This is Money Podcast

Student loans look like another mess that has reached a tipping point in Britain's shonky financial system. There are three different types of student loan plan that graduates could currently be on and one of them offers a particularly bad deal. Those who took out Plan 2 student loans, between 2012 and 2022, suffered fees being hiked to £9,000, face interest rates of RPI plus 3 per cent, and have...

The Government has announced plans for a cap on ground rent - is it a welcome policy that will finally fix a broken system or does it risk creating new problems along the way? Helen Crane, Georgie Frost and Lee Boyce discuss the plans first revealed on TikTok by the Prime Minister, what's potentially changing and when. Watch out - HMRC is about... Stamp duty investigations are on the rise - is it...

Donald Trump has been hijacking the headlines this week, with his speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos a major talking point globally.  With plenty of geopolitical drama afoot, what does a weakening US dollar mean for UK investors with money tied up in US and global funds? Simon Lambert, Georgie Frost and Lee Boyce discuss. One of the world’s biggest investment firms, Vanguard has spurned t...

Life isn't what it once was for star fund managers. The investment industry once thrived on big names but these widely recognisable figures are few and far between nowadays. Two that remain are Terry Smith and Nick Train but their Fundsmith and Finsbury Growth & Income investors have had their patience tested by five years of underperformance compared to just sticking money in a cheap market t...

What are the financial foundations you need so that you can then start living a richer life? On this episode of the This is Money Podcast, Georgie Frost, Lee Boyce and Simon Lambert discuss what they think are the essential building blocks for taking control of your finances. From budgeting to protecting your family, what are the things you absolutely must do?  They share what they've done right.....

It's safe to say it was a mixed bag for the property market last year, with a mixture of Budget speculation and stamp duty costs weighing on house prices, but mortgage lending rules loosening helping first-time buyers. So, what will happen in 2026 - Georgie Frost and Lee Boyce discuss, and ask - will it be another stagnant year for house prices. Elsewhere, there's a warning top cash Isa rates are...

We are almost at the end of a year that turned out to be rollercoaster ride for our finances. Investors have had a good year but there was certainly some twists and turns along the way. The economy started off strong and then began to stutter, interest rates came down by a full percentage point and inflation spiked again. Meanwhile, the most hotly anticipated Budget turned out to be not as bad as...

The Bank of England has cut interest rates for the fourth time this year. The base rate is now the lowest it's been since 2023 but a split vote means markets and economists are now question how much lower they will go. On this podcast, Georgie Frost, Lee Boyce and Simon Lambert discuss what a 3.75 per cent base rate means for borrowers, savers and investors... and more importantly where rates are...

Mortgage lenders are battling to offer borrowers lower rates - running ahead of the Bank of England making an expected cut next week. That's good news for anyone buying a home but it's even better for the 1.9million people who need to remortgage next year - many of whom will be facing a payment shock as they come off much lower fixed rates. So, will the mortgage cuts revive the moribund housing ma...

A guaranteed income for your retirement years, earned through your working life, with no need to worry about getting caught out by the vagaries of the stock market.  Sounds good, doesn't it? That's what a public sector pension delivers - and it's a far better deal than the retirement funds most people in the private sector save into. So, why do we want to make the good thing worse, rather than the...

The dust has settled on the Budget but while we now know what Rachel Reeves plans for our finances, many questions remain. The Budget featured a raft of tax rises – but also left out some moves that were widely rumoured to happen. On this special bonus episode of the This is Money podcast, Simon Lambert is joined by Lisa Caplan, of Charles Stanley Direct, to find out what people are asking after t...

After the endless speculation, the Budget finally arrived this week. Rachel Reeves seemed happy with her statement and Sir Keir Starmer has been out singing its praises, but was the Budget a diamond in the rough or a dud? On this Budget 2025 podcast, Georgie Frost, Lee Boyce and Simon Lambert dive into a Budget that many have commented is the most chaotic they can remember. After all the rumours,...

Nvidia is the talk of the town after posting better than expected earnings results - has the chip maker genuinely eased fears of an AI bubble bursting… or just bought the market a bit more time? Georgie Frost, Simon Lambert and Lee Boyce discuss what it means for investors in Britain and how much weight this multi-trillion dollar company holds. The Financial Services Compensation Scheme  deposit p...

This week we've had some worrying looking unemployment figures and disappointing GDP growth. Meanwhile, the FTSE 100 soared within touching distance of 10,000, before hitting a Friday slump. Mix it all together and what does it show about the UK economy? Lee Boyce, Helen Crane and Georgie Frost discuss. Nationwide Building Society has promised to keep all of its branches open until 2030 while majo...

Can you do a financial podcast and not mention the Budget right now? No, not really. But you can give it a good shot at keeping Budget chat to the minimum.  On this week's podcast, Georgie Frost, Lee Boyce and Simon Lambert take breather from talking about Rachel Reeves and the endless cycle of madness that is the Budget 2025 build up to discuss some other stuff. Can they get through it without me...

Despite repeated assurances that Labour would not break its election manifesto by hiking income tax, it appears it is now under consideration by the Chancellor in the Autumn Budget. Why is Rachel Reeves mulling over this U-turn, how much would it cost us, and would she really dare to do it?   This is Money's Angharad Carrick, Helen Crane and Georgie Frost discuss. Speculation over a 'mansion tax'...

The dream of becoming an Isa millionaire will be a common ambition among many This is Money podcast listeners. Most will probably dismiss it as fantasy but what if you could actually get there? Recently a long-time This is Money reader got in touch to tell us that he had managed just that... at the age of 36. Ollie Perry was happy to share his story, not to boast but to try to inspire others and t...

Rachel Reeves is in a sticky position ahead of the Budget.  Forecasts suggest she will need £30billion to balance the books - and having made such a fuss about the Tory 'black hole' and her fiscal rules, the Chancellor is in a bind. Problematically, the government also painted itself into a corner with Labour's election pledge not to raise income tax, national insurance or VAT - which amount for t...

AI hype is still driving share prices higher but there are a growing number of voices warning of a stock market bubble that might soon burst. The Bank of England added its name to the list of those raising concerns this week, as its Financial Policy Committee drew comparisons with the ‘dotcom’ boom 25 years ago that soon turned to bust. The red flags include a number of high profile, huge money de...

Britain's weather is famous for its ability to go from stunning to downright miserable in the blink of an eye. The nation's jobs market has a habit of doing the same. Not so long ago, workers finally had the upper hand and were celebrating a post-Covid jobs boom, where almost all roles were in-demand and some decent salary rises could be negotiated. Now, the chat down the pub is more likely to be...

It's the latest social media craze, allegedly... revenge saving. But what on earth is it and can it really encourage people to get into the savings habit? This week, Lee Boyce, Simon Lambert and Georgie Frost dive into the world of revenge saving. And while this new buzz-term does the rounds, we have a stab at making our version - the mind-trick savings method. We discuss why you shouldn't get hun...

Pensions and inheritance are at the forefront of many people's minds ahead of the Budget. In her last Budget, Rachel Reeves announced she will pull pension pots into the inheritance tax net from April 2027. Meanwhile, there are concerns that pension tax-free lump sums and inheritance tax allowances could fall victim to another raid as the Chancellor tries to balance the books again. On this specia...

First-time buyers are borrowing big to try to skip the first rungs of the property ladder and buy bigger homes, a new report suggests. That comes alongside a slump in demand for flats, as buyers push for houses instead. So whether you are a first-time buyer or a home mover should you extend as far as you can to buy a home that will last you longer, or do you risk damaging your finaces by overstret...

Britain is suffering from an epidemic of people who are theoretically rich saying that they don't feel flush at all. If you're a higher rate tax payer on more than £50,000 then you are up in the top chunk of the country's earners, but chances are that unless you are well into six figures you don't feel particularly wealthy. And even many of those on £100,000-plus complain that they aren't comforta...

As the founder and CEO of Octopus Energy, Greg Jackson knows more about Britain's household energy than almost anyone else.  In this interview with This is Money's Simon Lambert, he explains why bills are still so high, what we can do as a nation to try to bring them down - and the future of household energy. Greg explains what people need to know about solar panels, heat pumps, electric cars and...