Informed Choice Radio Personal Finance Podcast

This week on the show, I'm talking about lifelogging and what it means for your money. Wikipedia defines lifelogging as a movement to incorporate technology into data acquisition on aspects of a person's daily life in terms of inputs (food consumed, quality of surrounding air), states (mood, arousal, blood oxygen levels), and performance, whether mental or physical. In short, lifelogging or quantified self is self-knowledge through self-tracking with technology. But what does this approach to personal technology mean for your relationship with money? In this episode I talk about some of the lifelogging tools I'm using to monitor and improve my health and fitness, before talking about an interesting (and painful!) new tool which could be revolutionary when it comes to managing our money-related behaviour. There’s also a roundup of the latest personal finance news headlines and an update on the world of Informed Choice this week.   Personal finance news -The UK economy could be put at risk due to a sharp rise in personal loans. The Bank of England has warned about rising car loans, credit card balance transfers and personal loans, which have risen by 10% in the past year. -If you've got any old £1 coins left in your purse or wallet, you've got less than three months left to spend them. According to the Treasury, there are now more of the new 12-sided £1 coins in circulation than the old circular version. -Thousands of people have paid too much tax when withdrawing money from their pensions. HMRC's latest Pension Schemes Newsletter reveals that in just three months it has had to repay over £25m in excess income tax taken from savers on pension funds withdrawn using ‘pension freedoms’. -BMW Group has announced that a battery-electric Mini will go into production in 2019 at the company’s factory in Oxford. The electric drivetrain for the new electric Mini will be built in Bavaria before being integrated into the car at Plant Oxford, BMW's main production location for the MINI 3-door Hatch. -Estate agents are suffering as a result of a slowing housing market. Foxtons reported profits falling by 64% in the first half of the year and Countrywide reported a 98% fall in profits, saying they would not pay a dividend to investors.

My guest on the show today specialises in helping people craft their life after age 50. George Schofield, Ph.D., is an author, speaker, and developmental/organizational psychologist who advises clients on retirement and career planning. He's author of the new book How Do I Get There from Here?: Planning for Retirement When the Old Rules No Longer Apply. Our conversation today is all about how retirement has changed and what we need to do to craft a meaningful life after age 50. We used to all know what retirement meant. It used to be pretty simple. Work until 65, 'retire', and then coast through your golden years with a comfortable nest egg to fund your lifestyle. But longer lives have changed everything. It's common these days to live until 90, or older. It's harder than ever before to save for the future. The concept of a 'job for life' is gone and employer pension schemes are less generous than before.  George believes the changes ahead require an incremental approach to planning—and you better begin now. In How Do I Get There From Here, George explains why the new After 50 Lifestyle calls for more than money: it demands conscious engagement, diverse interests, and the ability to adapt.  His book helps you plot your direction for the coming decades.  The first step is to acknowledge where you are—reviewing your assets, both the tangible (e.g. finances, health, relationships) and intangible (e.g. unfulfilled ambitions and new intentions). Then self-reflective questions and exercises walk you through imagining your future, identifying skills you'll need, and preparing for inevitable twists and turns along the way. Here's my conversation with George Schofield, author of How Do I Get There from Here?: Planning for Retirement When the Old Rules No Longer Apply, in episode 246 of Informed Choice Radio.

My guest on the show today is an absolute giant in the world of consulting and public speaking. Alan Weiss is one of those rare people who can say he’s a consultant, speaker, and author and mean it. His consulting firm, Summit Consulting Group, Inc., has attracted clients such as Hewlett-Packard, Mercedes-Benz, The Federal Reserve, The New York Times Corporation, Toyota, and over 500 other leading organizations. His new book, co-authored with Marshall Goldsmith, is Lifestorming: Creating Meaning and Achievement in Your Career and Life. Lifestorming is an indispensable and practical handbook for becoming the person you want to be. Read the book to redesign your life, friends, behaviors, and beliefs to move closer to your goals every single day, guided by expert insight and deep introspection. Here’s my conversation with Alan Weiss, the rock star of consulting and co-author of Lifestorming, in episode 245 of Informed Choice Radio.

Today on the show, jumping ship. Why, when and how to make those big financial changes in your life. I'll be talking about the big financial decisions, why you need to make then, when the right time is, and how you can approach them for the best chance of success. If you’re new here, welcome to the show! I’m Martin Bamford, your host for this podcast. I'm a Chartered Financial Planner, Chartered Wealth Manager and personal finance author. This is a podcast from Informed Choice, an award-winning firm of Chartered Financial Planners in Cranleigh, Surrey. Here at Informed Choice, we help you achieve your financial goals in life and make those important decisions with confidence. That’s what this podcast, Informed Choice Radio, is all about. You can find out more about the podcast, listen to our entire back catalogue of episodes, and find the show notes for this episode at icradio.co.uk.

My guest on the show today is Iona Bain. Iona is a young journalist and broadcaster who writes for the Glasgow Herald, the Daily Mail, Investazine, the Independent and the Sunday Times. In 2011 she established Iona's Young Money Blog, the first of its kind in the UK. Nominated as a rising industry star in 2014, she also writes a column the trade industry bible Financial Adviser. She has appeared on BBC Scotland, the Radio 1 Surgery Show, Channel 4 News and the Max Keiser Show and co-hosts the Young Money Show on Share Radio station. Her book Spare Change shows that anyone can have a more fulfilling approach to money regardless of personality, background or income. This inspirational yet down-to-earth book helps readers to take control and get the most out of their finances from the practical advice on how to save and tips on how to make your money go further to dealing with socialising on a budget. Iona helps readers to work out their own personal relationship with money then helps them to formulate an action plan tailored to their own personal needs. It's the perfect handbook for the compulsive spender budget-phobe or just anyone who wants to improve their financial savviness. Iona's message is simple; it’s never too late to clean up your finances! Spare Change is the culmination of Iona's deep thinking and extensive experiences of common financial issues facing her generation. In this episode, we dive into some of the big money issues facing younger people today. Here's my conversation with Iona Bain, author of Spare Change, in episode 243 of Informed Choice Radio.

My guest for this episode is Michelle Lowbridge, author of the new book, Wealthology: The Science of Smashing Money Blocks. Michelle is also known as The Energy Editor. She's one of the most sought-after teachers and healers in Europe.  She works with entrepreneurs to quickly identify the money blocks that are stopping them from unleashing their superpower, then smashes them, using her powerful Wealthology system. Her clients release lifelong patterns, and multiply their income as a result.  Wealthology is an essential read for anyone who wants to smash through the money blocks that are holding them back from reaching their full potential. The Wealthology system allows readers to quickly identify how they relate to money - their Wealthology Profile - and the exact places to find their money blocks - the Wealthology Themes.  Readers can cross reference their profile with each money block theme and have a complete guide to how, why and where they're blocking money, and what to do about it.  Here's my conversation with Michelle Lowbridge, author of Wealthology, in episode 242 of Informed Choice Radio.

I hate to break this to you, but you're going to die at some point. This week on the show, I'm talking about how to prepare for the end of your life. This one is for you regardless of your age, health or how close to the end of your life you think you might be. There is something in this episode for everyone. What are the main financial things to consider when planning for the end?

Hello and welcome to Informed Choice Radio. My guest for this episode is Irene Aldridge, author of the new book Real-Time Risk: What Investors Should Know About Fintech, High-Frequency Trading, and Flash Crashes. Irene is managing director and quantitative portfolio manager at ABLE Alpha Trading and president of ABLE Markets. She's a frequent speaker at top industry events and a contributor to academic, practitioner, and mainstream media publications, including the Journal of Trading, Futures magazine, Reuters HedgeWorld, Advanced Trading, FX Week, Dealing With Technology, and Huffington Post. Real-Time Risk is the first book to show regular, institutional, and quantitative investors how to navigate intraday threats and stay on-course. The FinTech revolution has brought massive changes to the way investing is done. Trading happens in microsecond time frames, and while risks are emerging faster and in greater volume than ever before, traditional risk management approaches are too slow to be relevant. The book describes market microstructure and modern risks, and presents a new way of thinking about risk management in today's high-speed world. The discussion dissects FinTech innovation to highlight the ongoing disruption, and to establish a toolkit of approaches for analyzing flash crashes, aggressive high frequency trading, and other specific aspects of the market. Please take a moment to say thank you to Irene on Twitter, and let her know you heard her right here on Informed Choice Radio. You can find Irene on Twitter @irenealdridge. Mention me too, @martinbamford. You can find the show notes for this episode at icradio.co.uk/flashcrash. There's useful links and you can also download the full episode transcript. That's all at icradio.co.uk/flashcrash. Here's my conversation with Irene Aldridge, in episode 240 of Informed Choice Radio.

Today on the show, I'm joined by Elle Martinez. Elle is the creator and award-winning blogger behind Couple Money, a site and podcast dedicated to helping spouses build their marriage and wealth together.  Each week she interviews financial experts and real-life couples who've achieved impressive financial goals like becoming debt free, starting a business, and retiring early.  Through her podcast, she finds patterns and habits that help couples become successful.  In addition to Couple Money, Elle has been a contributing writer to such major media platforms as Business Insider, TurboTax, Entrepreneur, Lending Tree, and many more.  In her debut book Jumpstart Your Marriage & Your Money, Elle shares her four-week plan to help couples stop worrying about money and start building wealth together.  The book helps couples build open and honest communication and get started on the path to financial freedom. By combining personal stories as well as lessons learned from interviewing hundreds of successful couples, Elle shows just how "personal" finance can be, and teaches you how to live a simpler, more stress-free life. Here's my conversation with Elle Martinez, in episode 239 of Informed Choice Radio.

This week on the show, I'm talking about dealing with 5 common financial regrets.  I was prompted to talk about this after seeing a new survey from Bankrate in the US. Apparently 73% of people there have financial regrets. So what are these regrets? Why do we have them? Most importantly, what can we do about them? Personal finance news -Student debts are on the rise, with gradates in England due to have average debts of £50,800. New figures from the Institute of Fiscal Studies warn of the higher debts following a rise in student loans interest rates to 6.1%.  -Homeowners are making a 'costly mistake' by ignoring the small print when they remortgage, according to Moneyfacts. They found the average fee charge on a fixed-rate mortgage is now more than £1,000.  -Over 50s are being continually ignored by brands, in favour of younger consumers. This is despite being the most powerful consumer group, contributing almost £120bn to the UK economy last year.  -Fraud is the most commonly experienced crime in England and Wales and most happens online. According to the National Audit Office, the Home Office’s response to tackling complex online fraud is not proportionate to the threat.  -Disposable incomes are falling at their steepest rate since 2011, according to the latest official figures. The ONS reported that income after tax and benefits fell by 2% during the first quarter of 2017, comparable to the first quarter last year.  Get answers to your personal finance questions Do you have a personal finance or investing question for Martin? Email martin@icfp.co.uk or ask on Twitter @martinbamford. You can call our dedicated podcast voicemail line on 020 8144 2745 with your question or visit www.icradio.co.uk/voicemail to leave an online voice message.