Informed Choice Radio Personal Finance Podcast

In this episode of the podcast, I'm talking about Enterprise Investment Schemes, before sharing an interview with the founders of Well&Truly, an exciting new British business that has benefited from EIS funding. Enterprise Investment Schemes are topical at the moment after an announcement about them in the Budget last week. What is an EIS? How does it work? Who is it suitable for?

My guest on the podcast today is Dr Christin ter Braak-Forstinger, author of the new book Conscious Investing. Dr Christin ter Braak-Forstinger is the founder of PVA Advisory and the co-founder of Chi Impact Capital. She has a longstanding and professional track record in the area of strategic philanthropy- and impact investing advisory. Christin completed her postgraduate studies at Duke Law School and at Harvard Law School. Her dissertation and her master’s thesis received several awards. Conscious investors are part of a growing movement who believe they can do better things with their money when they deeply connect with their money and when they allow themselves to see the big picture: namely, the wider systemic impact that their investment decisions entail. Conscious investing enlarges the picture beyond the intention to create a positive social and environmental impact, next to achieving a financial return, and brings a systemic view to the investor. It is described as both a state of awareness as well as a holistic form of impactful investing. Here’s my conversation with Dr Christin ter Braak-Forstinger, author of Conscious Investing, in episode 286 of Informed Choice Radio.

Today on show, we're getting to grips with the Budget. It was Chancellor Philip Hammond's first autumn Budget on Wednesday, always an exciting day in the world of personal finance, and today we're going to take a closer look at some of the key Budget measures.

My guest on the podcast today is Paul Riseborough, Chief Commercial Officer of Metro Bank and co-author of Naked Banking: The Truth About Banks and You. We all depend on banks. They help us save and they help us spend. Yet for many they represent everything that's wrong with the world of finance. Poor service, high fees, creaking IT infrastructure and a market controlled by just a few providers have combined in recent years to create a personal banking crisis every bit as severe as the global financial crisis. How have things got so bad? Why are banks unable to balance providing good customer service with making a profit? And what can we do to protect ourselves from the tricks banks play to part us with our hard-earned money? Paul Riseborough is co-author of a new book, Naked Banking, that reveals why banks do the things they do. Most importantly, by sharing these insider secrets, Paul and his fellow authors allow us to make better choices in our dealings with banks. Here's my conversation with Paul Riseborough, Chief Commercial Officer of Metro Bank and author of Naked Banking, in episode 284 of Informed Choice Radio.

It's Financial Capability Week and, in this episode, we're talking about improving your financial capability. Fincap Week is an annual event which takes place in mid-November (this year between 13th and 19th November 2017). Fincap Week celebrates, showcases and amplifies the work underway to improve financial capability and ultimately to improve financial wellbeing. The week is organised as part of the Financial Capability Strategy for the UK and aims to get more people talking about money. In this episode, Andy and I chat about whether we need to think differently about financial capability at different stages of our lives, why financial capability for children is particularly important, how to change financial habits in retirement, and the best resources for improving your financial capability.

Dorie Clark is a marketing strategy consultant, professional speaker, and frequent contributor to the Harvard Business Review. Recognized as a “branding expert” by the Associated Press, Fortune, and Inc. magazine, she is the author of Entrepreneurial You, Reinventing You, and Stand Out, which was named the #1 Leadership Book of 2015 by Inc. magazine and one of the Top 10 Business Books of the Year by Forbes. It was also a Washington Post bestseller. Dorie’s latest book is Entrepreneurial You, which provides a blueprint for professional independence, with insights and advice on building your brand, monetizing your expertise, and extending your reach and impact online. In short, engaging chapters, she outlines the necessary elements and concrete tactics for entrepreneurial success. She shares the stories of entrepreneurs of all kinds—from consultants and coaches to podcasters, bloggers, and online marketers—who have generated six- and seven-figure incomes. Here’s my conversation with Dorie Clark, author of Entrepreneurial You, in episode 282 of Informed Choice Radio.

Earlier this week I spent two days hosting Festival Radio at the Personal Finance Society Festival of Financial Planning. The event at Birmingham NEC was the largest financial planning conference ever in the UK, with 3,300 delegates, 75 speakers and 100 exhibitors. In this special episode of Informed Choice Radio, I share highlights from some of the the 39 interviews we recorded at the Festival, including conversations with Sir Vince Cable about Brexit, Baroness Ros Altmann on state pension inequality for 1950s born women, and Sir Steve Webb on pension freedom success.

Today on the show, I'm joined by Neala Okuromade. Neala is known for her passion aimed at personal finance. She's the author of the book What’s Your Financial Gameplan? which deals with personal finance issues, founded on a long fascination for implementing practical solutions to everyday money problems. With over fourteen years’ experience in accounting, Neala is a member of the ‘Association of Certified Chartered Accountants’ during which time she has managed finance departments. Neala is passionate about empowering the everyday person to make a success of their personal finances, especially in today’s tough and chaotic economic climate. An avid studier of world financial news, economics and investing for many years, Neala now wants to take what she has studied, learnt and practised, and simplify it for anyone who thinks anything financial is too complicated and impossible to understand. Here's my conversation with Neala Okuromade, author of What's your Financial Game Plan?, in episode 280 of Informed Choice Radio.

This week we're looking at the interest rate rise - interest rates in the UK doubled this week, from 0.25% to 0.5%. Is this the start of a trend towards higher interest rates? Did it come too soon for the fragile economy? What does it mean if you're a borrower or a saver?

Today on the show, I'm joined by Nicole Yershon, who knows a thing or two about disruption. Nicole is a maverick, inspiration and the original rough diamond. She's a consultant, speaker, judge, mentor and connector. Nicole works on the front line of innovation - bringing organisations kicking and screaming into the 21st Century. In that sense she properly defines disruption. Her new book is Rough Diamond: Turning Disruption Into Advantage in Business and Life. According to Nicole, in life you are most likely to regret that you didn’t do more of what you love. Her book puts you on notice. Nicole says you have it within your power to do more and be more, and she's going to give you the tools to start. It's all about being the statistical anomaly - the Rough Diamond - who shines bright, even if unpolished, and savors each day for the opportunity it presents to innovate, connect and disrupt the status quo. Here's my conversation with Nicole Yershon, author of Rough Diamond, in episode 278 of Informed Choice Radio.