We’re back with another Q&A show, with a bit of a DB Pension tilt this time, though we even get into a question on equity release. We cover lots of ground, as always - hope it’s useful! Shownotes: https://meaningfulmoney.tv/QA5  00:55  As you made a request for questions I thought I'd pose this (apologies in advance for the length, feel free to trim as required): I am single, mid-forties, with no dependents (I do have some family I plan to pass wealth on to, but when they need it rather than leaving it in my estate). I'm aiming for the mystical die with zero. As a home owner, and given I'm not worried about passing it on, would it be a good idea to start drawing on the capital locked up in my home via drawdown equity release (using say home reversion) before the investments in my pension and ISAs given this is the most illiquid and concentrated of my assets? Downsizing isn't really an option to release capital (it's a two-bed semi so property doesn't get much smaller). That said equity release looks to offer rates well below the market value (apparently they want to make a profit), certainly if you're on the younger end of the eligibility spectrum. It's far from the case of selling 50% of the house and getting that amount, even spread over a number of years. I could sell the house myself and rent instead, using the released money to pay the rent (and if the money is invested, provided my rent doesn't rise egregiously, it might even stay ahead of that cost). Though there are potential issues with that approach, certainly over the long term. Are there any other ways to unlock the capital tied up in my property? Regards, Lee   10:20  Hello Pete and Roger. I work in public sector and have a decent DB pension, larger part being final salary and lesser part CARE. I will be able to commute up to 25% with a commutation factor of about 24:1. Which will give me about £180,000 depending on when I leave. Upon retirement I will seek to move most into a 100% equities investment wrapper, I’m fairly happy with proportionate risk, as my DB pension will provide a life long index linked safety net, and I will also build a bit of cash ladder of declining risk. I have recently watched your ISA v Pension comparison with keen interest. It was fascinating to see that even though a pension is taxed, the tax relief going in, offset the tax going out, and the option of having both works particularly well in terms of tax efficiency and retirement planning. I had been putting a modest amount into a S&S ISA each month for the last few years, but recently opened a SIPP and am now sending the spare cash that way for the extra tax relief. It’s very satisfying seeing the “free money” coming in each month.. I can potentially retire in 2 years at 55 with an actuarial reduction or continue working until 60, or retire sometime in between. I also have a preserved DB pension that I can take at 60 from a previous employer. In the mean time I want to keep saving and investing, and will try to ramp it up for next few years. My question is – It was pretty clear from your numbers that those with a DC pot are best with both ISA & SIPP in terms of tax efficiency and flexibility, but given that my DB pension will use up all my personal tax allowance, does that swing the momentum on where to invest back in favour of an ISA over a SIPP, as other than the 25% tax free element, I would pay basic rate tax on all my SIPP drawdown.  I’m sure other people with either a modest DB pension or secondary passive income could find themselves in similar quandary.  ( I’m aware all could change after the next budget. )   I live up north, houses are cheap as chips, therefore IHT unlikely to be a major concern in terms of decedents. Chris   16:47  Loving the sultry combination of the north and south tones! I’ve been listening to the podcast for several years now, and you’ve given me loads of practical tips that I’ve been able to take forward. However, I’ve recently received an ADHD diagnosis, and while I earn a good salary, my impulsivity often leads to overspending, and I’m finding it difficult to maintain control over my finances. I have a monthly planner that I check regularly with the bills, so they are ok, but on spending it is always difficult, and I often dip into credit card usage. I would really appreciate any advice or practical tips you could offer for someone like me, who struggles with impulsive spending with a disability. Things like “just don’t spend money” just don’t work! Are there any specific strategies, tools, or approaches that can help someone with neurodiversity, particularly ADHD, to manage their money more effectively? Thanks again for the amazing content you put out. Looking forward to any guidance you can provide. Best regards, Ian   22:53  My question / suggestion relates to listeners with Defined Benefit (DB) pensions. Although they’re becoming rarer, there is still a sizeable minority of people who have DB pensions. I suspect the majority of them are (or have previously been) employees in the public sector – but they’ll run to quite a high number. For instance, there are 1.5 million current employees in the NHS, half-a-million Civil Servants, half-a-million teachers, Police, Fire Fighters etc etc. Double that to allow for all the former employees, plus those with DB pensions in the private sector, and you’re talking decent numbers. I’ve learned a lot over recent years from your Podcast, but there have been a number of occasions where you’ve alluded to the fact that financial planning advice might differ for folk with DB pensions. One example might be the topic of opening a separate SIPP (in addition to the DB pension) to supplement retirement income (or to fund early retirement) or to move money outside the person’s estate. Another example might be the balance of ISA versus Pension: with some DB schemes, the benefit of “topping-up” is reduced compared with those in DC pensions. In many cases the employer isn’t adding “free money” to your pot, so for many there may be more reason to lean towards ISA contributions. Another difference might be the topic of investment risk – if someone with a DB pension has a guaranteed inflation-proof income in retirement, might they be wise to consider higher risk investments? And certainly without the dreaded “profiling”. Another example (as alluded to earlier) might be in Estate Planning: with a DB pensions, there’s no “pot” of invested money lying outside one’s estate, so there’s no IHT advantage. I realise this might amount to more than just a 5-minute topic for your Q&A edition, but I think you’d have enough listers to make a whole episode for DB pension recipients. What to you reckon? Thanks for all the great advice. Best wishes, Dr Pete   29:43  Thank you for all of your support over the years through the podcast and YouTube. I work for the NHS which is very tough at the moment but it does give me the benefit of a defined benefit pension when I get there. I am 35 years old but am wanting to make sure I am saving enough for retirement but also to make sure that I have enough for my children to support them through university and starting life! My wife is a fantastic stay at home Mum. We are aiming to have the “comfy” level of retirement at £58000 that you have previously mentioned which should give us some capacity to support the children! I earn £58000 plus about £7000 as a side hustle. I save into my NHS pension, save about 50% of the side hustle income into a SIPP, and save around £400 into a S&S ISA and £200 into cash savings each month. There are lots of examples about how much you should save but I haven't found anything when you are part of the NHS/other DB pension. Am I saving enough, or too much? I don't want to miss out on life now by over saving! Thanks, Alex   36:13  Enjoying listening to another excellent podcast where I heard the shout out for questions. One I had is “what’s the best tax efficient way to save for kids futures? I started going down the path of saving into JISA’s, but then didn’t like the idea of being unable to access the money on their behalf, or them to do so before 18. I contribute to premium bonds, but theoretically that will be capped at £50k (here’s hoping!). Any other obvious good suggestions?” Thanks & keep it up, continue to love the show. Cheers, Chris

Today we’re going to be taking about being financially prepared for life events. This is important because it’s so easy to make progress with your finances, only to have the rug pulled out from under your feet by something unexpected. Or even something that IS expected… Shownotes: https://meaningfulmoney.tv/YC3 Everything You Need To Know 03:00 Life events – like what? 03:55 Marriage 04:43 Having a Child 05:09 Buying a Home 05:24 Career Advancement 06:02 Starting a Business 07:47 Receiving an Inheritance 08:44 Job Loss or Career Change 09:10 Divorce or Separation 10:04 Serious Illness or Disability 10:41 Death of a Family Member 11:36 Caring for Aging Parents 12:25 Children’s Education Costs 12:53 Relocation 13:45 Retirement 14:14 Unexpected Large Expenses 15:15 Being prepared means mastering the 3F’s – Foundation, Forward-looking, Flexibility.   Everything You Need To Do 17:03 Foundation – Emergency fund, workplace benefits and personal insurance. LifeSearch - affiliate agreement. 28:38 Forward-looking – consider what may happen and what is likely to happen. 43:02 Flexible – keep things flexible so that we can be able to make changes as needed. 51:47 If big events happen – take your time, seek help.   53:35 Podcast Review

In today’s episode, we show you how YOU CAN learn to invest. Honestly, it’s easier than you think! Shownotes: https://meaningfulmoney.tv/YC2  Everything You Need To Know 01:21  What is investing? Swapping your money for assets that grow in value, produce an income, or ideally both. 05:46  Why do people think it’s hard? 08:14  What you really need to know? Asset classes that matter - equities, bonds and property. Everything You Need To Do 29:48  Build a foundation first. 32:58  Start with money you’re probably already investing. 42:27  Open an ISA/LISA/Pension 48:40  Choose a fund - You want a global multi-asset fund. 52:25  Watch and learn - Commit to doing NOTHING for at least a year. 56:02  Don’t… 58:05  Podcast Review 59:20  The Meaningful Money Retirement Guide is due out on 6th May 2025

Dive into a journey of financial empowerment as the hosts tackle common fears around money management. They highlight the importance of building financial confidence and learning from mistakes. The conversation includes actionable strategies for overcoming limiting beliefs and reframing financial setbacks as growth opportunities. Listeners are encouraged to embrace personal values in budgeting while expanding their financial literacy through curated resources. It’s all about taking control and fostering a supportive mindset toward finances!

It’s another Q&A show, and this week we cover managing finances under an LPA, Maternity pay, and what to do with a big windfall, plus lots more besides! Shownotes: https://meaningfulmoney.tv/QA4  00:58  Big fan of the show. Really appreciate your work. Dad is 92 with rapidly declining health (Dementia and mobility issues). He is still living at home with Mum (80) who is caring for him with family help. At the moment, it is about manageable. I am managing their finances. We have moved the majority of savings into my mum's accounts. I have used up mum's entire ISA allowance for this year. There is still around £38k of savings sitting in a no interest paying Barclays account. Due to their ages, I do not want to tie up the cash for too long, though at this point in time, they do not need to use this money as they are still able to live off my Dad's pension. Can you suggest how I might manage this chunk of cash? Possibly a simple savings account, but I am aware that the interest rates are not exactly brilliant, and I wonder about moving into a GIA instead (I have moderate experience buying/selling shares in my own SIPP and ISA, though I am personally high on the risk curve with investments heavily in MSTR and TSLA). Any advice would be appreciated. Cheers, Rich 05:08  Love the podcast (obviously!), it’s genuinely very helpful and has really helped me get my stuff together!!! Not sure if this is something you’d know about but, do you think you would be able to explain to me in your very listenable way, how to work out maternity pay, as in how it’s actually calculated and how to plan to make up the difference etc plus anything else that might be helpful that I don’t even know that I don’t know!! I can’t really find what I’m looking for anywhere else so just thought I’d ask as I find your explanations of things easy to understand (and could listen to you chat about anything tbh)!! Thank you! Jess 12:16  Thanks so much for your brilliant podcasts. I love the idea of the question and answer ones! I have a fun question I have been meaning to ask for ages. I keep my contingency fund in premium bonds, and I periodically enjoy a thought experiment, around what I would do if I were to win the big prize of £1 million. (I fully realise this will never happen, but it is a helpful thought experiment to get me thinking about where my priorities lie in case I do receive a much smaller lump sum in the future). I have no bad debts, I have a contingency pot and I contribute to a pension and ISA. My hypothesis is that I would give some to charity (maybe 10%?), might retain 5% for fun – a nice holiday or an upgrade to my car, would max out my ISA and pension,  and then would split the rest between a world index tracker and one or two investment properties. I’m curious to hear your thoughts on this and how you would allocate. Thanks! Justyn 17:52  The mantra is that the most important time to take advice is when nearing retirement. That's certainly true for us now, and my other half sought some regulated advice recently in respect to tax free cash and pension recycling rules. The advice was provided (that it was not tax free cash recycling) & so we are continuing with the plan as discussed  / agreed with the regulated IFA that we contracted the discussion with (we checked the company and the individuals credentials out on the FSA website .. All good). The question is (call me paranoid, but quite a lot of money – for us, is involved) what happens if in due course HMRC come to us and effectively look to impose penalties for us acting in accordance with the regulated advice provided / paid for (ie, they dont agree with it / decide it has broken the recycling rules)? I have no (sane) reason to suggest this will happen, but paranoia is a terrible thing!! Keep up the good work (oh, and Roger as well) Regards, Kevin Milsom 23:02  With UK inflation now only 1.7% (from 16 Oct 24), are we in a very unusual phase were inflation is less than half of the rate you can easily get on savings? This leads onto thinking about investing versus savings – we all invest to try and beat inflation, but we can currently do this easily with no risks via savings accounts. It is a conversation my wife and I are having at the moment! She is  ‘saver' and I am an ‘investor'. Of course we have a good mix of both from all the guidance you have provided. Cheers. Dave Hicklin 27:40  Hello gents! Big fan of the podcast and the YouTube channel. Thanks for everything you do! Question for you – which I realise is pretty niche so you may not want to cover it. I am in the fortunate position of reaching max pension taper threshold (due to a great salary, some even greater RSU awards and an increasing company share-price!). I have some pension contribution carry-forward but will have used this all up by FY26. My employer do a 7% pension contribution if employee contributes 4%. But for those reaching taper threshold, you can opt out and the company will instead just give the 7% on top of your salary (which is very generous!). Thinking ahead, my question is: – Would it be better to: a) take the combined 11% contribution and opt for a scheme-pays for the tax above the £10k allowance when time comes. I am thinking this way I still get a years worth of investment of the pre-tax money before the tax is paid – which might be beneficial? or b) opt out and take the post-tax increase in salary and put this somewhere else? My wife's and mine ISAs will be maxed already, so would have to be GIA most likely (or premium bonds!?). I'm thinking A makes most sense. I still get the £10k tax free and benefit from some further untaxed money working for me for a little while at least. The tax has to be paid either way, but I am delaying it till later. What do you both think? Thanks very much! Paul

Kick off the new year with an engaging Q&A about personal finance! Discover the differences between ETFs and index funds, especially concerning UK tax implications. Learn about pension contributions for high earners, including strategies to avoid breaching limits. Dive into taxation challenges and investment decisions, plus explore effective pension management and common mistakes to avoid. Get insights on transitioning between homes and maximizing financial efficiency. Tune in for expert tips and thoughtful discussions to improve your financial journey!

Explore the world of pension consolidation, tackling the benefits and challenges of merging old plans. Discover why it's essential to understand your existing pensions and the hidden values they may hold. Learn about the complexities of defined benefit versus defined contribution schemes and the risks of transferring. Get practical advice on navigating the transfer process, and see how better management can lead to enhanced financial security. Plus, uncover strategies for informed decision-making to align pensions with your future goals.

Discover the essential steps of the financial advice process, including the vital difference between advice and planning. Learn about the importance of cash flow modeling and how it can enhance retirement options. Gain insights into the need for clear communication and transparency with your advisor. Explore how to effectively choose a financial advisor by focusing on trust and organization. Plus, hear a humorous analogy about shopping for window blinds to illustrate the importance of being prepared before consultations.

In this engaging Q&A, listeners tackle pressing financial dilemmas. One graduate is torn about whether to prioritize paying off high-interest student loans or saving for the future. Another listener uncovers a mysterious pension payout linked to a past employer, raising questions about pension accessibility. The hosts share insights on building emergency funds and balancing loan repayments, while also diving into tax strategies for high earners. This conversation unveils vital lessons in smart financial planning for young professionals.

The importance of being intentional in personal finance is front and center. Clear goals, supported by the SMART criteria, lead to greater financial success. Consistency is key in managing budgets and tracking net worth. The episode offers practical strategies for debt management and emphasizes a disciplined approach to investing. Additionally, the hosts discuss the significance of avoiding emotional decisions in volatile markets. Overall, it's about aligning actions with long-term goals and building wealth through intentionality.