This Is Money Show

It finally happened. The Bank of England raised interest rates for the first time in more than a decade this week. But what was the point of that rate rise? It was certainly a curiosity, coming alongside a decidedly downbeat Inflation Report. Was it to dampen inflation, to send a warning sign to borrowers, or just to put a tiny smile on beleaguered savers’ faces? On this week’s podcast, Simon Lambert, Rachel Rickard Straus and Georgie Frost look at why the Bank raised rates and what it means for you. They also dive into the really crucial question: how high will the base rate go from here and how fast will it rise? There’s also some ideas to get richer whatever happens next with interest rates, a jargon-busting look at what on earth is the bank of England talking about in its reports, and tips on how to find the best savings account… while one of the worst is shamed. And it’s not all interest rates, we’ve also got the state pension trap for those trying to boost payouts and the intriguing question of whether

Do you have a will? If not you should probably get one. But if you do have one, do you understand what’s in it? According to Will Aid, MORE THAN HALF (54%) of parents with children under the age of 18 don’t have a will. That’s 54 per cent minus one person now, however, after This is Money editor Simon Lambert finally got his act together and sorted his out. So what do you need to know about getting a will, what’s easy, what’s complicated and what are the things you don’t want to think about but have to? Simon explains what he found out when he got his. Also on this week’s show, Georgie Frost and Lee Boyce discuss the best way to help bank fraud victims – and whether enough is being done to get people’s money back and warn potential victims. Plus, we find out how to invest like one of the most successful investors ever, Warren Buffett, from the Buffettology fund manager who has spent the past five years beating the UK market by doing just that. The cars most people want to ditch through scrappage a

Inheritance tax is one of the most hated around. Despite the fact that most people will never leave enough wealth to have it charged on their estates, we really don't like the idea of 40% above a certain amount going to the taxman. But IHT is also a tax that can be avoided. How? Listen to this week's podcast to find out, as Simon Lambert, Georgie Frost and Sarah Davidson discuss all things inheritance. They look at how it works, ways to avoid it and the traps you could fall into. They also have some ideas about what we should do about it. If Chancellor Philip Hammond is listening - and we sincerely hope he does tune in – then he can get some feedback on an idea he was credited with this week: taking some money off the old, to give to the young. What started out as rumours of a lower tax rate for the under-30s, ended up as an apparent Budget plan to cut pension tax relief for older savers and somehow boost what’s on offer to younger people. Our story on this has been the most read of the week and the i

Behavioural economists believe a gentle nudge in the right direction can make you richer and over recent years they have managed to win the ears of governments around the world – including the UK’s. This week one of the thinkers who helped spread the word on behavioural economics, Professor Richard Thaler, won a Nobel Prize for economics. In the old world of economics textbooks, people behaved perfectly rationally and made the right choices. In the real world, of course, we don’t. We make irrational decisions that fly in the face of economic theory all the time. Yet, our irrational behaviour can be an asset. It means that we can be nudged into making the best choices. Professor Thaler’s catch-all advice is whether you’re a business or a government, if you want people to do something, make it easy. In Britain, one example adopted by the Government has been pensions. Instead of getting people to opt into a pension, we’re now automatically enrolled and then offered the chance to opt out. It’s now easier t

Households are being pushed into having smart meters fitted by energy giants trying to meet their own targets. But despite delivering accurate billing many are unhappy at having the meters fitted. So what's the problem with them? Lee Boyce, Georgie Frost and Simon Lambert, discuss smart meters on this excerpt from the This is Money podcast.

Forget coughing fits, pranksters and tumbling letters for a minute. Along with a car crash speech for Theresa May, the Tory party conference also brought a few policies that might make a difference to our financial lives. Student fees, housebuilding and an energy price cap all came up on the agenda. But was this just tinkering around the edges, or a solid plan to improve three highly controversial areas? Last week, the This is Money Podcast asked what Labour would do to the UK economy and your finances, so this week it seems only fair to ask the question of the Conservatives. Listen to the podcast to join Simon Lambert, Laura Whitcombe and Georgie Frost on a tour through those Tory policies – and whether they have any chance of working – alongside the rest of the money news you need to know about this week. Also on the agenda this week, we talk pensions, discussing why a reader’s state pension has been cut even for the years they were contracted in and whether we need to be worried about final salary schemes

In this excerpt from the This is Money Podcast, Simon Lambert, Rob Hull and Georgie Frost discuss how new car buyers can get the best deal from the car scrappage schemes being offered by dealers. The This is Money Podcast brings you everything you need to know about money each week, in partnership with NS&I

Labour didn’t win the last General Election but leader Jeremy Corbyn believes it could do next time. In case that comes around anytime soon, the party this week laid out some plans at its conference. Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell also revealed that the leadership would be doing war game planning should a Labour victory cause a run on the pound or a stock market slump. Depending on your point of view, this may sound amusing, scary or exciting. But what does it actually mean and should we be worried? Corbyn's plans are pretty radical and would herald a sharp turn in the country's economic direction but should we be worried about the economy as it is now? Perhaps the rumoured Bank of England rate hike is a sign that things are absolutely fine. On this week’s This is Money podcast, Simon Lambert, Georgie Frost and Lee Boyce take a look at whether the UK’s pint glass is half empty or half full – and whether that means you will get richer or poorer. The team also look at whether the unloved UK is a contrar

This week the team ask the million dollar question: are interest rates really about to rise before the end of 2017? Are house buyers in property 'paradise' after a recent index showed a fall in monthly house asking prices - and should homeowners fix their mortgages for the long term? Brexit has thrown up many potential problems and could private expat pensions be one of them? And note mania is back - last week saw the new polymer £10 note launched. We tell you what serial numbers to look out for to potentially make a tidy profit. Enjoy.

This is Money has had a string of questions from readers looking to give their cash to children or grandchildren but who also wish to protect it from being squandered or lost in a relationship break-up. Whether the money is for a house deposit or to avoid inheritance tax, or for any other reason, it’s a major modern concern - especially as the sums involved can be tens or hundreds of thousands of pounds. On this week’s This is Money podcast, Simon Lambert, Rachel Rickard Straus and Georgie Frost discuss why people are worried and what they can do – if anything. Can you really control money once it has been given away? Could partners – or even theoretical future partners – get their hands on it? And why give it away in the first place if you’re going to worry about how it’s used? Also, on the agenda is the 10-year anniversary of the run on Northern Rock – when customers feared for the bank’s future and queued up outside branches to withdraw all their cash. It was the birth of the financial crisis in the UK fol

Car scrappage schemes are back. After waiting in vain for the government to launch an official scrappage scheme to get dirty diesels off the road, car makers have taken matters into their own hands. But is this an altruistic move to help replace more polluting cars with greener ones, or are they just trying to flog more cars? These new scrappage schemes have coincided with falling sales of new cars, so you could be forgiven for being cynical, which if we’re going to be honest is exactly what This is Money editor Simon Lambert and deputy motoring editor Rob Hull are. But there’s another important question to tackle, are these scrappage schemes a good deal? Simon, Rob and host Georgie Frost take a deep dive into them – and the murky world of cars sales and finance. What you probably won’t be buying if you take advantage of a scrappage scheme is an electric car – but wait a few years and your next one could be. There’s been a string of news on this and in a show that goes more than a little electric we take

Hasta La Vista PPI! Arnold Schwarzenegger has been drafted in as a last-ditch attempt to get the millions of us who still haven't claimed compensation for mis-sold PPI to do so. In this episode of the podcast, top financial broadcaster Georgie Frost join Lee Boyce and Rachel Rickard Straus of the This is Money team to talk about Arnie's new PPI advertisement campaign and more. They have a good old chat about the big money stories from the past week and what it all means for you. We've all heard about PPI a million times, but with half of those eligible still yet to claim, could you still be owed a little windfall? Lee gives his back to basics guide on what you can do to check – and how you could still be owed some cash even if you've had a claim declined in the past. Then Georgie makes a case for banning the word 'loyal' when used to describe customers who stay with the same utility or insurance provider for year after year. Are they loyal, apathetic or unaware that they could get a better deal elsewhe

Ten years ago last week the greatest game of hide and seek was about to come to an end. Banks had been lending money to people who had no way of ever paying it back to buy houses they would never be able to afford. But rather than writing off the debts, they packaged them up into complex investments, pretended they were safe and selling them to investors who had no idea of what they were buying. The bad stuff was carefully hidden among a few quality loans and everyone was happy – for a while. It was insane. It was global. It was the financial crisis. Then came the credit crunch where the grease that turns the wheels of economies dried up. Banks collapsed. Governments went bust. Over the past week commentators have been recounting where they were and how they saw it coming. But they didn’t see it coming. Few did. This week, Simon Lambert and Georgie Frost offer up one of the best, honest and understandable accounts of what really happened after BNP Paribas shut down three hedge fund

Are banks doing everything that they can to track down fraudsters who con you into transferring them money? They repeatedly tell us that they are, but one man says that’s not true. He got scammed, took matters into his own hands and got £20,000 back. How did Gideon Roseman do it? He used his experience as a barrister to follow the money. So, if he can, why don’t we see more banks doing that? This is Money’s fraud expert Lee Boyce, who has won thousands of pounds back for readers, discusses whether banks are really doing everything they can. Also on the agenda in this week’s podcast with Simon Lambert and Georgie Frost is the exchange traded fund (ETF) that lets you invest in cows, coffee and gold all in one place (but would you want to?) And what you need to know about those bargain-priced ‘Cat D’ second-hand cars you see for sale. What does it mean, why is the system changing and are these previously damaged motors worth taking a punt on if the price is right? If you like the podcast please subscribe,

Will a diesel and petrol car ban even work? If you believe the Government, in 23 years’ time new diesel and petrol cars will be banned. From 2040 the future is electric. But as these controversial plans were rolled out this week, the first question on many people’s lips was: where’s all that electricity going to come from? Simon Lambert, Lee Boyce and Georgie Frost discuss the prospects for electric cars now that we’re all going to have to learn to drive in near silence. They answer all the questions - with the help of Simon’s adventures in a top-of-the range electric Tesla: Can the power supply and grid cope? How long do electric cars take to charge? What’s it like to drive an electric car? Will carmakers deliver but the Government stuff it up? And is the booming car industry about to bust? Also on the show we look at how to build a pension if you’ve got to 45 and still don’t have any savings, what to do about Japanese knotweed and whether reading fiction can help you be a bett

The state pension age will rise once more, it emerged this week - with those in their 40s set to lose out. But is it fair to continue to raise the state pension age in line with life expectancy, especially for those who cannot work through their 60s? Georgie Frost, Simon Lambert and Rachel Rickard Straus discuss how we handle the thorny and expensive issue of the state pensions. Also on this week’s show: The end of sneaky card charges Tips to avoid the car hire company rip-offs Attempts to solve the work productivity puzzle And it’s been a big week for news about gender equality – from the first female Doctor Who, to the FTSE’s most in-demand boss Carolyn McCall taking the top job at ITV, and then those BBC pay revelations. - Is there still a lot more work to be done to promote women in business? - Should stories about women getting top jobs even mention that they are women or mothers? The last ten minutes looks at how we can get more women to the top in business. Enjoy.

Mumblings of potential big house price falls have emerged again recently to delight the crashists. The 40% number was even mentioned - and that's not happened in a while. The property market is clearly slowing down - and prices are falling in London - but is all this talk of a crash overdone? After a report emerged from an LSE professor a fortnight ago, This is Money readers have been reliving the old house price crash article dream - and the debate in the comments has been as heated as ever. So what's behind all this? Is the warning too dire, or just a dose of realism? Simon Lambert and Lee Boyce join Georgie Frost in the studio to delve into the figures, Britain's history housing boom and bust and ponder just how overpriced homes are. Also on this week's show, we look at whether the gig economy works or needs an overhaul and more protection, and why Jaguar decided to launch the E-Pace - the new car it expects to ramp up its sales ambitions - into the air at high speed.

If you pop into the bookies and bung a quid on Elvis Presley still being alive – he died in 1977 - and he shows up as the support act to his heir apparent Ed Sheeran at Wembley Stadium next year, you’ll win £2,000. Put that pound into a top paying savings account over the same period and you’ll earn just over 1p. This is why stupid savings gimmicks are becoming a thing. It works like this. The provider, bank, building society or app, pays a derisory interest rate but offers a 300% boost to your returns if an improbable event takes place. Not quite as unlikely as a resurrection but not that far off. First there were the Brexit bonds, where your 1% return will be tripled if you bet correctly on the pound / euro exchange rate once Britain leaves the EU and, depending on how you see this bet panning out, all of our successful businesses leave Britain. Now football fans are being targeted. If Manchester United win the FA Cup next year AND the English Premier League, unabashed Newcastle-based Virgin Mon

Nurses have had their pay cut every year for the last five years. Students are coming out of our universities with the highest level of debt in the West – higher on average than the USA. Rents are totally out of control. What then are the prospects for our youngsters and for our public sector workers? Is austerity really going to end? It’s complicated and there’s only one person who can explain this in simple, understandable English - Simon Lambert, who, with Georgie Frost and Lee Boyce, get to the bottom of the great public sector pay debate. Perhaps using more taxpayers money to give nurses and firefighters a pay rise will boost the economy? They also turn their attention to… The ‘absolutely hideous’ university fees students face in Britain. Nine grand a year for 4 hours a week and a lifetime of debt. A possible imminent interest rates rise and how one prepares for a battering on your costs of living. And with the dream of home ownership for graduates now pretty much over, rents are in t

What do you mean you’ve never seen The Big Short? It was nominated for five Oscars, won one and features Brad Pitt, Christian Bale and the part-time stripper with five houses and a condo. Watch it. Now! It’s all true. It’s about the financial crisis and it might all be about to kick off again. The Bank of England this week issued its Financial Stability Report and it’s terrifying. We’re in debt again folks. Last time it was houses and condominiums, this time it’s cars and credit cards, house prices and wages. People are buying cars on credit like they take out mobile phone contracts. Car companies have turned into money lenders, egged on by the banks. Yep the bank again. Did they learn nothing? Meanwhile, the Bank of England needs to combat inflation by raising interest rates. How on earth can they do that in this climate? Simon Lambert, Georgie Frost and Lee Boyce do their bejesus to explain. Also on the show, there’s some brilliant stuff on… Cash forever! Can ATMs surviv