This is Money Podcast

House prices move in an 18 year cycle. That is the theory of Fred Harrison, who used his cycle to forecast the 2008 slump after the financial crisis.  If his theory holds, the housing market will have a short wobble this year and next, followed by a final sharp rise in prices to 2025. Does that stand up to scrutiny? Simon Lambert and Georgie Frost discuss the 28 year property cycle on this excerpt from the This is Money podcast.

This is Money has relentlessly campaigned to fight online fraud – and in a major victory, Britain's biggest banks are now trialling a new system to trace stolen money. Is the end nigh for scammers? Editor Simon Lambert and host Georgie Frost talk about bank fraud and our long-running campaign to help protect our readers from the growing crime. We also talk through new rules to come in early next year that will spell out exactly what banks have to do to help prevent customers falling victim of bank transfer scams and why we launched our Beat the Scammers section in 2016. Elsewhere, if you are in the market for a credit card, one of the more eye catching is Virgin Money's offering which could get you a trip to New York with its new bumper sign-up offer – but what's the catch? We also run the rule over Vanadium, the metal which has seen its price soar substantially in recent year. We also talk about the property market and how estate agents – especially across London and the South East - have come under pressure since the Brexit vote, which has triggered a considerable slowdown. This has seen Foxtons announcing branch closures this week. And rather than the gloom and doom predictions of a potential house price crash, Simon asks: are house prices preparing to go on something of a run?

Are you trying to save for retirement, make the most of your income in old age, navigate the state pension maze, or just feel baffled by some bit of pension jargon? In the This is Money podcast this week, former Pensions Minister and our regular columnist, Steve Webb, is on hand to help you out. Editor Simon Lambert and host Georgie Frost are also joined by The Pensions Advisory Service boss Michelle Cracknell to answer reader questions about retirement savings. Topics include: Am I being overcharged by a financial adviser to invest my pension? If I die, will my wife inherit some of my state pension? Will the transfer value of my final salary pension go up if I wait a while? The panel also tackles questions on getting married later in life, setting up a pension when you're self-employed and they explain some of the terrible jargon used by the pensions industry. Why might the GMP, or Guaranteed Minimum Pension, actually reduce your state pension? Is a PIE - a pension increase exchange - worth taking from a former employer? How does the Lifetime Allowance work and if you think you might breach it should you consider getting a Lifetime Isa? They also discuss some of the most popular pensions issues raised by This is Money readers, including pension freedoms and the flat rate state pension. Enjoy.

Is austerity really coming to an end? And are the rich getting richer thanks to the Government? In the This is Money podcast this week, editor Simon Lambert, assistant editor Lee Boyce and host Georgie Frost analyse the 2018 Budget. Money for the NHS, little extras for schools, cash for roads, help for the High Street and the baby rabbit in the hat - pulling the rise in the basic and higher rate tax thresholds to £12,500 and £50,000, respectively, a year earlier than promised. We also talk about what a no Brexit deal means for interest rates?  We heard from the Bank of England this week about the likely impact such a scenario could have on interest rates and how quickly they will go up – or not. Despite sticking this week to 0.75%, the decision came with a few notes of warning – largely that it was based on a 'smooth transition' for Brexit. We talk about the latest in the easy-access savings war in which a small building society trumped Marcus by Goldman Sachs – but only for a short stint. And finally, we report on the latest in our 'stop the private parking sharks' campaign - how the good people of Essex town Basildon have taken to the streets to protest about one firm running a car park and dishing out charges. Enjoy.

As stock market turmoil spreads across the globe, the advice is to keep calm and carry on, folks. In the latest This is Money podcast, editor Simon Lambert and host Georgie Frost discuss what's causing it, how long will it go on for and how concerned we should be. Because we're a positive bunch, we also reveal the shares that have rocketed over the last five years, some by more than 1,000 per cent. Also, we answer a reader query about state pensions - can couples inherit it from each other and how much might they get? Elsewhere, we take a look at the best way to clear your buy-to-let loan and discover how to bag a property bargain. Enjoy.

With this year’s Budget moved to Monday, 29 October, we bring you a pre-Budget special. This is Money editor Simon Lambert, assistant editor Lee Boyce and host Georgie Frost debate the key areas that might feature in Chancellor Philip 'Spreadsheet' Hammond’s tax and spending review. This includes housing, inheritance tax, pensions and a whole host more, as he tries to find £20billion down the back of the Treasury sofa for the promised NHS boost. But this Budget has some extra spice, with both Brexit and a Labour party whose main policy idea seems to be to force another General Election, which it thinks it can win. We discuss what the Government needs to focus on to stamp out the Labour challenge and just how the economy is looking ahead of Brexit. One time Labour donor Lord Sugar is threatening to leave the country if Jeremy Corbyn comes into power, thanks – in large part – to its threat of a barrage of tax rises. How big is the threat from Corbyn and co - and what can you do to protect your family from a potential overhaul of pensions, Isas, capital gains and even transferring wealth to a spouse? Enjoy.

This week, This is Money launched another campaign - and we have the private car parking sharks and the DVLA in our sights. We talk about the horrific cases of drivers being fined and penalised we have received from readers and listeners so far, ask how the DVLA is able to sell our details on without permission and what can be done about the menace – along with what we want changed. Elsewhere, editor Simon Lambert, assistant editor Lee Boyce and host Georgie Frost talk about Dave and Marcus. The latter is the Goldman Sachs backed offshoot offering savers 1.5 per cent interest – and has seen 50,000 people sign-up. The former is Dave Fishwick, who has gone on a crowdfunding drive this week to try and raise up to £7million to help get his Burnley Savings and Loans venture a banking licence. We also discuss Isas. We reveal why they are so good, why they should be part of most people's financial planning and how to become an Isa millionaire. Enjoy.

Child benefit and state pension - It’s not the most obvious link. But if you are a parent who is looking after a child instead of working, you need to register for child benefit in order to build up your entitlement in retirement age. Austerity swept away the universal child benefit and those households where one parent earns more than £50,000 have to start giving it back until it is removed altogether above £60,000. Unsurprisingly, many who fall into this bracket simply opt not to take it and see no point in registering. Unfortunately, mums and dads who stopped work to look after children are now finding they’ve missed building up their state pension. It should be easy to fix, but HMRC and the government have been stalling parents affected. That’s why This is Money has started a campaign to get this mess fixed, before it gets any worse. On this week’s podcast, Simon Lambert, Lee Boyce and Georgie Frost discuss how this all happened and why it matters to not just those affected. Also on this week’s show, we discuss whether it’s a good idea to delay your state pension and why banks and building societies are cutting mortgage rates, despite the Bank of England raising rates. And finally, can you really have a weekend away in Europe, flights and a decent hotel for £57? Yes you can, thanks to a very clever new website we tracked down. Enjoy.

On Budget day, March 2013, Chancellor George Osborne launched a scheme intended to help first-time buyers but was described at the time by This is Money as a 'very good day for builders'. Help to Buy was seen as just another ploy to prop up the UK housing market by helping first-timers borrow even more money to try to enter the housing market. It came in for flack then and is in the spotlight again, accused of forcing up house prices, benefiting the rich and trapping some people in homes they cannot afford. In this short clip, editor Simon Lambert, explains exactly what it is and whether the disaster waiting to happen from 2013, is happening.

The reports of buy-to-let’s death have been greatly exaggerated. That is the view of one of the few professional residential property fund managers in the UK.  Alan Collett, who runs the Hearthstone fund, believes for the astute investor there is still money to be made from Britain’s homes. You could answer, ‘well, he would say that’, but for those interested in the property market, his reasons are worth listening to. In this week’s podcast, Simon Lambert, Sarah Davidson and Georgie Frost dig into the current state of buy-to-let and whether those without an entire property fund at their disposal can still turn a healthy profit if they think long-term. Also on this week’s show, they discuss where the most homes have been built over the past decade, why Goldman Sachs’ new bank Marcus has got everyone talking thanks to an eye-catching savings rate and whether insurers really do spy on you – including if you’re burgled while Instagramming your holiday. And finally, the new 68 registration plate was launched this month and that should have meant a surge in car sales, except as was suggested by one dealer we may already have reached peak new car and that has combined with diesel worries to sink sales. The good news is that means bargains for car buyers, with as much as £10,000 off some models. We reveal which ones.