Informed Choice Radio Personal Finance Podcast

My guest today is Benjamin Brandt, all the way from Bismark in North Dakota. He's the host of the popular podcast Retirement Starts Today Radio podcast and blog. Benjamin is a Certified Financial Planner and Founder/President of Capital City Wealth Management. He's also an Iraqi combat veteran having served in the North Dakota Army National Guard for 8 years, including a 15 month deployment to Iraq in 2003. As a retirement planning expert, he's featured in The Huffington Post, CNBC.com, Forbes, Business Insider, ClarkHoward.com, and many others. In this episode, we talk about Benjamin's Retirement-Ready Blueprint, how to choose a suitable retirement age, how to prioritise different goals in later life, and extreme levels of checking with choosing your own financial planner. 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.  

This week on the show, I'm going on a bit of a rant and talking about why you should pay for your own care in later life. This was triggered by some new research from Saga, something a journalist asked me to look at earlier in the week. As an Accredited Later Life Adviser, it's something I think about a lot. Whether you're in retirement or a lot younger, this has so much relevance for you, so do keep listening. Also on the show this week, there's a personal finance news update; everything you need to know about the world of personal finance this week in five carefully selected news items. I share my favourite money article this week, a random fact about money, and leave you feeling inspired with an inspirational personal finance quote. There's also the aftershow, where I talk about what's going on in the world of Informed Choice right now - and why, after recording this episode, I'm jumping in the car to drive down to sunny Folkestone. Personal finance news -It takes earnings of £134,170 a year to be considered 'wealthy', according to new research. -New figures show a record number of taxpayers are paying income tax at the highest rate. -The annual rate of house price growth in the UK is continuing to slow. -The average employee only has enough cash savings to last them for a month if their income suddenly stopped. -Eurozone economies have reported better than expected economic growth in the first quarter. 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.

My guest on the podcast today is Phil Oakley, author of the new book How to Pick Quality Shares. Phil is an investment analyst and private investor. He works for Ionic Information, the makers of the market-leading ShareScope and SharePad software for private investors. Phil spent 13 years as a professional investment analyst, with ten years working for fund managers and stockbrokers in the City. He left the City in 2009 and began writing educational articles for private investors. He was senior investment writer for MoneyWeek for three years before starting his current role. In his new book, How to Pick Quality Shares, Phil provides a three-step process for analysing company financial information to find good investments. This process covers finding quality companies; avoiding dangerous or risky companies; and not paying too much for companies’ shares. By applying the in-depth techniques described in the book, investors will have a fuller understanding of how companies really work, and will develop an edge over other investors, including professional investors and analysts. In this episode of Informed Choice Radio, I talk to Phil about what investors should be looking for, what are the warning signs that might be particularly risky or even dangerous for an investor and much more. 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.

My guest on Informed Choice Radio today is Chris Rowland Thomas. Chris has been an accountant in public practice for over thirty years. He founded his own firm the day after he qualified and is now the senior partner of Thomas Harris Chartered Accountants. Based in South London, his firm numbers amongst its clients many celebrities, musicians and actors as well as ordinary businesses and self-employed individuals. Last year his firm was voted ‘Best Celebrity Tax Advisors’ in the AI Tax Awards. His new book is Your Accountant: The Good, The Bad and the Greedy. This is a must read for anyone who wants to understand how to make your accountant work for his or her money In the book, Chris shares insider knowledge about the way accountants work – and what it means for you. This book is on the one hand a guide to squeezing every last drop of wisdom and expert advice out of your accountant and on the other a daring exposé of the closed professional world which has served none better than the practitioners themselves. In this episode of Informed Choice Radio, I talk to Chris about saving on fees and minimising your tax bill without paying eye-watering sums for accountancy advice. Chris shares practical tips on choosing the right accountant and also on becoming a preferred client, so you get the best possible service from your professional adviser. 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.

Martin is on holiday this week so hands podcast hosting duties across to Nick for this episode. Nick shares the latest personal finance news before inviting Shelley into the studio to talk all about inheritance tax planning. To book a free seat at one of our two inheritance tax planning seminars in Cranleigh on Thursday 22nd June, visit icfp.co.uk/seminar. Personal finance news -Tens of thousands of expat pensioners may return to the UK to use the NHS after Brexit. -Small firms have been hit by rates relief delay. -The value of the pound dropped after a projection suggested the Conservatives could fail to win an outright majority in the election on 8 June. -Higher inflation is driving down real wages for British workers. -BT are considering closing their defined-benefit pensions scheme for existing staff. 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.

What's avocado toast got to do with being able to afford your first home? If you're part of the millennial generation, born between the early 1980s and mid 1990s, you're probably finding things tough, financially at least. Massive student debts, unrealistic house prices and no more jobs for life. And now you're being told by an Australian property millionaire that spending too much money on avocado toast is the reason for all of your financial troubles!  My guest on the podcast today is Erin Lowry, author of the new book Broke Millennial. Erin helps millennials get their financial life together through her blog, book, lectures, and workshops.  She doesn't do preaching and finger-wagging, but does offer plenty of practical advice so the millennial generation can navigate the pesky (but important) money questions they face. Erin wants you to stop living paycheck to paycheck and Get Your Financial Life Together (#GYFLT)! If you’re a cash-strapped 20- or 30-something, my conversation with Erin is a must listen. She knows it’s easy to get freaked out by your personal finances. But Erin's message is simple; you’re not doomed to spend your life drowning in debt or mystified by money.  In her new book Broke Millennial, Erin shows step-by-step how to go from flat-broke to financial badass. Unlike most personal finance books out there, it doesn’t just cover boring stuff like credit card debt, investing, and dealing with the dreaded “B” word (budgeting).  Instead, financial expert Erin goes beyond the basics to tackle tricky money matters and situations most of us face in real life, including understanding your relationship with money, managing student loans without having a full-on panic attack, and how to get “financially naked” with your partner and find out his or her “number”.

Today on the show I'm joined by Gervais Williams, author of The Retreat of Globalisation. Gervais Williams is an award-winning equity fund manager. As a professional investor, he has exceptional credentials. He received numerous awards for his fund management, including being named What Investment's Fund Manager of the Year 2014. Gervais is a respected commentator on prospective market trends. He outlined his controversial views in his book Slow Finance in 2011 and developed those ideas in 2014's The Future is Small. In his latest book The Retreat of Globalisation, Gervais outlines why we are entering a period when the culture of financial markets will change more in three years than it has in the last 30. This episode of Informed Choice Radio is a must listen for anyone who needs to understand these developing investment themes so they can position their portfolio to take advantage of the changes. Welcome to The Retreat of Globalisation, with Gervais Williams in episode 221 of Informed Choice Radio. 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.

This week on the show, ahead of the general election on 8th June, I'm talking about what the political party manifestos mean for your money. I take a closer look at pledges for the state pension, adult social care, house building and income tax. Personal finance news -The Serious Fraud Office has launched an investigation into a series of pension liberation scams. -The number of UK property sales fell significantly during April, suggesting a slowdown in the market. -UK economic growth has been revised down for the first quarter, with the services sector losing momentum. -Levels of house building in England have reached their highest level in a decade. -People over pension age are the fastest growing group of cohabitees, according to new analysis by Royal London. 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.

My guest today is John Adams, founder of Dad Blog UK. John is a married father of two girls, dad blogger and vlogger. Back in 2011, John and his wife took the decision he should give up his career in communications to become a stay at home father, a role he fulfils to this day. As a result, he does most of the household management and the majority of the childcare. John started blogging about his experiences as a stay at home dad back in 2012. More recently, he's branched out into vlogging too. Dad Blog UK was winner of the Vuelio Blog Awards 2016 ‘Best UK Dad Blog’. He's had numerous appearances in the Times newspaper plus live interviews with BBC Breakfast, Channel 4 television news and the Victoria Derbyshire programme. In this episode of Informed Choice Radio, John and I chat about the life of a stay at home dad, and discuss personal financial planning from the perspective of a parent. This one is for any dads or mums out there, who want to get a better understanding of some of the issues they face around money, children and family. Welcome to Dad Blog UK, with John Adams in episode 219 of Informed Choice Radio. 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.  

My guest today is Greg Davies, a specialist in applied decision science and behavioural finance. Greg specialises in turning academic insight into practical applications. With a prior background in academia and consulting, in 2006 Greg started, and for a decade led, the banking world’s first behavioural finance team as Head of Behavioural-Quant Finance at Barclays. He holds a PhD in Behavioural Decision Theory from Cambridge; is an Associate Fellow at Oxford’s Saïd Business School; a lecturer at Imperial College London; and author of Behavioral Investment Management. At Centapse, Greg specialises in improving outcomes by helping people make better decisions. He takes the insights of behavioural economics and builds them into an organization’s systems, analytics, processes, propositions, and products. Listen to this episode of Informed Choice Radio to better understand the biases which influence our decision making, the different investment personality types, how robo-advisers could save us from our human behaviours, and much more. Welcome to Making Better Decisions, with Greg Davies in episode 218 of Informed Choice Radio. 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.