Informed Choice Radio Personal Finance Podcast

They f*** you up, your mum and dad. They may not mean to, but they do. They fill you with the faults they had And add some extra, just for you. Philip Larkin there, pointing out that lessons from our parents often mess with our minds. But what about the things our mums and dads teach us, either purposefully or by accident, about money? How do our earliest childhood memories influence our attitudes towards personal finance? In this episode, your earliest childhood money memories and how they affect your life.

In the first episode of her "Bad With Money" podcast, my guest asked patrons at a coffee shop two questions: First, what's your favorite sex position? Everyone was game to answer, even the barista. Then, she asked how much money was in their bank accounts. People were aghast. "That's a very personal question," they insisted. And therein lies the problem. Gaby Dunn argues that our inability to speak honestly about money is our number one barrier to understanding it, leading us to feel alone, ashamed and anxious, which in turns makes us feel even more overwhelmed by it. In her new book, Bad With Money, Gaby reveals the legitimate, systemic reasons behind our feeling of helplessness when it comes to personal finance, demystifying the many signposts on the road to getting our financial sh*t together, like how to choose an insurance plan or buy a car, sign up for a credit card or take out student loans. Gaby is a bestselling author, journalist, television writer, actress, and LGBTQ activist living in Los Angeles. Her podcast "Bad With Money" was named one of the top ten podcasts of 2016 by The New York Times. Along with her comedy partner Allison Raskin, Gaby stars in, writes, and produces the YouTube channel Just Between Us, which has been viewed over 140 million times. Here's my conversation with Gaby Dunn, author and presenter of Bad With Money, in episode 456 of Informed Choice Radio.

In my nearly twenty years working in the financial planning sector, I've noticed something that goes against most conventional wisdom. The wealthiest people don't tend to look rich. From living in modest homes to driving older cars, even the way they dress, there's a huge difference between being rich and looking rich. In this episode, a simple question; do you want to look rich or be rich?

What are the top legal issues is to consider as you get older? My guest on the podcast today has a particular interest in mental capacity law, elderly financial abuse matters, and the Court of Protection. Kelly Greig is one of only 68 solicitors nationwide elected to the Office of the Public Guardian’s national panel of professional deputies. In this role, she works with people who lack the ability to make decisions about their finances. Kelly's cases typically need bespoke arrangements or remedies to meet a client’s particular needs. This can involve tax or trust advice, or setting up and managing medical or care support for someone who’s unable to manage their own affairs. As head of Irwin Mitchell’s Later Life Planning team, she leads on the ways their solicitors can help people in all aspects of later life. This includes silver divorces, estate planning, will disputes, and more. In this episode, we chat about why later life issues have become a bigger focus in law in recent years, the protections in place to ensure an attorney acts in line with your best interests, what happens when you fail to put a lasting power of attorney in place, and much more. Here's my conversation with Kelly Greig, head of later life planning at Irwin Mitchell Solicitors, in episode 454 of Informed Choice Radio.

Let's be honest; interest rates on cash savings are rubbish. Ever since the global financial crisis, when the Bank of England and other central banks slashed interest rates to prevent the world economy from going over a cliff edge, savers have been penalised. Low interest rates are even worse when price inflation is taking into account. And if you're a first-time buyer, the challenge of saving for a big deposit is made even harder by the pitiful returns you get on your cash savings. In this episode, I chat with Ewan Edwards, Director of Savings at Aldermore Bank, to learn more about this low interest rate environment, how we can get the best returns on our cash, and what first-time buyers can do to take advantage of a government bonus; the window for this is closing at the end of November, by the way, so you will need to act quickly.

Are you happy? Is there more to life than this? What if there is another way? My guest today had something of a mid-life crisis shortly before his 40th birthday, quit his job, read a load of books, and became a practitioner of the growing FIRE movement. David Sawyer is author of RESET: How to Restart Your Life and Get F.U. Money. He's a United Nations award-winning PR man and 2:40 marathoner, who admits he's not a guru when it comes to money matters. He is, however, a middle-aged family guy who woke up one day wondering, "is there another way?" In this episode, I chat to Dave about the consequences of lifestyle creep, the important difference between pleasure and happiness, why living efficiently is one of seven keys to a wealthier life, and the 'stash maths' that are driving his family towards an early retirement. We also cover the 'bollocks spending' that leaves many of us working for years longer than necessary. Here's my conversation with David Sawyer, author of RESET, in episode 452 of Informed Choice Radio.

It's entirely reasonable to assume that things will go wrong from time to time. Things will go wrong in your life, your business, and within your investment portfolio. When a crisis lands, what matters most is how you respond. My guest today is Frank Supovitz, THE man behind the scenes at major events including the Super Bowl, Stanley Cup and Indy 500. As Senior Vice President of Events for the National Football League, Frank oversaw the meteoric growth of the Super Bowl, Pro Bowl and NFL Draft. He's one of only four people to have been in charge of the Super Bowl in its 50-year history. Frank is author of What to Do When Things Go Wrong, where he guides readers through the process of making sure you handle inevitable problems as if it's something you do day in and day out. This conversation is all about thinking through and preparing for all potential problems. Because things will go wrong; it's our preparation and response when that happens that makes all of the difference. Here's my conversation with Frank Supovitz, author of What to Do When Things Go Wrong, in episode 451 of Informed Choice Radio.

Investment liquidity is a topic that's regularly on the mind of investors, more so recently with the high profile and ongoing suspension of Woodford Equity Income. But what is liquidity and why does it matter when you're investing money? In this episode, an assessment of the investment portfolios we recommend to clients at Informed Choice, from a liquidity perspective, and how you can better understand the liquidity within your own investment and pension portfolios.

I'm passionate about financial education. As father to three school age children and husband to a primary school teacher, I get to see this subject from the parenting and teaching perspective. My guest today is Gary Edwards, founder of Keep on Squirrelling, a subsidiary of True Living, whose overall mission is to 'reduce the pain and stress in people's lives and make a difference for love'. Gary's vision is to be the leading inspiration for improving children's financial education. It's an important mission. Money problems in adulthood can result in stress, divorce, and even suicide. By equipping children with the knowledge and tools they need to make better financial decisions, Gary and his team are changing young lives, for the better. You can find useful links for this episode in the show notes at icradio.co.uk. Here's Gary Edwards, founder of Keep on Squirrelling, in episode 449 of Informed Choice Radio.

In this episode of the podcast, I'm talking about a bunch of self-entitled, fortunate, some would say selfish people. That's right, we're discussing the post-war baby boomers. But the data I'm looking at doesn't back up a lot of the popular narrative we hear about this generation. In fact, stay tuned to discover why we might have got it all wrong about the baby boomers.