The Meaningful Money Personal Finance Podcast

You’ve heard me talk several times on this show about having a strong foundation for your financial plans. In practice, this means having some insurance in place so that if the very worst happens, your plans need not be washed away. In today’s show, I’m going to look at the different kinds of insurance, how much you need and what you should look out for in the plans you already have.   Podcast: Subscribe in iTunes | Play in new window | Download Sponsor Message This podcast is brought to you with the help of Seven Investment Management, a firm of investment managers based in London. They specialise in multi-asset investing, bringing institutional investing techniques to ordinary people like you and me. 7IM put their name to my show and to my site because they believe in what I’m doing, trying to get decent, easy-to-understand financial information out to the world. I’m very grateful to them for their support. You can see what they’re up to at 7im.co.uk Audit Your Insurance So let’s talk about a foundation. When building anything, the foundation absolutely has to be right. If you build a house without an adequate foundation, at best you’re going to get some unsightly cracks, and at worst the place will fall down. Life throws things at us which we don’t expect. Some of those things are worse than others. Some have a greater financial impact than others. But a prudent person takes some steps to ensure that if some or all of these things happen, then the longer-term financial security of you and your family need not be compromised. Resources Here's the cheatsheet I've put together to summarise the things I talk about in this session: Podcast: Session 7, Protecting Your Future Podcast: Session 22, All About Trusts   Share the love If this show is of any use to you, it would help me massively if you would take the time to leave me a review on iTunes. This has a huge impact on keeping me near the top of the rankings, which in turns helps more people to find the show and to subscribe. Just click the button below:

Last week I introduced the nine areas of your finances that we’re going to delving into for our Personal Finance Audit. The idea is that over time, some things get neglected and left to run, and sometimes it’s good to take a fresh, detailed look at these ares to make sure they’re still in good shape in helping you move towards your aims. Today I want to take a look at the absolutely fundamental area of spending… Podcast: Subscribe in iTunes | Play in new window | Download Sponsor Message This podcast is brought to you with the help of Seven Investment Management, a firm of investment managers based in London. They specialise in multi-asset investing, bringing institutional investing techniques to ordinary people like you and me. 7IM put their name to my show and to my site because they believe in what I’m doing, trying to get decent, easy-to-understand financial information out to the world. I’m very grateful to them for their support. You can see what they’re up to at 7im.co.uk Audit Your Spending I’ve often said that financial planning is essentially about income and outgoings. If you’re building wealth, you need to have some excess income so you can save and invest that over time. If you’re retired and enjoying your money, then your spending rate will be a key determinant as to whether or not you run out of money one day. So no matter what stage of life you’re at, keeping some kind of rein on your spending is important. As we go through this season, I want to keep the stuff you need to KNOW fairly short, and go long on the practical, what you need to DO stuff. Resources Here's the cheatsheet I've put together to summarise the things I talk about in this session:   Budgeting Tools: YNAB, Spending Tracker for iOS, Spending Tracker for Android, Fudget for iOS, Fudget for Android Podcasts: Session 3 - How To Budget Session 207 - Enough with Paul Armson Season 5, Episode 6 - Investing in Retirement, with Abraham Okusanya Session 157 - Making More Money, with Chris Marr Money To The Masses Websites: I Will Teach You To Be Rich, savings article Meaningful University - Budgeting course launching soon! Envision Your Money New style bank: Monzo   Share the love If this show is of any use to you, it would help me massively if you would take the time to leave me a review on iTunes. This has a huge impact on keeping me near the top of the rankings, which in turns helps more people to find the show and to subscribe. Just click the button below:

Welcome to a brand new season here on MeaningfulMoney. I’m excited to bring you this season because I believe that it will help every single listener to this show. Today’s session will be introducing the season and helping you get ready and excited for it. Don’t worry though, it ain't just fluff - there will be some action points to take as well.   Podcast: Subscribe in iTunes | Play in new window | Download Sponsor Message This podcast is brought to you with the help of Seven Investment Management, a firm of investment managers based in London. They specialise in multi-asset investing, bringing institutional investing techniques to ordinary people like you and me. 7IM put their name to my show and to my site because they believe in what I’m doing, trying to get decent, easy-to-understand financial information out to the world. I’m very grateful to them for their support. You can see what they’re up to at 7im.co.uk The Personal Finance Audit OK, I am calling this season of MeaningfulMoney the Personal Finance Audit. I battled with myself over what to call it. Is ‘Audit’ too dull a word? Too forensic? Will everyone understand what it means? In the end I opted for the word audit because I want this to be a pretty thorough look over various areas of our personal financial situation, to help us identify areas which might need refining or improving. All with the aim of reaching our goals as quickly and efficiently as possible. So today I want to outline the nine areas of your personal finances we’re going to be looking into over the coming weeks so you’re well prepared for what’s to come. Resources Book: Enough, How Much Money Do You Need For The Rest Of Your Life? Website: Envision Your Money Transcript As always there is a transcript available for the entire show. you can get it by clicking the huge blue button below:   Share the love If this show is of any use to you, it would help me massively if you would take the time to leave me a review on iTunes. This has a huge impact on keeping me near the top of the rankings, which in turns helps more people to find the show and to subscribe. Just click the button below:

Today I’m chatting to one of the most influential people in UK financial planning, Paul Armson. Paul coaches advisers in the UK and beyond who want to adopt lifestyle financial planning. He’s written a new book, called Enough, and has created a really interesting new app which those of you wanting to make a start with your own financial planning are going to love.   Podcast: Subscribe in iTunes | Play in new window | Download Sponsor Message This podcast is brought to you with the help of Seven Investment Management, a firm of investment managers based in London. They specialise in multi-asset investing, bringing institutional investing techniques to ordinary people like you and me. 7IM put their name to my show and to my site because they believe in what I’m doing, trying to get decent, easy-to-understand financial information out to the world. I’m very grateful to them for their support. You can see what they’re up to at 7im.co.uk Enough This episode is being released on Monday 8th May 2017 which is the start of Financial Planning Week here in the UK. This is a project designed to spread the word about professional financial planning and advisers up and down the country are putting on surgeries, delivering seminars, writing blogs, creating videos, and appearing on TV and radio to get the message out. This episode is my contribution to Financial Planning Week. Now my conversation with Paul is pretty wide-ranging, taking in the difference between financial advice and financial planning, the way he explains lifetime cashflow (which is super-useful), and the three different kinds of people he has seen throughout his career, and what each group needs to do. Resources  Book: Enough, How Much Money Do You Need For The Rest Of Your Life? Website: Envision Your Money For Advisers: Free video course to help you take your professionalism to the next level Website: Financial Planning Week Share the love If this show is of any use to you, it would help me massively if you would take the time to leave me a review on iTunes. This has a huge impact on keeping me near the top of the rankings, which in turns helps more people to find the show and to subscribe. Just click the button below:

When Rob Dix, one half of the Property Podcast duo Rob & Rob, approached me and asked if I would have him on to talk about his new book, How To Be A Landlord, I wanted to do it because I owe those guys quite a lot. But more than that, I knew Rob would bring amazing value to the thousands of you listening who are, or who aspire to be property investors.   Podcast: Subscribe in iTunes | Play in new window | Download Sponsor Message This podcast is brought to you with the help of Seven Investment Management, a firm of investment managers based in London. They specialise in multi-asset investing, bringing institutional investing techniques to ordinary people like you and me. 7IM put their name to my show and to my site because they believe in what I’m doing, trying to get decent, easy-to-understand financial information out to the world. I’m very grateful to them for their support. You can see what they’re up to at 7im.co.uk How To Be A Landlord Rob raises an excellent point in my conversation with him that once you buy a rental property, you not only become a property investor, you also become a landlord. There’s loads of information on the former, but precious little on the latter, and Rob’s new book is aiming to fill that void. In this week's value-packed show, you'll learn: Why adding property investing into your overall mix is a great idea, and why it might not be Why understanding your responsibilities as a landlord might make or break the success of your property investment How to go about finding tenants, and how to reference them correctly The importance of a good tenancy agreement How to have a happy relationship with your tenants How to deal effectively with things that go wrong The pros and cons of managing your property yourself or hiring a managing agent How to find a good agent if you opt for that route  Rob then suggests going through his checklist for all the above to make sure you're doing the right things. You can get the checklist by clicking that massive yellow button just below. See it? Yep, that one... Resources Firstly, there's the book itself, How To Be A Landlord, which you can get from Amazon by clicking the image to the left Podcast: Property Geek Website: Property Geek         Share the love If this show is of any use to you, it would help me massively if you would take the time to leave me a review on iTunes. This has a huge impact on keeping me near the top of the rankings, which in turns helps more people to find the show and to subscribe. Just click the button below:

I get lots of emails these days about pretty much all aspects of personal finance. But as we have been dealing this seasons with the subject of The Great Transition, I thought I would pick out a few questions specific to the subject of retirement and investing in retirement, and try to answer them in this week’s show… Retirement Questions Answered Rather than attribute these questions to individuals who have sent them, I have picked these six retirement questions because they represent the kinds of questions I have been getting. In a couple of cases, I have used the questions verbatim, but I have tidied the rest up to reflect the load of similar questions. Remember, it’s not too late to ask a question. If you have one, the best place is in the comments section below, or head over to the Ask Pete page, and maybe I’ll record a video answer for you… Here are the subjects of the six questions answered in this week’s show: With markets high right now, how can I protect myself from a market correction if I’m about to start drawing from my portfolio? If my final salary pension is reduced for every year I take it early, how can I balance the reduced pension against receiving it for longer – which is the better deal? What benefits are there in working with a financial planner, rather than an IFA, if I have a specific plan for my drawdown? (This question also takes in the natural yield vs total return subject) Does it really make sense to secure some of my retirement income with annuity rates as low as they are? Are there any circumstances where it might make sense to intentionally go over the lifetime allowance? If I retire early, do I have to reduce my drawdown so my money doesn’t run out?   Resources Podcast: Financial Planning vs Financial Advice Video: Financial Planning vs Financial Advice Article: PwC blog on Lifetime Allowance App: 7IMagine on the App Store, and on Google Play Transcript As always there is a transcript available for the entire show. you can get it by clicking the huge blue button below: Share the love If this show is of any use to you, it would help me massively if you would take the time to leave me a review on iTunes. This has a huge impact on keeping me near the top of the rankings, which in turns helps more people to find the show and to subscribe. Just click the button below:  

Last week I had a great conversation with Abraham Okusanya about the vital subject of investing in retirement. We covered a lot of ground, and mentioned lots of practical stuff. This week I want to pick out the main points and give you the actionable steps you need to take.   Podcast: Subscribe in iTunes | Play in new window | Download Sponsor Message This podcast is brought to you with the help of Seven Investment Management, a firm of investment managers based in London. They specialise in multi-asset investing, bringing institutional investing techniques to ordinary people like you and me. 7IM put their name to my show and to my site because they believe in what I’m doing, trying to get decent, easy-to-understand financial information out to the world. I’m very grateful to them for their support. You can see what they’re up to at 7im.co.uk Managing Cashflow In Drawdown If you haven’t listened to last week’s conversation with Abraham, I strongly suggest you do that now. Abraham is super-passionate about the subject of investing in retirement, and the serious effects of getting it wrong. His passion is backed up with data, and he covers a lot of that in last week’s show. If you have listened to that show, stick with me now as I cut to the main things you need to DO (Consider last week as what you need to KNOW) In this session you will learn: Why it is important to map out the first few years' drawdown What planning your withdrawal strategy really means Why planning round the tax allowances is all-important Why I believe you should NOT increase your risk in retirement When diversification isn't really diversification Why you should keep cash, and how much to keep, when The importance of ongoing review The power of a long-term view   Resources Podcast: How To Choose A Multi-Asset Fund   Share the love If this show is of any use to you, it would help me massively if you would take the time to leave me a review on iTunes. This has a huge impact on keeping me near the top of the rankings, which in turns helps more people to find the show and to subscribe. Just click the button below:  

I’m delighted to welcome back Abraham Okusanya of Finalytiq to help me cover a topic which is so important - investing in retirement. It’s important because if there’s one time in your life you really can’t afford to get it wrong, then it’s in retirement.   Podcast: Subscribe in iTunes | Play in new window | Download Sponsor Message This podcast is brought to you with the help of Seven Investment Management, a firm of investment managers based in London. They specialise in multi-asset investing, bringing institutional investing techniques to ordinary people like you and me. 7IM put their name to my show and to my site because they believe in what I’m doing, trying to get decent, easy-to-understand financial information out to the world. I’m very grateful to them for their support. You can see what they’re up to at 7im.co.uk Investing in Retirement The traditional view of investing in retirement is to reduce the risk of your pensions and other investments as you approach the great transition, and then cruise through retirement, being fairly cautious, hopefully not spending too much. These days, there is quite a bit to think about, particularly thanks to the pensions freedoms which mean more people than ever are opting not to secure an income with an annuity but opt for unsecured income drawdown instead. In this session you will learn: The key considerations for investing in retirement Why the Pensions Freedoms of 2015 are so important and what they mean for you The difference between a chicken and an egg The dangers of sequencing risk Some strategies for mitigating that risk Some ideas as to the order in which you should spend your money The difference between investing for natural income or total return, and why it matters Resources Website: Abraham's company, Finalytiq App: Timeline - The Safe Withdrawal app Social: Abraham on Twitter   Share the love If this show is of any use to you, it would help me massively if you would take the time to leave me a review on iTunes. This has a huge impact on keeping me near the top of the rankings, which in turns helps more people to find the show and to subscribe. Just click the button below:

Two weeks ago we talked about securing an income in retirement. Today I’m going to look in-depth at unsecured income, or what ordinary people call Income Drawdown.   Podcast: Subscribe in iTunes | Play in new window | Download Sponsor Message This podcast is brought to you with the help of Seven Investment Management, a firm of investment managers based in London. They specialise in multi-asset investing, bringing institutional investing techniques to ordinary people like you and me. 7IM put their name to my show and to my site because they believe in what I’m doing, trying to get decent, easy-to-understand financial information out to the world. I’m very grateful to them for their support. You can see what they’re up to at 7im.co.uk Income Drawdown The difference between secured and unsecured drawdown is essentially about who takes the risk. With a secured income you have someone else guaranteeing to provide you with the specified income, and it is up to them to do whatever is necessary to meet their obligations. With unsecured income drawdown, you are in control, and on your own head be it. If you run out of money, too bad. If you still have too much money left when you die, then you haven’t spent enough! The investment risk, the withdrawal rate, the asset mix, is all down to you. So this week I want to look at the mechanics of income drawdown, and then next week, I’m bringing back friend of the show Abraham Okusanya to give us a steer as to how to withdraw money and how to invest for retirement. In this session you will learn: That Income Drawdown is not just about pensions Why the Pensions Freedoms of 2015 are so important How income tax works in pension drawdown Why death benefits should always be front of mind when planning your drawdown strategy Why it is worth checking ahead of time whether your own pensions are flexible Why consolidation of your pensions makes life easier And why you should be very careful doing so Why you should check your expression of wishes on your pensions   Transcript As always there is a transcript available for the entire show. you can get it by clicking the huge blue button below: [Coming Soon]   Share the love If this show is of any use to you, it would help me massively if you would take the time to leave me a review on iTunes. This has a huge impact on keeping me near the top of the rankings, which in turns helps more people to find the show and to subscribe. Just click the button below:

Regular listeners will know that just a couple of days ago I released by 200th episode, where I was interviewed by the one and only Mark Schaefer. Well today, I’m returning the favour (well, to be honest, he’s the one doing all the favours) and talking to him about his new book, KNOWN.   Podcast: Subscribe in iTunes | Play in new window | Download Sponsor Message This podcast is brought to you with the help of Seven Investment Management, a firm of investment managers based in London. They specialise in multi-asset investing, bringing institutional investing techniques to ordinary people like you and me. 7IM put their name to my show and to my site because they believe in what I’m doing, trying to get decent, easy-to-understand financial information out to the world. I’m very grateful to them for their support. You can see what they’re up to at 7im.co.uk Becoming KNOWN For those who don’t know, Mark Schaefer is one of the leading lights in the online marketing space. Now that’s a busy space, but his enduring wisdom marks him out as someone who not only gets how to do the whole online marketing thing, but who can teach it effectively, without resorting to peppy motivational lines. His premise about becoming KNOWN applies to anyone with a message they need to be heard, a business or cause to promote, or who wants to improve their own standing in any sphere of life. He’s also one of the sweetest guys very generous with his time and expertise, and I’m so glad I decided to bring him on. Resources Mark's Website: Businesses Grow Book: KNOWN (Amazon affiliate link) Workbook: KNOWN Personal Branding Workbook (ditto) Mark on Twitter: @markwschaefer Video: Pete as the Easter Bunny KNOWN Case Study: Antonio Centaro KNOWN Case Study: Zander Zon Book: Peter Drucker - Innovation and Entrepreneurship (Amazon affiliate link) Transcript As always there is a transcript available for the entire show. you can get it by clicking the huge blue button below: [Coming Soon] Competition For the chance to win one of five copies of Mark's book KNOWN, please leave a comment below telling me why you think becoming KNOWN will help your cause/business/career/whatever. I'll choose my favourites to receive a book. Share the love If this show is of any use to you, it would help me massively if you would take the time to leave me a review on iTunes. This has a huge impact on keeping me near the top of the rankings, which in turns helps more people to find the show and to subscribe. Just click the button below: