The Meaningful Money Personal Finance Podcast

For many of us, the biggest headache is dealing with financial paperwork produced by pensions, policies and investments. But there is an easy way to sort things out, you just need to follow some simple rules. 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 Dealing with financial paperwork Back in Session 22 I outlined the basics of trusts, covering how they are set up, the important parties, the powers and duties of trustees and the key benefits. This time, I want to cover the key points in your financial life when trusts are invaluable. In this session, you'll discover: The worst thing you can do when filing financial paperwork How long you should keep different kinds of paperwork How to decide what to keep and what to shred The basic stationery you need An amazing software tool which I love The full shownotes for the original version of session are right here. There's no transcript available this week Join the conversation I love to read and respond to your comments, so please do join in and share. Question: What is your biggest chellenge when dealing with financial paperwork? 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 we talked about times in our financial lives when we might need to seek advice and times when we might not. One of the times when you should is when considering using trusts for financial planning. In this session I give you what you need to know and what you need to do to make sure you and your adviser get things right when using trusts.   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 Using trusts in financial planning Back in Session 22 I outlined the basics of trusts, covering how they are set up, the important parties, the powers and duties of trustees and the key benefits. This time, I want to cover the key points in your financial life when trusts are invaluable. In this session, you'll discover: A reminder of the key benefits of trusts The main types of trust The main reasons for using trusts How to make sure your protection benefits end up in the right hands How to pass money to children or vulnerable adults How to save inheritance tax How to make sure your second spouse's kids don't end up with your money! Remember that trusts are a specialist legal area, one woefully underused by most advisers, let alone private client lawyers. Always seek competent professional advice on this key area. Resources mentioned in this show: Podcast: Session 22 - All About Trusts Book: The bible for advisers dealing with trusts - Trustinvest from SIFA (Not actually mentioned in the show I don't think)   And of course there's a full transcript available by hitting the big blue button below: Join the conversation I love to read and respond to your comments, so please do join in and share. Question: Have you had to use a trust, or have you ever wished you had done? Let me know in the comments... 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:

This whole website is dedicated to giving you enough information that never need to take financial advice. But there are points during all our lives, when the money spent on getting good quality advice will be worth many times the cost of advice. What are those triggers that let you know when to seek financial advice, and how do you recognise them? 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 When to seek financial advice Increasingly these days I’m getting emails from listeners suggesting subjects for podcast sessions. That’s excellent, because it saves me from coming up with them! Tony from Reading is one such listener who wrote: Is there a rule of thumb we can use to teach us when to use a professional and when to make our own decisions ? e.g. If I am switching a stocks & shares ISA from one provider to another - what to look out for that indicates the need for professional advice ? Or can I just go for it ? e.g Pensions.  Is it OK to simply switch pensions provider to get a more flexible product, a better deal or better service ?  What are the watch outs - and when should we call an IFA ? That’s an excellent question, and a good one to get my teeth into! In this session, you'll discover: The three steps that everyone needs to take to succeed with money Why you don't need to seek advice When you should consider it When you really, really do need to seek professional advice Which professionals to see, and when - it's not all about IFAs you now! Thanks to Tony for the idea for this session; I hope it clarifies things for him, and for all of you! Resources mentioned in this show: Course: Learn How To Invest Podcast: Session 75 - Direct Investment Platforms with Mark Polson Website: Morningstar Website: MoneySupermarket.com Podcast: Session 22 - All About Trusts And of course, there's always the transcript for this show, which you can get by hitting the big blue button below: Join the conversation I love to read and respond to your comments, so please do join in and share. Question: Can you think of any other times when you should or shouldn't seek advice? Let me know in the comments... 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:

With rising house prices and tight mortgage lending criteria, it can be harder than ever for first time house buyers to make that first step onto the housing ladder. Fortunately, Her Majesty’s government is riding to the rescue   This week I’m going to be talking to listener Simon Hancock, who knows this market inside out, having recently gone through the process himself…   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 Getting on to the housing ladder with shared ownership Right, let’s crack on! Simon Hancock emailed me suggesting that I might do a session on the various schemes that are available to help house buyers, well, buy a house. It was so clear from the email that Simon had done the research and that he knew his onions, that I fired one straight back and asked if I could interview him. He kindly agreed, and this session is the result. In this session, you’ll discover: The different methods which new homebuyers can get help from the government The pros and cons of these shared ownership schemes The mechanics of how they work, and what to watch for Which options might be suited for which people How you can prepare for owning your first home, and the financial side of doing so. I’m grateful to Simon for his input, both in coming up with the idea for the show, and for doing the homework so I didn’t have to! And also for putting up with a pretty ropey Skype connection… Resources mentioned in this show: Website: Gov.uk site on shared ownership   Join the conversation I love to read and respond to your comments, so please do join in and share. Question: Have you used a shared ownership scheme to buy a house? What was your experience? 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:

The government has handed down some tough new rules for landlords and property investors to swallow. So what does this mean for property investing going forward? Is property still a good asset class to include in your portfolio? This week I’m bringing back friends of the show and property investment legends, Rob Bence and Rob Dix from The Property Podcast who are going to tell us about what's next for 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 What's next for property? So, big changes for property investor which are making many people rethink the asset class, if my email in box is anything to go by. I first chatted to Rob and Rob back in session 12, over three years ago. They name checked me on their wildly popular show and I know that as a result, many of their listeners also listen to me, and vice versa. They really, really know their stuff and have loads to say on this topic. In this session, you'll discover: Changes being made to the taxation of mortgage interest for landlords, and what it means in practice The Robs' view on what the Stamp Duty surcharge will do to the gap between the haves and the have-nots. The impact of mortgage lending tightening for property investors Why the Bank of England is getting involved What one-day landlords can do to make the process easier The Robs' view on the future of property investing For all landlords and wannabe property investors, this is an important session which will help give you a steer as to the impact of these measures on your financial planning. Resources mentioned in this show: Website: The Property Hub - the Robs' main site from which you can find out all about what they're up to and get involved Free course: Should you buy property within or outside of a limited company? Explainer: How the changes to mortgage interest taxation will affect you   And of course, there's a full transcript of the show, which you can get by clicking the mahoosive blue button below: Join the conversation I love to read and respond to your comments, so please do join in and share. Question: Are you planning any changes to your property investing as a result of the changes? If so, what are you planning? 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:

Back in session 137 I talked about different ways tohave more money to invest for your future, from asking for a raiseto some basic online methods such as renting out a room on Airbnb.This week, I want to delve into this a little further, becausethere has never been a better time to start making money online in2016.Podcast: Subscribe iniTunes | Play in new window | DownloadSponsor MessageThis podcast is brought to you with the help of Seven Investment Management, a firm of investmentmanagers based in London. They specialise in multi-asset investing,bringing institutional investing techniques to ordinary people likeyou and me. 7IM put their name to my show and to my site becausethey believe in what I’m doing, trying to get decent,easy-to-understand financial information out to the world. I’m verygrateful to them for their support. You can see what they’re up toat 7im.co.ukMaking Money Online in 2016My guest today is a great buddy of mine, even thoughI have never met him in real life! We’re in a mastermind grouptogether and he knows a thing or two about marketing using onlinemethods, and about what people are looking for in 2016.Chris is founder of The Content Marketing Academy,a multi-faceted organisation which provides workshops, websiteaudits, and even a full scale conference, all delivering Chris’unique brand of passion for his subject. He has helped many peopletake their businesses to the next level by leveraging contentmarketing technique to widen their audience.In this session, you'll discover:Chris's background, and the key inspirational figure that heand I shareHow to take a hobby and turn it into something you can get paidforAn old school method of making money which still works in2016Why people will pay for convenienceThe site Chris uses to hire freelancers, and how you canuse it to make moneyThe holy grail of online income - can it work for you?In all we cover nine methods for making money online in 2016.There are bound to be two or more which you can take advantage ofright now to being making some extra money. Think what you could dowith the extra money, and how it would improve your financialprospects.Resources mentioned in this showChris's website: TheContent Marketing AcademyConference: TCMA 2016 (I'll be delivering the closing keynote atthe end of day one) Inspiration: GaryVaynerchuk, and his books Crush It, The Thankyou Economy, Jab Jab Jab RightHook, and TheAskGaryVee Book (all Amazon affiliate links).Inspiration: Chris Guillebeau,and his book The$100 StartupFreelancing: Fiverr, UpworkSelling courses: Udemy, SkillshareSelling stuff: Etsy, EbayRent out a room: Airbnb And ofcourse, as always there is a full transcript of the show, availableby clicking the big blue button below: [Insert TranscriptionLeadbox here]Join the conversationI love to read and respond to your comments, soplease do join in and share. Question: Haveyou ever made any money online? If so, how?Share the loveIf this show is of any use to you, it would help memassively if you would take the time to leave me areview on iTunes. This has a huge impact on keeping me near thetop of the rankings, which in turns helps more people to find theshow and to subscribe. Just click the button below:

Over the last two weeks we have talked about Net Worth, how to define it, how to calculate it and how to come up with a target Net Worth which signifies financial independence. We have looked at the metrics to track as you go along, so you know whether or not you’re on track. But what if you’re not on track? What if it is clear that you’re going to fall short of your target Net Worth. What should you do? 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 What if you're not target? Over the last couple of weeks, we have looked into what Net Worth is and how you can calculate it, and the things you should track on your way to target. But what if it you're not on target? In this session, you'll discover: That your target is a moving one That there are plenty of variables which may or may not be borne out Why it's about more than just the destination Ways to reassess your goal if you need to The three key variables, which can be moved to realign things when they go off track How tweaking one or more of those variables may mean that your target may not be so far off after all Apart from anything else, there is much to be gained from aiming at a target, rather than wandering aimlessly through life. Resources mentioned in this show Website: Find a Certified Financial Planner Podcast: Session 137: Making More Money  Join the conversation I love to read and respond to your comments, so please do join in and share. Question: Are you on track? If not, what might you do to fix it? 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 we covered a rough formula for working out what your Net Worth needs to be in order to be financially free one day. But there might be a lot of days from where you are now to where you want to be, so today I’m going to give you five things to track when growing net worth. Let's get practical! 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 Five Things To Track When Growing Net Worth So last week I took a deep dive into Net Worth, and tried to help you come up with a number to aim for. This cash figure, when converted into an income ought to be enough, when combined with other sources of income, to give you the life you want to lead. Now we have a target, but if that target is 25 years away, there are plenty of opportunities to leave the straight path. Sticking to the plan requires discipline and effort of will. I can’t really help you with that, but I can help you with the other part of the equation, which is to give you an idea of the things you need to keep track of as you go along. In this session, you'll discover: The one key to building wealth (which will come as no surprise to regular listeners) The importance of savings rate as a metric for success How often you should be tracking the five elements Why you shouldn't worry if the target moves further away one year Why one of the five measures is entirely up to you, and why I don't bother with it Next week, I'll be looking at what to do if you discover you are not on track Resources mentioned in this show Course: Learn How To Budget on Udemy Podcast: Session 137 - Making More Money Website: Moneystepper Savings Challenge Podcast: Session 96 - How To Review An Investment Portfolio And of course, there's the transcript of the show, which you can get by clicking the big blue button below: Join the conversation I love to read and respond to your comments, so please do join in and share. Question: Do you track anything I haven't mentioned here? Let me know in the comments... Share the love Hugs and kisses to MonopolySi and JeezItsHardToPickANickname-DM for their review this week - much appreciated! 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:

This week I’m going to be looking at the subject of Net Worth, a subject I covered briefly back in Session 93. Back then I defined it and talked about how to increase it, but today’s session is a deeper dive into the subject, inspired by an email conversation I had with a listener called David. Podcast: Subscribe in iTunes | Play in new window | Download Scroll down for the cheatsheet for this session... 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 Net Worth - How Much Is Enough? Listener David from Glasgow is on the MeaningfulMoney mailing list, and I love for people to hit reply and ask questions and offer suggestions for topics they’d like me to cover. David and I got into conversation about Net Worth. He wrote this to me: Re net worth, I am just amazed how little this seems to be of interest and I read very little about the concept in the UK financial websites / papers. Would be good to have a session on how various people 'run' their personal finance - for example I have a spreadsheet with various tabs and update my Fidelity S&S ISA and separate share tabs weekly with all sorts of info, then do a 'net worth'  and 'balance sheet' each month and save on a master tab. I also have tabs for pension, retirement planning, spend and savings targets. All fine as far as it goes, but is there a 'master class' podcast on the basics you should keep tabs on So I took this as a prompt to explore the concept of Net Worth in a bit more detail. In this session, you'll discover: The simple definition of Net Worth Why, even though it sounds simple enough, it can be tricky to work out what your future Net Worth needs to be A possible formula for working out whether your Net Worth is where it should be Why it is essential always to work in today's money My formulas for working out what your future Net Worth needs to be ...and how to work back from there to find out what you should be doing now Next week, I'll answer the second part of David's question and look at some things you should be tracking as you go along. Remember there's a cheatsheet for this session, which summarises the calculation and the rationale [Insert Cheatsheet Leadbox here] Resources mentioned in this show Podcast: Session 93 - Net Worth: Define It, Build It, Protect It Website: Networth IQ Book: The Number Book: The Millionaire Next Door Video: Five sources of Inspiration and Motivation Podcast: Session 79 - Financial Forecasting with Andy Hart Calculator: Voyantist Financial Independence    Join the conversation I love to read and respond to your comments, so please do join in and share. Question: Have you calculated what you need to achieve before you retire? Share the love Hugs and kisses to Dcaaaz for their review this week - much appreciated! 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:

Every week I ask people to leave me voicemail questions so I can answer them on the show, and hardly anyone does so. But this week, I answer two voicemails that came in within a couple of days of each other. Voicemails, it seems, are like buses, you go for weeks without any , and then two show up together… 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 Listener Questions Answered OK, two questions answered this week, the first is from George & Clare, who are getting married, and the other from Matt who has a questions on pensions tax relief. In this session, you'll discover: The single most important mindset shift towards money, when you're about to get hitched How to make sure money is never a reason for separation Why you might need to have a conversation about a pre-nup Some quick ways to optimise your finances as a couple How pension tax relief works for employees, and How salary sacrifice extends that process. Remember, you can have your question answered by clicking the green bar over on the right hand side of the page, or by going to the Ask Pete page! Resources mentioned in this show   Join the conversation I love to read and respond to your comments, so please do join in and share. Question: If you're in a couple, how have you organised your finances? Share the love Hugs and kisses to dacgw and Elliot Gardner for their reviews this week - much appreciated folks! 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: