Money Clinic with Claer Barrett

The 13th interest rate rise in a row has piled on the pain for many homeowners. Money Clinic host Claer Barrett has assembled a team of experts to talk through the options for managing the hit on overstretched wallets. Sarah Pennells, consumer finance specialist at Royal London, Adrian Anderson of mortgage brokers Anderson and Harris, and the FT’s Chris Giles offer analysis, strategies and solutio...

There’s a live debate in the UK over whether regulation of crypto trading should come under the scope of financial services or be treated like gambling. The FT’s digital assets correspondent Scott Chipolina and our producer Persis Love report from Castle Craig in Scotland, a rehab centre where people are being treated for crypto addiction. Plus presenter Claer Barrett and Scott Chipolina discuss w...

Introducing Unhedged, a new podcast from the FT. Ethan Wu, Katie Martin and other markets nerds at the Financial Times explain the big ideas behind what’s happening in finance right now. Every Tuesday and Thursday. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Lord John Lee of Trafford was the first person in the UK to reach £1mn invested in his stocks and shares ISA. He has a clear strategy based around choosing UK smallcap companies that pay dividends. He tells presenter Claer Barrett why this is his investment strategy and how he chooses stocks. Want more? My Isa has suffered - but I’m still a firm believer ‘I’m 22 and I earn more than my parents’ Wh...

Former asset manager Stuart Kirk writes about investing for FT Weekend in a column where he shares both his investment successes and failures with readers. He tells host Claer Barrett what he’s investing in now, how he chooses stocks, why he isn’t keen on funds that follow a particular theme and what he thinks needs to change in the world of ESG or sustainable investing. Want more? Being honest ab...

Brooke Masters, the FT's US financial editor, speaks to Anne Ackerley, managing director of the Retirement Group at BlackRock, one of the world’s largest investment companies. Anne spends her days thinking about how to make good retirement plans accessible to more people. Lately, that has included focusing on one particular problem: the differences between men and women when it comes to retirement...

With inflation running higher than the interest rates provided by most banks, cash accounts can rapidly lose value. What does that mean for emergency savings funds? Brooke Masters, the FT’s US financial editor, speaks to investing columnist Moira O'Neill, and Georgia Lee Hussey, founder of wealth management company Modernist Financial, about how much savings to have in cash and where to keep it -...

The Bank of England has lifted its main interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point to 4.5 per cent, the 12th consecutive rise since December 2021. But if interest rates are going up, why are some mortgage lenders putting their rates down? Presenter Claer Barrett is joined in the studio by Chris Giles, the FT’s economics editor and Andrew Montlake, chief executive of Mortgage Broker Coreco. T...

It’s getting harder to keep up with the cost of essentials such as water, energy and internet. FT reporter Leah Quinn speaks to 26-year-old renter Conor, who explains what he has been paying over the past few months and which bills are starting to add up. Host Claer Barrett is on hand with tips and advice on everything from whether you should get a water metre installed to whether energy bills wil...

Does sorting out your personal finances fill you with anxiety and trepidation? What can you learn from your money mistakes? Money Clinic host Claer Barrett, and Isabel Berwick, host of the FT’s work and careers podcast, Working It, answer listeners’ questions in this special episode, taken from a webinar made in conjunction with the FT’s financial literacy charity, FLIC. Want more? The first lesso...

How do you know if you need a financial adviser, how do you go about finding one and how do you know you’re getting value for money? Presenter Claer Barrett guides 22-year-old Laureen, who works for a bank, through the many forms of professional financial advice, and sources expert tips from Financial Times columnist Moira O’Neill and Sally Hickey, chief reporter at FT Adviser, our specialist publ...

Aligning our love lives and our financial lives is not always easy. Presenter Claer Barrett sources advice from Dr Nicola Sharp-Jeffs, founder of Surviving Economic Abuse, Tobi Asare from My Bump Pay, and Davinia Tomlinson, founder of Rainchq and author of Cash is Queen, on everything from talking about money in a relationship, the single tax, spotting the signs of financial abuse and planning for...

Simran Kaur thinks the stock market is a lot more straightforward than it is made out to be. The 26-year-old is the founder of Girls That Invest, an investing community and podcast that she set up with her best friend Sonya Gupthan when they realised that, as women of colour, there were not many people who looked like them in the financial world. Presenter Claer Barrett sources her tips on getting...

How does the global monetary system work and what should investors bear in mind about it? Professional investor Rob Dix had been investing for years before he set out to understand the mechanisms behind his money. Why do we have inflation? Why do central banks increase interest rates? Will this monetary system last? Dix shares his view on the financial world with presenter Claer Barrett, plus she...

The Bank of England raised its key base rate to 4.25 per cent last week, its highest level in 14 years. But if interest rates are going up, why are some mortgage lenders putting their rates down? Presenter Claer Barrett is joined in the studio by Chris Giles, the FT’s economics editor and Andrew Montlake, chief executive of Mortgage Broker Coreco. They explain how the uncertain outlook for base ra...

What does a week of turmoil in the banking sector - with the collapse of California’s Silicon Valley Bank and the Swiss state-backed rescue of Credit Suisse - tell us about what central banks will do next with interest rates? And what does it all mean for your money and investments? Host Claer Barrett hears from Financial Times markets editor Katie Martin, and author of the FT’s Unhedged newslette...

What should you be thinking about for your finances when you are just about to enter the adult world? In today’s episode Claer Barrett meets four sixth-form students Demi, Patrick, Lucinda and Loisse-Lhana, who are trying to figure out how to manage their money as they get ready to leave school. Claer answers their questions about investing, saving and how to budget so that your earnings last the...

Divorce inquiries tend to peak in the first few months of a new year, so in this episode presenter Claer Barrett, the FT’s consumer editor, sources expert advice on how to manage your costs and finances through a legal separation. Listeners Jane and Tina recount their stories - and what they wished they had known at the start of the process - and Claer speaks to Brett Frankle from the law firm Wit...

It’s called the ‘cash stuffing’ or ‘cash envelope’ method: separating your money into different envelopes of cash to control your spending. Host Claer Barrett speaks to ‘cash stuffer’ Euphemia Senna, better known on TikTok as She’s On a Budget, about the pros and cons of budgeting this way (and the digital equivalent). She also goes inside the Bank of England, the UK’s central bank, to speak...

Former asset manager Stuart Kirk writes about investing for FT Weekend in a column where he shares both his investment successes and failures with readers. He tells host Claer Barrett what he’s investing in now, how he chooses stocks, why he isn’t keen on funds that follow a particular theme and what he thinks needs to change in the world of ESG or sustainable investing. Want more? Being honest ab...

Chris Pitt, chief executive of First Direct, the UK’s first ever telephone bank, tells presenter Claer Barrett why banks should be doing more to help customers through the cost of living crisis, and shares his own tips on saving and investing. We'd love to hear from you. Please help us by filling in our listener survey at  ft.com/moneyclinicsurvey . It will take you around 10 minutes to compl...

The Bank of England has raised its key interest rate to 4 per cent, the highest level the UK has seen since the 2008 financial crisis. Presenter Claer Barrett is joined by Helen Saxon, deputy editor of Money Saving Expert, James Pickford, deputy editor of FT Money, and Katie Martin, the FT’s markets editor, to discuss how you can best navigate those higher rates with your savings, mortgages and in...

One in six women in the UK has experienced financial abuse in a relationship. That’s according to charity Surviving Economic Abuse. Anyone can become a victim, as Sarah Coles, senior personal finance analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, found out. She tells presenter Claer Barrett about her experience of surviving an economically abusive relationship. Claer also hears from another victim, Francesca, an...

Best of Money Clinic: Against the backdrop of market turbulence, investors Jonathan Hollow and Robin Powell explain why they believe investing in broad-based index funds is the cheapest way to increase long-term wealth. This investment masterclass breaks investing down into six simple steps, with tips for those just getting started and those further along their investment journey. If you would lik...

Thirty-year-old Henrietta wants to start investing but has found herself lost in the small print of stocks and shares ISAs. How to choose the right one? Which fee structure is right for the amount she is investing? And should she go for passive or active investing? Presenter Claer Barrett is joined in the studio by FT personal finance and investing columnists Moira O’Neill and Jason Butler to disc...