Informed Choice Radio Personal Finance Podcast

As a nation, we are notoriously secretive about our money. Yet, while the Covid-19 pandemic is causing financial uncertainty for many of us, it is better to build resilience now by opening up to someone about money worries, to help us cope better with what the future may throw at us. My guest on the podcast today is Sarah Porretta, Strategy and Insights Director at The Money and Pensions Service (MaPS). Prior to MaPS, Sarah was Head of Financial Inclusion and Education at Lloyds Banking Group, where she created a group-wide, multi-brand strategy for financial inclusion and education. During this time, she also chaired UK Finance’s Financial Inclusion and Capability Forum. In this episode, we chat about new research which found that 30% of people say their other half does not know how much their annual income is. In fact, 38% of us stay completely silent about money worries because of embarrassment or fear of being judged. Here's my conversation with Sarah Porretta, Strategy and Insights Director at The Money and Pensions Service, in episode 517 of Informed Choice Radio.

One feature of the Covid-19 pandemic is a huge shift towards working from home. With government advice to work from home if you can, millions of people are facing this reality for the first time. But what are some of the challenges associated with remote and flexible working? My guest on the podcast today is Karen Mangia, author of Working from Home: Making the New Normal Work for You. As a member of the leadership team at Salesforce, Karen has played a pivotal role in creating technology-enabled, virtual experiences and insights. We know that offices are carefully planned work environments, that emphasise focus and productivity. But what happens when you’re trying to get work done at home when the kids are off school and the dog is barking? And what happens when you take working from home to the next extreme and decide to relocate to a different part of the country, or to a different part of the world, to secure an even better work-life balance? Here’s my conversation with Karen Mangia, author of Working from Home, in episode 516 of Informed Choice Radio.

Have you ever thought about building a legacy? Maybe you’ve wanted to start your legacy but don’t know where to start. My guest on the podcast today is Samuel Knickerbocker, author of Fuel Your Legacy: 9-Pillars to Build a Meaningful Legacy. Sam specialises in 21st-century financial strategies which are focused on helping you establish a legacy of meaning. Because, as you will hear in our conversation today, your legacy is not dependent on your wealth. Sam grew up in poverty, his family relying on government and church aid. Despite earning good money from a young age, it was a change in his mindset that allowed a fundamental shift from poverty to legacy to take place. Sam’s book, Fuel Your Legacy, is the ideal place to start identifying the identity of what your legacy could be. Here’s my conversation with Sam Knickerbocker, author of Fuel Your Legacy and host of The Fuel Your Legacy Show, in episode 515 of Informed Choice Radio.

My guest on the podcast today has developed an original and compelling approach to forecasting the future and beating investment markets while doing so. Marko Papic is a Partner and Chief Strategist at Clocktower Group, an alternative investment asset management firm based in Santa Monica, California. He leads the firm’s Strategy Team, providing bespoke research to clients and partners on geopolitics, macroeconomics, and markets. Marko holds an MA in Political Science from the University of Texas at Austin and an MA from the University of British Columbia. He’s the author of Geopolitical Alpha: An Investment Framework for Predicting the Future, a book that introduces his constraints-based framework to investors; something we discuss in this episode. Geopolitical Alpha posits that investors should ignore the media-hyped narratives, insights from “smoke-filled rooms,” and most of their political consultants and, instead, focus exclusively on the measurable, material constraints facing policymakers. Here’s my conversation with Marko Papic, author of Geopolitical Alpha, in episode 514 of Informed Choice Radio. We hope you enjoyed today’s episode. Do check out our show notes at icradio.co.uk for useful links, including a link to Marko’s new book, Geopolitical Alpha: An Investment Framework for Predicting the Future. Here at Informed Choice, our Financial Planners help remove stress about money by offering a clear explanation of your choices and options. We help people just like you find the answers to the big financial questions, making sure you can live a meaningful life as a result. Please do subscribe to Informed Choice Radio in your favourite podcast player, to get a notification each time a new episode is published. If you enjoy listening to our podcast, please consider leaving a written review or star rating. You can listen to entire back catalogue of more than 500 podcast episodes at icradio.co.uk, and find out more about Informed Choice at icfp.co.uk. Thank you again to Marko for being our guest today. I thoroughly enjoyed our conversation. Our producer for this episode was Emma Hill and our editor is James Spooner. Until next time, I’m Martin Bamford and this is Informed Choice Radio. And remember, when it comes to your money, the more you know, the faster it can grow.

My guest on the podcast today came up with the idea for her latest book while hiking the mountain in her backyard. She wanted to share the truth about what it really takes to opt-out of expectations, change paths, and live a more intentional life. Cait Flanders is the author of Adventures in Opting Out: A Field Guide to Leading an Intentional Life. It's fair to say that we should all follow our own path in life. In reality, too often we spend time doing what is expected of us or following well-worn paths that lead to what is culturally acceptable. By understanding and then connecting with our values, we can make more conscious decisions and lead a more intentional life. Here's my conversation with Cait Flanders, author of Adventures in Opting Out, in episode 513 of Informed Choice Radio.

My guest on the podcast today is Dan Warburton. Despite his great ambition to create, live and share an extraordinary lifestyle, Dan spent most of his life dealing with sadness, anxiety and frustration. He struggled to fit in at school and college, failed in numerous business ventures, and couldn't find a way to make his father proud. Dan went on a mission of discovery, to learn why he found himself continually failing in various aspects of his life. After reading hundreds of self-development books, and even heading into the Himalayas for a retreat, Dan implemented what he learned and created the life he wanted, and a proven system for creating a dream entrepreneur lifestyle. Dan wrote Dream It, Choose It, Live It, where he shares his story and the key insights from his process of self-discovery, along with his 5-step transformation process. In this conversation today, I chat with Dan about the mental baggage which can so often hold us back, sometimes without us realising. We discuss the importance of silencing the distractions and loved-ones who hold us back from leading the lives we want, and also the importance of kaizen - continuous self-improvement. Here's my conversation with Dan Warburton, transformational coach, in episode 512 of Informed Choice Radio.

My guest on the podcast today is Dr Margaret Curlew. Margaret is a professional, mompreneur and a real estate investor. She’s a firm believer in the principle that we can all influence our destiny through vision, execution and hard work. After fleeing from the civil war in Sierra Leone as a teenager and becoming a refugee, Margaret studied in France and then relocated to Canada. Her story is fascinating and packed full of lessons about overcoming adversity, learning from mistakes, and building generational wealth. Here’s my conversation with Dr Margaret Curlew, in episode 511 of Informed Choice Radio.

How do you strike the right balance between the competing financial needs of today and tomorrow? My guest on the podcast today is Lynn Beattie (also known as Mrs MummyPenny), author of The Money Guide to Transform Your Life. We get pretty personal in this conversation, chatting about Lynn’s emotional spending and spiral into debt after she started her business, as well as how to best approach weathering the coming economic storm. Lynn’s new book gives you the tools you need to manage your money now (today), and in the future (tomorrow). As a gifted mathematician, accountant and personal finance expert, Lynn talks about some of the struggles she has faced with money, and the steps she took to overcome these struggles, transforming her life in the process. Here’s my conversation with Lynn Beattie, Mrs MummyPenny, in episode 510 of Informed Choice Radio.

We all know just how challenging it can be for a first-time buyer to get on the property ladder today. But what if a solution that’s used in countries across the world could help buyers here? My guest on the podcast today is Matthew Addison, CEO and co-founder of StepLadder. Communities around the world have used this approach for decades to reach their savings goals faster. Some communities call it partner, others call it Chit Fund. But, in essence, it’s a way to support each other towards your savings goals and hopefully get there faster. Before we get into this conversation, I need to give the usual disclaimers. Our discussion today is not a recommendation to use a specific product, simply something I wanted to explore in this podcast after hearing about it on the radio a few weeks ago. StepLadder members are not covered by the UK’s Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS), therefore your capital is at risk. Here’s my conversation with Matthew Addison from StepLadder, in episode 509 of Informed Choice Radio.

How can you become a better steward of your money? My guest on the podcast today is Jonathan Krueger, CEO of Lionsgate Advisors, and host of the Living a Richer Life by Design podcast. In each episode of Living a Richer Life by Design, Jonathan and his guests discuss a variety of subjects including fulfilling relationships, vibrant health, community engagement, social impact and stewardship of your finances. In this conversation, we talk about the ‘slight edge’ that disciplined people enjoy when it comes to their money and their life. We also get into a conversation about why we are witnessing the perfect recipe to bankrupt the global economy – and what investors should do about it. Here’s my conversation with Jonathan Krueger, in episode 508 of Informed Choice Radio.