The Meaningful Money Personal Finance Podcast

Today I chat with Søren Neilsen of Ernit.com, a revolutionary product which aims to teach children as young as four how to deal with money when, let’s face it, money is more invisible than ever as cash is less and less a part of our lives as we transact online. I’m looking forward to bringing you this one.

I have often wondered what it would be like to start a brand new financial planning practice from scratch. What would the process look like if I was unencumbered by any pre-existing systems, technology or even client expectations. My good mate Andy Hart, a previous guest on the show back in Session 79, has recently launched his own practice, Maven Adviser. I’m going to chatting to him about the decisions he has made and why. Along the way, I hope you might learn something about what makes a good adviser.

Over my 20-year career as a financial adviser, I’ve seen lots of people involved with family businesses. Where I am in Cornwall, this is very often in agriculture or fishing, but whatever the industry, it’s fair to say there’s a unique dynamic within family businesses which can be both a blessing and a challenge. I’m joined today by my friend and fellow financial planner Russ Haworth who specialises in advising families that work together, to talk about the particular issues which apply to family businesses.

Here at the end of Season Six we’ve covered a load of practical aspects of your finances and taken a good look at each. Now we need to turn the spotlight on YOU to audit your habits.

As we hit later life, our minds often start to turn to what happens when we’re gone. In fact it should be a part of our planning at every stage, ands today I’m going to give you the things you need to know and do to stay on top of your estate. https://meaningfulmoney.tv/PFA9

In this season so far, we’ve talked a lot about the practicalities of managing your personal finances. But what is it all for? Investing, saving, paying into pensions, taking out insurance - all this should be done towards a defined goal. But sometimes those goals fade, sometimes they change, sometimes they need to be abandoned and sometimes brought back to life. Your plans, like all the practical stuff sometimes need to be looked at closely, and that’s what I’m going to be talking about this week.

Hands up who likes dealing with paperwork? Well, there are some of you out there, but most people avoid it like the plague. But out-of-control financial paperwork can actually add to the burden of stress you have around your finances, and getting it sorte

Benjamin Franklin apparently said that there are only two certainties in life, death and taxes. Today I want to look at the tax you may be paying, and how to make the best of the various tax allowances available.

In this season, we’ve been looking at each individual area of your personal finances, to make sure that nothing has drifted from lack of attention. Financial success requires you to be intentional and deliberate in everything you do, but so many people drift through life amassing pensions, investments and policies, and often have the underlying money invested in poor, default funds. So today we’re turning the spotlight on your portfolio, that is, the underlying investments which will drive your financial success. https://meaningfulmoney.tv/PFA5

For many of us in this latter half of the 20teens, a platform is an essential part of our investing. But like all aspects of our financial lives, we should make sure that our chosen platform continues to serve our purposes. Back when I started in the financial advice world, there were no such things as platforms. Then the first fund supermarkets arrived and these were followed by the very capable systems we have available now, with multiple tax wrappers, complex reporting tools and all that. These days, not many of us invest directly with the fund houses, but use a platform to make our lives easier. So what should you be checking to make sure the platforms we’re using and the tax wrappers we hold on them, continue to serve us well? Remember that the notes and links from today's show are at the shownotes, including a cheatsheet and a full transcript. It’s the only link you need to remember: meaningfulmoney.tv/PFA4