Beyond the Market

Preparing your investing for 2026 isn’t about predicting markets, picking stocks, or finding the next big opportunity. It’s about positioning yourself so that whatever happens next doesn’t force you into bad decisions. In this episode of Beyond the Market, I build on last week’s discussion about financial foundations and focus on the foundations of successful investing. This episode breaks down wh...

As we enter 2026, this episode is a pause, not to predict markets, but to prepare properly. Before you think about investing, returns, or strategy, you need strong financial foundations. Just like a crack in a bedroom wall isn’t a roof problem, most financial issue don't come from investing, they come from problems with teh foundations. In this weeks episode of Beyond the Market , I focus on t...

Going into the New Year, the same ritual repeats. Banks publish outlooks for the year ahead. Economists pick where the market is going to go. Social media fills with confident predictions about what will happen next year. In this episode of Beyond the Market, we explore why predictions are completely useless and it doesn't matter who says them or how smart they are, because the future is far l...

If investing feels exciting, that’s usually a warning sign. In this episode of Beyond the Market, we explore why the behaviours that actually build long-term wealth feel dull and unsatisfying, while the behaviours that feel exciting often lead to poor results. Humans are wired for novelty, action, and stories. Markets, on the other hand, reward patience, repetition, and long periods of doing nothi...

In this episode of Beyond the Market , we explore one of the most misunderstood ideas in finance and investing: the hidden trade-off between time and money. Many people go out of their way to avoid small fees or save a few pounds by driving further for cheaper petrol, spending hours researching purchases, or avoiding convenience costs, without ever accounting for the time they’re giving up in the...

Dividends feel good. They feel safe. They feel like passive income arriving in your account for simply holding a stock. But is building your entire investment strategy around dividends actually a good idea? In this episode of Beyond the Market , I break down why investing purely for dividends may be one of the worst ways to invest. From focussing on deteriating companies and unsustainable payouts,...

In this episode of Beyond the Market, I break down the key measures from the UK Budget, without the noise or speculation. After weeks of leaks, confusion and U-turns, we finally have the facts. The Chancellor has announced a Budget designed to raise £26 billion over this Parliament, and today I’m analysing the decisions that will shape your income, your savings, and the wider economy. I cover: The...

In this episode of Beyond the Market, I explore how small everyday choices, like where you buy a £3 coffee, quietly shape the UK economy, our tax system, and the future of our high streets. To understand this I dig into the real impact of shopping locally. Small businesses make up 99% of all UK companies, generate over half of business turnover, employ more than 60% of private-sector workers, and...

From 2028, the UK curriculum will officially include financial education, and honestly, it’s long overdue. In this week’s episode, I break down what this change means, why it matters, and what should be taught if we want young people to grow up confident with money in a country that is financially illiterate. As someone who spends their free time running a finance podcast and Instagram page, this...

Most people think “risk” means how much something moves up and down but that’s not true risk. In this episode of Beyond the Market, I unpack what risk really is, use examples from some of the best thinkers of risk including Nassim Taleb and why the taxi driver might actually live a safer life than the corporate employee. We’ll explore why the stock market isn’t as risky as you think, why stability...

We’ve always been told the same story, work hard, pay into your pension, and one day you’ll retire comfortably... if you do pay into a pension at all. But what if that safety net doesn’t exist anymore? In this episode of Beyond the Market , I break down a harsh truth, no one is coming to save you . The state pension, once designed to protect retirees, is becoming harder to qualify for, later to pa...

In this week’s episode of Beyond the Market, I look at the upcoming Autumn Budget, where Chancellor Rachel Reeves is expected to announce major ISA reforms, including a possible cut to the Cash ISA allowance from £20,000 to £10,000. I’ll break down what the Autumn Budget actually is, why the government says it wants to get Britain investing again, and if pushing people out of cash will really push...

AI is the hottest topic in the world right now and many people are fearing that the hype has gone too far and we are in an AI bubble. In this episode of Beyond the Market, I break down one of the biggest questions investors are asking right now: Is there an AI bubble, and what should you do with your money? I look at the whole industry to understand exactly where we are. On one side, we have the i...

What if your next pay rise actually made you poorer? In this episode of Beyond the Market , I explore lifestyle creep, the silent trap where more money leads to more spending, not building that freedom. From bigger homes and luxury cars to endless upgrades that drain your pay rise before it lands, lifestyle creep quietly kills your income and that financial independence. Drawing on Stoic wisdom fr...

Ever feel like you're being taxed through the eyeballs while global giants like Apple and Amazon pay next to nothing? You're not imagining it, and you're not powerless either. In this episode of Beyond the Market , I explain: Why income tax hits workers the hardest How companies legally avoid massive tax bills (and countries encourage it) What the UK government actually wants you to do...

School taught us Shakespeare and long division but did it ever teach you how a mortgage works, why your credit score matters, or how compound interest can build (or destroy) your wealth? In this episode of Beyond the Market , we explore the critical gaps in our education that leave millions of adults unprepared for real life. From money basics and mortgages to saving, debt, and the power of compou...

In the UK, owning a home is seen as the ultimate sign of success and natural step into adulthood, providing security and freedom. But what if it’s one of the worst financial investments you’ll ever make? In this episode of Beyond the Market , we dive into the UK’s obsession with home ownership, where it came from, why it persists, and the hidden costs few people talk about. From Thatcher’s “Right...

Why do people spend £500 on a Hermès T-shirt when a £10 one from H&M does the same job? In this episode of Beyond the Market , we unpack the fascinating economics of luxury goods and why investors love these companies as much as shoppers do. We explore: Bernard Arnault’s journey from engineering and real estate to building LVMH, Europe’s most valuable luxury empire. The concept of Veblen goods...

What does real wealth look like? Spoiler: it’s not the Lamborghini, Rolex, or mansion on Instagram. In this episode of Beyond the Market, we explore the concept of quiet wealth, why the richest people often look ordinary and not flashy at all. Using insights from Naval Ravikant, behavioural psychology, and studies by Daniel Kahneman and Angus Deaton, we break down why happiness plateaus around $75...

Your portfolio is not your personality. In this episode of Beyond the Market , we dive into The Investor’s Identity Trap, all about what happens when ego, self-worth, and investing style get tangled together. When markets become loyalty tests, every price move feels like a personal verdict, green days = genius, red days = failure. We explore why this is so dangerous for both your portfolio and you...

Why is it so hard to talk about money—even with the people closest to us? In this episode of Beyond the Market , we explore the emotional and psychological reasons money is still one of societies taboos. From cultural discomfort to hidden debt, most people avoid these conversations until it’s too late, often at great cost. You'll hear real stats, my own personal reflections, and practical reas...

Think you’re a rational investor? Think again. In this episode of Beyond the Market, we unpack the psychology that quietly sabotages returns and how to design systems that beat willpower. You’ll learn the big four behavioural biases, confirmation bias, the endowment effect, the sunk cost fallacy, and loss aversion and how they distort your human thinking. We translate investor psychology into prac...

Too many people delay investing because they’re chasing the “perfect” portfolio, perfect timing, perfect funds, perfect knowledge. But in reality, this mindset leads to procrastination, not progress. In this episode, we break down the psychology behind perfectionism and why it stops so many people from ever getting started with investing. You’ll learn the difference between adaptive and maladaptiv...

It is amazing how the past is so clear, as predictions looked obvious. We’ve all said it, “I knew that would happen.” But did we really? In this episode, we dive into hindsight bias, the mental trap that makes the past look predictable and the future feel less uncertain than it really is. We discuss the rise of the internet and how people doubted in the early days to Spotify’s unlikely journey fro...

Every year, experts confidently predict where the stock market is headed and every year, they’re usually wrong. In this episode, we explore why forecasting fails, from our psychological craving for certainty to the illusion of control it creates. Drawing on the work of Nassim Taleb (The Black Swan) and Philip Tetlock (Superforecasting), we unpack why confident predictions often mislead investors....