This is Money Podcast

It felt like there was something fishy going on during the Budget speech this week. Chancellor Philip Hammond peppered the few official announcements he made with low-rent panto gags and political jibes. Were these a distraction technique? With the benefit of hindsight, it’s clear that trying to be funny was silly Philly’s way of glossing over one of the more ‘spectacularly dumb’ decisions in modern politics. Big banks brought the economy to its knees in the late noughties, why now go after the self-employed and small businesses to shore up the country’s finances with a National Insurance hike? It was a short, sweet kamikaze mission, especially given the manifesto pledge of no increase in VAT, National Insurance or income tax. A U-turn beckons. As ever, This is Money editor Simon Lambert explains exactly what it all means and how National insurance works for the self-employed. Is it time to merge it with income tax? Also, on the show with Georgie Frost and Lee ‘spreadsheet’ Boyce… A pointless, below-inflation government-backed savings bond was also announced in the Budget. You can get better elsewhere. Diesel cars confusion – we need answers on where exactly the pollution problem lies and who is likely to be penalised and when Savings deal of the week – Atom bank has an attractive account but it’s only available on a phone app Rip-off insurance cover – IPT, the insurance tax, has doubled in two years. Expect to pay hundreds of pounds more to cover your car and home. Can you afford to ever retire? Listen to Simon’s advice and you can save without realising. How should couples manage their joint finances – and what if one has secret debts? And finally, who should pay for dinner if you dine with someone who earns less than you? Enjoy.

A speech this week from President Donald Trump sent the US stock market soaring to a record high. And where the US goes, the rest of the world follows. The FTSE 100 is also impressing investors. Trump stood at the podium, behaved like an adult and explained a little more about some of his less crazy policies, including the fiscal ones. Cash held offshore could start washing back into America and wind up in the pockets of shareholders, who clearly want a piece of that pie. There’s more to it than that. This is Money’s Simon Lambert explains how it all might work as other pundits ponder whether it’s the euphoria before the fall. A ‘bull run’ is when markets rise. ‘Bears’ usually spoil the party. The gloves are off. Also on the show, featuring Lee Boyce and Georgie Frost: Two more years of miserable savings rates Lifetime Isas – a totally flawed Government plot A new Range Rover ‘for women’ Car insurance premiums are likely to rise because, oh do they really need an excuse? Hateful parking fines Hateful probate fees A chance to win a radio Warm bath of homicide Enjoy.

There are a lot of laughs this week as Simon Lambert, Lee Boyce and Georgie Frost take a sideways look at some of the week’s potty money stories. Banks are in the spotlight because it’s reporting season and there was a mix of good news, shock news and fraud news from Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds and the rest. But the pathetic attempts by RBS to lure customers to its headline 0.05% interest-paying cash Isa get taken to pieces by the This is Money team. Also on the show… A trendy new bank backed by the tech entrepreneur, haircut wearer and singing coach on TV’s The Voice, Will. i.am, is paying 2% to its savers. It’s a suspiciously high a rate say our judges. To open the account you have to take a selfie. How many moneyed 60-year-olds will take that seriously? Football. Bloody hell! It’s the metaphor for anything. Could the rise and fall of Leicester City be clever economic forecasting at play? A conversation about the state of our banking sector ensues: Tale of two bail outs – RBS v Lloyds British Airways vs all the other airlines it used to be better than until it got into bed with Marks & Spencer’s sandwich department. Divorce vs capital gains tax Scammers vs printer owners The new Ferrari vs critics of its odd new name And finally, How much is a coin worth when the Queen’s face has a goatee beard? Enjoy.

It’s the Holy Trinity of money-geddon (to mess up a couple of Biblical metaphors). But this could be big. We’re less well off than in 2008, prices are going up and wages aren’t. This adds up to trouble. The British economy is based on us all spending money on services but it’s increasingly money we haven't got. Join Georgie Frost, Rachel Rickard Straus and Simon Lambert for a cheery look at what lies ahead now that the impact of austerity, inflation and the devalued pound is becoming clear. Also, on the show… SAVE GOODBYE: The only place to get a savings account remotely worth saving money into is likely to be with a bank you’ve never heard of. STOPPING SHOPPING: The Government has mucked up business rates so seismically that many shops are likely to shut down. Surely a u-turn is the only hope. POUND ROUND-UP: Round pound coins are being killed off. If you’ve got a jar full at home you need to spend them now. DEAD MEAN: First they made disabled people pay for tax cuts of the rich and the crimes of the bankers, now the Government is hacking away at a financial lifeline for bereaved parents. It’s not civilised. Enjoy.

The property market is broken. Years of cheap money have allowed lenders to lend more and more to people earning less and less and we’re at crisis point. The politics of trying to boost the housing market to win votes has left us on the brink of potential disaster. Rents are likely to soar too, removing even that alternative to having a roof over our heads, and while all the economic focus rests on London there’s little incentive to move to Stoke-on-Trent. It was with this mess in mind that we’d been looking forward to the latest Government white paper that promised to outline plans for the ultimate rescue package for housing. It might as well have been 104 blank pages for all the piffle it contained. There is no plan. They don’t know what to do. The question is, can Simon Lambert, Rachel Rickard Straus and Georgie Frost come up with any better ideas? Also on the show… Could another idiotic car scrappage deal be on the cards? This time for our once eco-friendly diesels. Our failed energy regulator is allowing the big suppliers to get away with the heating equivalent of murder as nPower claims its seventh most disgraceful company of year award in a row. Aldi opens its door to This is Money as its assault on the Home Counties continues with old-school Tesco-like zeal. Where will it end? Car wars – there’s some prices in the showrooms definitely worth a look And Rachel reveals the best school trip stories you’re ever likely to hear. Enjoy

We haven’t left the world’s biggest trading block yet so measuring the success of Brexit is tricky. It hasn’t happened. There’s still no plan. But what we do know is this. The inequality gap between rich and poor in Britain is growing. More than 14million have not been able to save a penny in the last 12 months. And HALF of earners of £25,000 or less haven’t put cash aside for the rainy days ahead. But why would you save when the interest rates available are lower than inflation? It means saving is a way of losing money. Unlike Brexit, there is a plan and it’s possibly an investment plan. And what if there was a timeframe over which you definitely don't lose out? Join Simon Lambert, Georgie Frost and Lee Boyce for a round-up of how to save and invest, why and where, the pitfalls and the safety nets. Also on the show: Simon goes botty potty after an a artificially intelligent computer programme (bot) has beaten a team of leading human poker players. The ramifications for financial tools is colossal. Mini bonds look too good to be true. They probably are. How does pay-as-you go car insurance work and why does car finance fill us with dread? And finally, Lee, our coin correspondent, visited the Royal Mint coin making factory and is won over by the clinking of new pound coins. Enjoy.

We tried hard this week not to talk too much about Britain's exit from the European economic bedrock as it jumps headfirst into bed with Donald Trump’s protectionist America. Instead, and in related news, Georgie Frost, Adrian Lowery and Simon Lambert take a look at the exodus of banks from the UK. Not just those planning on moving to continental Europe post-Brexit, but the latest wave of branch closures announced by HSBC and Yorkshire Bank. But do we really need them? Simon, This is Money’s editor, would happily never set foot in one again. Also on the show. Can you beat inflation with savings? Probably not – so listen to our easy-to-follow look at how anyone can to get into investing Email hacking sees no sign of relenting - and now there’s a scam based on Amazon to watch out for And finally… Tacky bespoke Rolls-Royces are all the rage among the stupid rich. Why? Enjoy.

This week will go down in history for a couple of major events. A new US president being sworn in is always big news but that happens every four years. OK, Donald Trump might shake things up a bit if he's able to get his way. Most noteworthy in Britain was the revelation that 'Brexit’ means the total withdrawal from the EU, customs union and single market as a way of controlling immigration. Prime Minister Theresa May laid out her 'plan' for the future of Britain outside the world's largest trading block. How that stacks up economically remains to be seen. This is Money’s Simon Lambert has a pretty good stab at explaining, along with colleague Rachel Rickard Straus and Share Radio’s Georgie Frost. Some say Britain cannot afford to go it alone because of the unsustainable level of Government and industry debt. However, one commentator told This is Money this week that household debt is now a far greater worry than anything the Government can muddle along with. And now prices are starting to rise significantly. Will it all reach a tipping point this year? Also on the show: How will Donald Trump’s presidency affect global business? Why is car tax so complicated? Why don’t we just scrap it? Why do people like Amazon so much and hate Npower? Why are people still Npower customers when they’ve topped the worst customer services league for the 7th year running? Why does Rachel like John Lewis and loath Tastecard in equal measure? How do the train companies get away with it? Are the RAC really that good? % credit cards are just a trap – aren’t they? Enjoy.

Investors have been cheered by a stunning start to 2017 for the FTSE 100, which racked up a record-breaking run of closing highs. But does that mean we should be confident or worried? The FTSE 100 is made up of international companies with foreign earnings, booming on the back of the devalued pound. On this week’s This is Money podcast, Simon Lambert and Rachel Rickard Straus join Georgie Frost in the Share Radio studios to explore why shares have soared and discuss whether this is a good, indifferent or the absolute worst time to invest. Investors love to invest at the wrong time. Inevitably, also on the agenda this week are the two words on everyone’s lips, Trump and Brexit. We take a quick look at the devastating influence an angry tweet from the US President-elect can have on the pharmaceutical, car, defence and airline industries and the ongoing vagueness of Britain's relationship with Europe before swiftly moving on to more pressing matters. Among them are a look at how rich you are, the best paying jobs and the overheated property market. Median wealth is £35,000, a top 5th slot in wealth league costs £85,000. Farmers got the biggest pay rises last year and the average deposit for a first-time buyer is now £24,300 (61% of earnings) - 20 years ago it was £2,095 (12% of earnings). If you’re feeling flush from any of this, we reveal the UK’s most desired used cars too. Enjoy.

The glass is half full and we’re on the hunt for a silver lining as we look forward to what's in store for our finances in 2017. We also cast a quick glance back at the most entertaining money stories of 2016, which were about... well, money. We go behind the scenes with the man we hold responsible for the phenomenon that was stories about new fivers worth a more than £5 and coins worth a small fortune, consumer affairs editor Lee Boyce. Readers loved his stories about coins and notes last year, and they set a trend for stories about money worth more than face value across Britain's media and viral internet. Where did the ideas come from? Why are some of these coins and notes worth more? Is the round pound next? Lee gives us the lowdown in the studio with Share Radio's Georgie Frost and This is Money editor Simon Lambert. Also on this week's show, we look at whether 2017 will be a good year for investors as the FTSE 100 hits a run of record highs, or whether the view that the only way is up spells trouble. We also hunt for some decent savings rates, highlight why dividends from an income investment trust might be an alternative and discuss the stories we'd really like to see in 2017. And to round off the show, Simon and Lee take the This is Money podcast quiz of 2016. Do they remember the details about the stories we covered, or are their memories alarming short. Find out who wins the gold coin and who takes home the wooden spoon (which is actually a free rubber spatula Georgie got with a magazine).