Merryn Talks Money

In this week's roundup, Merryn and Money Distilled newsletter author John Stepek discuss the latest Bitcoin boom in the wake of Donald J. Trump’s confirmation as President Elect. Is there more room for Bitcoin, Dogecoin, and other cryptocurrencies to rise? What headwinds are in store? And how much Bitcoin do Merryn and John own?  SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT: Merryn is getting her own newsletter.  Sign up...

In this week’s personal finance edition of Merryn Talks Money , hosts Merryn Somerset Webb and John Stepek discuss a listener question about whether setting up a limited liability company is a good strategy to save on taxes in the UK.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this episode of  Merryn Talks Money , we discuss what the Republican’s second term means for the US, the UK and the Tesla CEO. Pippa Malmgren, economist, author and former adviser to Republican President George W. Bush and Helen Thomas, founder and chief executive of BlondeMoney join.  They also discuss what UK-US relations will look like under Trump, how Britain’s exit from the European Union...

In this week's roundup, Merryn and Money Distilled newsletter author John Stepek chat about the unsurprising Bank of England decision to cut the UK's key interest rate to 4.75%. And they discuss the increase in the cost of university fees and once again explain why the student loan system is so broken.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this week’s personal finance edition of Merryn Talks Money , hosts Merryn Somerset Webb and John Stepek discuss a listener question about the difference between UK defined benefit and defined contribution pensions. The listener, Mustafa, said he originally had a defined benefit pension but has since moved over to a defined contribution scheme. He wants more information about each of the pension...

In a live-recorded episode of Merryn Talks Money , hosts Merryn Somerset Webb and John Stepek are joined in London by Bloomberg Head of Economics and Government Stephanie Flanders and former UK Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) Chief of Staff Andy King to discuss the first budget presented by Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves.   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this week's roundup, Merryn is back with Money Distilled  newsletter author John Stepek. They focus on Japan. There was an election on Sunday that left the country without a clear winner for the first time since the 1990s. They discuss what that means for the world’s fourth-largest economy-- what it could mean for markets. They also discuss fertility rates in both Japan and the UK.  Last chance...

In this week’s personal finance edition of Merryn Talks Money , hosts Merryn Somerset Webb and John Stepek answer a question from listener Hugo. He’s in his twenties and wondering what financial strategy graduates like him might find the most rewarding—from buying a house to investing in the equity market.  Join us at Bloomberg on Oct. 31, the morning after the Budget, for a taping of the podcast...

Author and economist David McWilliams joins Merryn to discuss his latest book Money: A Story of Humanity , and how the evolution of currency is central to the rise and fall of civilizations. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this week's roundup, Money Distilled  newsletter author John Stepek is joined once again by Bloomberg Opinion's Marcus Ashworth to talk macro themes. They tackle gold’s inexorable rise, oil's fall, and more on the bond market.  REMINDER: Join us at Bloomberg on Oct. 31, the morning after the Budget, for a taping of the podcast in front of an audience. Register here: https://go.bloomberg.com/att...

Hot on the heels of last week’s personal finance edition of Merry Talks Money , where we discussed  Lifetime Individual Savings Accounts , or ISAs, this episode of Merryn Talks Your Money takes on a different type of vehicle: Junior ISAs. Merryn and John Stepek dive into what these UK-unique savings products are and what exactly British investors are buying into when they open one.  Join us at Blo...

When sports, business and culture collide, there’s often a deal to be made. Join Alex Rodriguez and Bloomberg correspondent Jason Kelly as they get the inside track from corporate titans, sports champions and game-changing entrepreneurs on investing, strategy, reinvention and the ones that got away. The Deal is a Bloomberg Podcasts and Bloomberg Originals series that’s passionate, relaxed, insight...

“This has been an incredibly unique cycle, both in terms of the economy and the market,” says Liz Ann Sonders, managing director and chief investment strategist at Charles Schwab, on this week’s episode of Merryn Talks Money . “Maybe that’s the ultimate understatement.” Sonders joins Merryn Somerset Webb to discuss what is and isn’t driving such turbulent markets—from Mother Nature “wreaking havoc...

In this week's roundup, Merryn speaks to Money Distilled  newsletter author John Stepek about what it means if the government increases employers' national insurance contributions in the autumn budget. Plus, the latest price data came in well below target, but John explains why a lot of that was due to one volatile component.  Join us at Bloomberg on Oct. 31, the morning after the Budget, for a ta...

On this personal finance edition of Merryn Talks Money , our hosts discuss Lifetime ISAs and their usefulness in buying a home. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Don’t meet with management, ignore narratives and avoid highly rated businesses—taken together that sounds like a recipe for fund failure. But for Sean Peche, founder and portfolio manager at Ranmore Fund Management Ltd., it’s how he’s consistently outperformed benchmark indices. His Ranmore Global Equity Fund outperformed the MSCI World Index in 2022 and 2023. He joins Merryn this week to talk ab...

In this week's roundup,  Money Distilled  newsletter author John Stepek is joined by Bloomberg Opinion columnist Marcus Ashworth. They discuss the UK bond market, particularly the fact that UK 10-year yields are back above those of the US, what signal that sends and what's behind UK borrowing costs going up. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this personal finance edition of Merryn Talks Money,  hosts Merryn Somerset Webb and John Stepek discuss diversifying your UK pension.    They lay out scenarios in which your pension could be at risk, and the extent to which it would be protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. And it’s not just important for pensions: these should be considerations for anyone with investments in...

Author and former Bank of England regulatory economist Dan Davies joins this week to discuss his new book, The Unaccountability Machine , which describes how the cost of large organisations deferring decision-making is a widening “accountability sink.” As companies grow more complicated, the bigger the “sink” gets, he argues. “We’ve reached a crisis point.”  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy...

In this week's roundup, Merryn and  Money Distilled  newsletter author John Stepek discuss the stock market response to China's unprecedented stimulus package,  where we are now with the UK housing market, and who stands to benefit from the rally in prices and sales.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this week’s personal finance edition of Merryn Talks Money , hosts Merryn Somerset Webb and John Stepek discuss pension drawdown with Tom McPhail, formerly the lead pensions spokesman for the investment platform Hargreaves Lansdown. He also led an external review of the Money and Pensions Service on behalf of the UK government’s Department for Work and Pensions. They tackle what drawdown is and...

Foresight Group’s Bernard Fairman discusses the movement toward cleaner energy, a lucrative investment theme he sees playing out over 30 to 50 years. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this week's roundup, Merryn and  Money Distilled  newsletter author John Stepek discuss why the looming UK Budget has both consumers and businesses rattled, and whether Labour's performance at its party conference in Liverpool is doing enough to address the nervousness around investing in --and even living in-- the UK. They also discuss whether the relationship between the taxpayer and governme...

How realistic is achieving a 20% annual return as an amateur investor? On this week’s personal finance edition of podcast  Merryn Talks Money , it doesn’t take long for hosts Merryn Somerset Webb and John Stepek to come to the conclusion that consistently outperforming the likes of Berkshire Hathway in your free time is far from likely.  But the bigger question is how to set yourself a realistic b...

Looking for long-term outperformance? Sell the US and buy the UK. That’s the view of Fidelity’s Alex Wright, who joins this week’s Merryn Talks Money. As Wright points out, the UK market is very good for a contrarian looking for value plus a little momentum.  Also in the episode, Wright discusses the opportunities in banks, life insurers and tobacco companies, and why he thinks Tesco is a good buy...