Informed Choice Radio Personal Finance Podcast

In this episode of Talking Money from Informed Choice Radio; an indication that the house price boom might be over; TikTok influencers talking utter rubbish about trading stocks; and the closure of more local bank branches. Welcome to episode 6 of Talking Money, with Martin Bamford and Hannah Godfrey. In each episode of Talking Money, we take a topical look at the big money stories of the week, putting our personal spin on the news. Property prices appear to be in decline, after property portal Rightmove reported a drop in asking prices. Between 6th December and 9th January, the asking prices for flats and houses listed for sale were 0.9% lower than a month earlier. The fall in asking prices means that the annual measure of growth fell from 6.6% to 3.3%. Social media platform TikTok is home to some highly entertaining but also quite scary investment influencers. The Twitter account @tiktokinvestors highlights some ridiculous examples of terrible investment advice, which Martin and Hannah discuss in this episode. Banking giant HSBC has announced plans to close another 82 branches this year. With a new report from consumer group Which? suggesting a further decline in cash accessibility, is this the end of cash as we know it?

Welcome to episode 4 of Talking Money, with Martin Bamford and Hannah Godfrey. In each episode of Talking Money, we take a topical look at the big money stories of the week, putting our personal spin on the news. Funeral costs have risen again in the past year, now up nearly 40% in a decade. We talk about the latest Cost of Dying report from insurer SunLife and why death needs to be less of a taboo topic. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has issued as strong warning to anyone investing in crypto assets, including Bitcoin; you could lose everything! While some have managed to save money and repay debt during the pandemic, it has been a challenging experience for many others. In their Pandemic Pressures report, the Resolution Foundation looked at the different financial pressures caused by the lockdown.

Welcome to episode 4 of Talking Money, with Martin Bamford and Hannah Godfrey. In each episode of Talking Money, we take a topical look at the big money stories of the week, putting our personal spin on the news. Nigel Farage has launched a subscription newsletter service, calling it Britain’s Great Wealth Revival. But what red flags should you look out for before signing up? At the time of recording this episode, the UK and EU still don’t have a trade deal for the end of the transition period. Martin and Hannah come from opposite sides of the Brexit debate, but they agree that starting 2021 without a trade deal is bad news for our money. We’ve heard this week that some sectors risk the double-whammy of redundancies due to the pandemic and losing jobs as automation becomes more widespread. What will machine learning, artificial intelligence and automation mean for the way in which we lead our lives in the future?

What does an international tax lawyer think about the introduction of a one-off wealth tax in the UK? The Wealth Tax Commission has published proposals to bring in the tax as a way to balance the public books following the coronavirus crisis. Marilyn McKeever is a partner at BDB Pitmans in their private wealth team, specialising in international and UK tax planning. She works primarily with international individuals and families, and in this episode of Informed Choice Radio, explains how a one-off wealth tax might work in the UK. Here's my conversation with Marilyn McKeever in episode 524 of Informed Choice Radio.

With V-Day this week and the start of a mass vaccination programme to bring the coronavirus under control, what do 'covid cards' mean for your rights to work, travel or enjoy a drink in the pub? We also chat about plans to ban younger players from the National Lottery, as part of a broader reform of gambling legislations. And will the mysterious metal monoliths appearing across the world turn out to be a PR campaign? We look at attitudes towards brands based on their behaviour during the pandemic.

What do people think about the rich? While the study of stereotypes and prejudices directed at women, people of various races or nationalities, and even the poor are well documented, there has only been sporadic research into stereotypes about the rich. There are various examples throughout the 20th century of deadly persecution directed at wealthy groups. My guest on the podcast today is historian and sociologist Dr Rainer Zitelmann. In his new book, The Rich in Public Opinion: What We Think When We Think about Wealth, Rainer examines attitudes about wealth and the wealthy in four industrialized Western countries: Germany, the United States, France, and Great Britain. His book includes never-before-seen data commissioned by the polling firm Ipsos MORI and from the Allensbach Institute, which conducted identical surveys of residents of four countries regarding various aspects of their attitudes toward wealth. People often admire the wealthy, but Zitelmann shows that people can also envy them, which can sometimes become toxic and even put lives at risk. Here’s my conversation with Dr Rainer Zitelmann, author of The Rich in Public Opinion, in episode 522 of Informed Choice Radio.

Welcome to episode 2 of Talking Money, with Martin Bamford and Hannah Godfrey. In each episode of Talking Money, we take a topical look at the big money stories of the week, putting our personal spin on the news. This week, we look at the collapse of Arcadia and Debenhams; what it means for the High Street, employees and pension funds. We also chat about electric vehicles, with new research suggesting that a third of people believe they will never be able to afford to buy a new or used electric car. Finally, we end on an optimistic note, talking about the regulatory approval of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, which will start to be administered as early as next week. But what does it mean for the markets and the economy?

The number of trusts in use across the UK appears to be in decline. With tougher tax rules and more reporting requirements, is there still a role to play for these legal instruments? My guest on the podcast today is Emily Taylor, Partner at BDB Pitmans. Emily specialises in tax planning, trusts, estate administration and drafting of wills and powers of attorney. She has a wealth of experience dealing with a wide range of private client matters in particular high net worth estates including those with foreign property. She also deals with Court of Protection matters and is a Court Appointed Deputy with clients all over the UK. In this conversation, we go back to basics and explain what a trust is, before Emily explains why the number of trusts in the UK is in decline, why trusts sometimes receive negative coverage, and why they continue to play a valuable role. We also discuss mental capacity, and why a Lasting Power of Attorney is more important now than ever. Here’s my conversation with Emily Taylor, Partner at BDB Pitmans, in episode 520 of Informed Choice Radio.

Welcome to Talking Money from Informed Choice Radio. In this new Friday format for the podcast, I’m joined by Hannah Godfrey, an experienced freelance finance journalist and reporter at City AM. Coming up in this episode of Talking Money: London Mayor Sadiq Khan has spoken about an ‘existential threat’ to central London, as city-workers start a mass exodus from the capital, in favour of living and working in the suburbs. It’s Black Friday today. New research from consumer group Which? has found that nearly nine in 10 Black Friday products were the same price or cheaper at some point during the past year. How can you get a good deal from Black Friday? We also chat about sinking UK consumer morale, falling to a 6-month low in November. What would you like to hear about in future episodes of Talking Money? Get in touch with your suggestions. In each episode of Talking Money, we plan to take a topical look at the big money stories of the week, putting our personal spin on the news.

FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early) is a ‘game of optimisation’. That’s according to my guest today, Logan Leckie, who is developing an app designed to aid in that FIRE optimisation process. Topia is the UK’s long-awaited answer to popular US personal finance apps, with the intention of simplifying the metrics that sit behind the FIRE movement. In this conversation with Logan, we go back to basics to talk about what the FIRE movement really means, before talking about the ‘three levers’ we all need to optimise to accelerate our savings rate, and then how the Topia app is designed to aid in that process. Here’s my conversation with Logan Leckie, founder of the Topia app, in episode 518 of Informed Choice Radio.