that it all might blow up. Also we go short the Republican debate and long the Bloomberg terminal. For a free 90-day trial to the Unhedged newsletter go to: https://www.ft.com/unhedgedoffer Follow Claer Barret on Twitter and Instagra...
Aug 22, 2023•14 min•Transcript available on Metacast 
