Money Clinic with Claer Barrett

REPEAT: 2021, like 2020, was another turbulent year for most people’s finances, but the new year provides the perfect opportunity to set some “financial resolutions”.The guests on Money Clinic are millennial couple Toby and Siobhan and they’re looking for some timeless “fin-spiration” to get their money to work harder. They’ve paid off their credit cards under lockdown, and are wondering where to direct their spare cash. How much could they save if they overpaid their mortgage — and how would that compare to putting more into their pensions or other investments. There’s also one financial to-do that they’re been putting off for a long time — making a will. Money experts Ken Okoroafor from The Humble Penny and Dan Garrett, co-founder of digital will-writing service Farewill, provide expert tips.If you would like to talk to Claer for a future podcast episode, email the Money Clinic team money@ft.com with a brief description of your story. Follow Claer on Twitter and Instagram @Claerb and read her weekly Serious Money column in the FT Money section of the FT Weekend newspaper.You can follow Ken Okoroafor on Twitter and Instagram @TheHumblePennyIf you’re looking for fresh ideas about what to do with your money in 2021, Claer has asked podcast hosts from the finance and business world to share their financial New Year’s resolutions for 2021. Covering investing, saving, financial planning and side hustling, you can read insights from Patricia Bright (Caught Off Guard), Emma Gannon (Ctrl Alt Delete), Chris Browning (Popcorn Finance), the FT’s former editor Lionel Barber (What’s Next?) and many more by clicking on this link: https://www.ft.com/content/8a09fc2d-4c25-4d81-8835-a5517c6cb3d3And here’s some further reading for listeners who are considering making a will. The pandemic has forced through legal changes making it much easier for people in England and Wales to make a “digital will” online. Read this FT Money piece to find out how: https://www.ft.com/content/4df16e49-940f-46f2-b0b4-6a82c011c3baAnd for a more general grounding in the topic, read this FT article - 10 things you need to know before making a will: https://www.ft.com/content/c5559861-6c19-4fdb-a652-4059cf5e6bd0 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

REPEAT: Claer explores how young people can use the popular tax-free Isa accounts to invest or buy their first property. This week, she meets Ryan, a 22-year-old graduate who confesses he has three Isa accounts, but doesn’t know how best to use them — or how to unlock savings bonuses potentially worth tens of thousands of pounds. Expert and practical help is on hand from Harleigh Reid, who used a Help to Buy Isa to buy her first flat at the age of just 24, and Young Money blogger Iona Bain who explains the rules of the new Lifetime Isa, which can be used for property or investing.  If you would like to talk to Claer for a future podcast episode, email the Money Clinic team money@ft.com with a brief description of your story. Follow Claer on Twitter and Instagram @Claerb and read her weekly Serious Money column in the FT Money section of the FT Weekend newspaper.Further reading:If you’re new to investing, listen to this past Money Clinic episode on starting out https://www.ft.com/content/caedf0b3-4052-430c-99b4-107ea093d3fcIf you’re ready to rock with an investment Isa, check out this free-to-read FT column by Claer: https://www.ft.com/content/684dbb86-40b4-11e9-b896-fe36ec32aecHarleigh Reid also hosts her own YouTube site: https://www.youtube.com/user/TheHarlszCheck out Iona Bain’s Young Money blog here https://www.youngmoneyblog.co.uk/ or read her FT column about her Lifetime Isa here https://www.ft.com/content/52ad32d8-ac7b-11e9-b3e2-4fdf846f48f5 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

REPEAT: Putting all of your pension savings in one place to make it easier to manage your retirement plans sounds like a sensible idea — but it’s not necessarily the right solution for everyone. Claer Barrett meets 51-year-old Tina who has spent lockdown searching for all of her old pensions: some have performed better than hoped, but others have had high charges, and she has a gap in her UK state pension contributions due to working overseas. Experts Sir Steve Webb of Lane Clark & Peacock and Catherine Morgan, a financial planner behind the ‘In Her Financial Shoes’ podcast, provide tips for people of all ages looking to sort out their pension savings.If you would like to talk to Claer for a future podcast episode, email the Money Clinic team money@ft.com with a brief description of your story. Follow Claer on Twitter and Instagram @Claerb and read her weekly Serious Money column in the FT Money section of the FT Weekend newspaper.Further reading Let’s start with the basics. If you’re struggling to get your head around what a pension is, why you need one, and how they work, then check out this free to read column from Claer https://www.ft.com/content/05e5ded2-7a74-11e6-b837-eb4b4333ee43 To track down lost pensions, try the UK government’s Pensions Tracing Service, which is free to use - but please do be careful of copycat websites run by commercial firms https://www.gov.uk/find-pension-contact-details To check how many years’ worth of UK state pension contributions you’ve made, what you could receive in retirement and if you have any missing years, use the government’s free Check your State Pension service https://www.gov.uk/check-state-pension The UK government page Your State Pension Explained contains more information on what counts as a qualifying year https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/your-new-state-pension-explained/your-state-pension-explained Read this UK government advice page about extra National Insurance contributions to your UK state pension https://www.gov.uk/voluntary-national-insurance-contributions Contact the Future Pension Centre to find out if you would benefit from voluntary NI contributions https://www.gov.uk/future-pension-centre The UK government’s International Pension Centre provides advice and information for those who have lived or worked overseas https://www.gov.uk/international-pension-centre Want to talk to someone about your pensions options? If you’re over 50, then you can use the UK government’s free Pension Wise service to get detailed guidance from an adviser on your retirement options https://www.pensionwise.gov.uk/en Emma Maslin, who blogs as The Money Whisperer, wrote this FT column asking self-employed women how good their pensions are Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Money Clinic is having a pay rise takeover - we’ll be pulling apart that big, scary box labelled ‘Asking for a pay rise’ - and unpacking the dos, the don’ts, the tips and tricks for getting the salary you think you are worth.Visiting our pay-rise clinic today are three podcast listeners with three different financial predicaments: Natalie keeps getting knocked back when she asks for a raise; Max knows that he could get paid more elsewhere, and Charlotte is trying to negotiate a bonus that really matches the effort she puts into her job.With expert advice from Isabel Berwick, the Financial Times’ work and careers editor and presenter of the Working It podcast, and Jonathan Black, director of the University of Oxford’s careers service and the brains behind the FT’s popular ‘Dear Jonathan’ advice column, this is a podcast you can’t afford to miss. Listen and subscribe to the Working It podcast: https://link.chtbl.com/0mRZG4fxCheck out the Dear Jonathan column: https://www.ft.com/dear-jonathanPlus the FT’s recent article: Want to get a pay rise? Here’s how! https://www.ft.com/content/967db31f-f49b-4039-a295-23db588d2a1cWant to be a future guest? Email us at money@ft.com or reach out to Claer on Instagram and Twitter: @ClaerB. Presented by Claer Barrett. Executive producer is Manuela Saragosa. Produced by Persis Love. Assistant producer is Talia Augustidis. Sound design by Breen Turner. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Following the COP26 conference in Glasgow, many climate-conscious investors want to know how to match up their investments with their values. The short answer is environmental, social and governance investing — ESG for short. But there are plenty of questions around how ‘green’ this really is.Thirty-year-old Harri appeared on one of the first episodes of Money Clinic last year, and his decision to invest in ESG funds appears to have paid off: he has made a decent return. However, he wonders how much this has been down to the underlying investment performance and how much because of the soaring popularity of ESG investments. With a record $3.9tn now held in sustainable assets worldwide, is this outperformance sustainable? Claer is joined by the FT’s Manuela Saragosa and Share Action’s Catherine Howarth, who have put ESG investing to the test. They offer practical tips on how to make greener choices with your pension,Isa and becoming an activist shareholder. Plus, they debate how worried investors should be about ‘greenwashing’. If you enjoyed this episode, check out five ESG themed episodes on the FT podcast Behind the Money. Want to be a future guest? Email us at money@ft.com or reach out to Claer on Instagram and Twitter: @ClaerB. Presented by Claer Barrett. Executive producer is Manuela Saragosa. Produced by Persis Love. Assistant producer is Talia Augustidis. Sound design by Breen Turner.Clips: Sky News, CNBC International, UN Climate Change, Guardian News.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Many dream of being an elite footballer, but what’s it like actually earning a professional player’s salary? In the second half of this two-part podcast special, Claer Barrett explores the darker side of earning staggering sums as a young player. Unscrupulous financial advisers, risky investments, gambling, injuries and early retirement can all cut short your earning potential - and there are lessons here for all of us. She hears from Gareth Farrelly, a former Premier League footballer who narrowly avoided death - and financial ruin - when his playing career ended, but has now reinvented himself as a top sports lawyer. Plus, former England player Sol Campbell and AFC Bournemouth full-back Jack Stacey reveal how they manage their money, and what listeners can learn from this. If you liked the show, please leave a review. Want to be a future guest? Email us at money@ft.com or reach out to Claer on Instagram and Twitter: @ClaerBFor more about the business of sport, head to Scoreboard, the FT’s weekly briefing on the key financial issues affecting the global sports industry, at www.ft.com/scoreboard. If you enjoyed this episode, check out this Financial Times article by sports reporter Sam Agini https://www.ft.com/content/6d074e57-adf3-494a-98b9-6d0bc169c440Or this article on the perils of making a fortune at a young age https://www.ft.com/content/a5297c2c-03fe-47e0-b13a-6d20f7d2b3f8Presented by Claer Barrett. Executive producer is Manuela Saragosa. Produced by Persis Love. Assistant producer is Talia Augustidis. Sound design by Breen Turner. Clips: afcbTV Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Many dream of being an elite footballer, but what’s it like actually earning a pro player’s salary? Top football players earn staggering amounts of money, but even they are not immune from financial challenges. These range from planning for a career that could end by the age of 35 to teenage players struggling to manage such large financial windfalls. In the first half of this two-part podcast special, Claer Barrett speaks to former England player Sol Campbell and AFC Bournemouth full back Jack Stacey about the reality, both good and bad, of earning a footballer’s salary. Plus, Daniel Geey on why there’s so much money in football.If you liked the show, please leave a review. Email us at money@ft.com or reach out to Claer on Instagram and Twitter: @ClaerBIf you enjoyed this episode, check out this Financial Times article by sports reporter Sam Agini https://www.ft.com/content/6d074e57-adf3-494a-98b9-6d0bc169c440 Or this article on the perils of making a fortune at a young age https://www.ft.com/content/a5297c2c-03fe-47e0-b13a-6d20f7d2b3f8Check out Daniel Geey’s book and podcast here: https://www.danielgeey.com/Presented by Claer Barrett. Executive producer is Manuela Saragosa. Produced by Persis Love. Assistant producer is Talia Augustidis. Sound design by Breen Turner. Clips: afcbTV Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is the podcast about doing work differently. Join host Isabel Berwick every Wednesday for expert analysis and watercooler chat about ahead-of-the-curve workplace trends, the big ideas shaping work today — and the old habits we need to leave behind. Subscribe on Apple https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/working-it/id1591925469 - On Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/5vNDHxEOc1pI1acJS7He5e Or wherever you get your podcasts.The wellness industry is a trillion-dollar business, and the pandemic has turbo-charged it. One of the biggest trends has been the rise in employers buying their staff access to meditation and fitness apps. But does this ‘quick fix’ approach work? And are there better ways to boost wellbeing ? Isabel talks to Lorna Borenstein, chief executive of Grokker, a corporate wellness app about the reasons why she set up the platform and how clients and her own staff use it. It’s all part of a culture of taking care of employees - a topic Lorna has explored more deeply in her book It’s Personal, offering advice to other managers on how to help staff feel better [tl;dr: talk less, listen more].We also speak to FT colleague Emma Jacobs, about the corporate care culture. She is a little more skeptical. We would love to hear from you - email us at workingit@ft.com. You can also follow @isabelberwick on Twitter and Instagram or reach out via email: isabel.berwick@ft.com. Thanks. Mentioned in the podcast and other interesting reading:Emma Jacobs’ prophetic pre-pandemic guide to workplace wellness by app: https://www.ft.com/content/d1d58aae-437c-11ea-abea-0c7a29cd66feFT series, Burnout: https://www.ft.com/burnoutDeloitte report [2020] on employee mental health showing £5 benefit for every £1 spent: https://www2.deloitte.com/uk/en/pages/consulting/articles/mental-health-and-employers-refreshing-the-case-for-investment.html  Video, Emma Jacobs on how to detox from your smartphone: https://www-ft-com.newman.richmond.edu/video/b4115321-b915-3a42-9814-ad0be4c0e7f5?playlist-name=section-0b83bc44-4a55-4958-882e-73ba6b2b0aa6&playlist-offset=206Presented by Isabel Berwick. Editorial direction from Renée Kaplan. Assistant producer is Persis Love. Sound design is by Breen Turner, with original music from Metaphor Music. Produced by Novel. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to manage an investment portfolio worth hundreds of billions of pounds? Global equities specialist Malcolm MacColl is one of two managing partners at the helm of Baillie Gifford, the Scottish asset management company, which manages more than £350bn worth of investors’ cash. An early investor in Amazon, Tesla and Moderna, Baillie Gifford’s long-term approach to investing in tech companies has paid dividends. However, its approach is being tested by volatile markets in China, where the value of Chinese tech companies has been hit by a government crackdown. On today’s episode, Malcolm reveals how Baillie Gifford’s fund management team build an “investment hypothesis” for each company they choose to back, and why every investor should build a “coffee can portfolio” of shares they’d like to hold for 20 years. We also hear from FT investment columnist Merryn Somerset Webb who is less upbeat about China’s long-term prospects.Further reading:To listen to Merryn’s own Investment Masterclass, click here Read the FT’s profile on Baillie Gifford here Follow Claer on Instagram and Twitter @ClaerB and send her a DM if you’d like to appear as a future guest, or email the team on money@ft.com The podcasts Malcolm mentioned are:Farnam Street https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-knowledge-project-with-shane-parrish/id990149481Coburn Ventures https://open.spotify.com/show/3aKPYkLblhxAAPMj3BCgR6?si=QmAPgFCUSVWA5ENKXETuJAPatrick O’Shaughnessyhttps://open.spotify.com/show/22fi0RqfoBACCuQDv97wFO?si=QjYqX5dVRLC2K6e2uf8zyAPresented by Claer Barrett. Produced and edited by Clare Williamson and Persis Love. Sound design by Breen Turner. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Students were up in arms after reading the Financial Times scoop that the UK government is considering lowering the salary level at which graduates have to start repaying their loans. Currently, student loan repayments start when you earn more than £27,225 per year, but the FT has reported this could be reduced to around £23,000 in future. Any changes are expected to apply retrospectively to those who started university courses after 2012, including this week’s podcast guest, 24-year-old graduate Ola, who fears how much any changes could cost her. “If this is retrospective, then for me it's a breach of natural justice and it's certainly something I would be yelling about,” Martin Lewis tells Claer. “Should students be scared? Yes.”As well as exploring the likely impact on young people’s budgets, we hear from FT reporter Bethan Staton about the political motivation for any changes to the loans system. Further reading:Vote for Money Clinic in the Lovie Awards here (deadline Thursday Oct 21)Check out Claer’s free to read FT column on how student loan changes could add up for youWatch Martin’s YouTube video on why he opposes changes to the system Here’s the original FT news story on the expected changes Follow Ola on Instagram @AllThingsMoney     Follow Claer on Instagram and Twitter @ClaerB and send her a DM if you’d like to appear as a future guest, or email the team on money@ft.com Presented by Claer Barrett. Produced and edited by Persis Love. Sound design by Breen Turner. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.