This is Money Podcast

It’s time for the annual This is Money Christmas taste test – and our look at how the supermarket business is faring. This year, the contenders are Sainsbury’s for the mass market, Waitrose for the upmarket, and Lidl for the discount challenger. But which will come out on top across a range of Christmas food and who delivered the cheapest bill? Simon Lambert and Lee Boyce take on Georgie Frost’s f...

It's been a decent year for investors and major stock markets around the world are trading near record highs. Things may continue to go up, but it always pays to have a Plan B just in case they don't and stock markets take a tumble. Simon Lambert, of This is Money, explains how you can build a disaster plan into your portfolio. Follow us on Instagram @dmgnewmedia. Follow us on TikTok @dmgnewmedia...

Could you train your brain to get richer? Behavioural economics tells us that we regularly behave irrationally – and nudge theory has been used by governments and organisations around the world to try to make us better people. But could you take matters into your own hands, tackle your own temptations and make yourself wealthier, or just happier? On this week’s podcast, Simon Lambert, Lee Boyce an...

Bitcoin has risen more than tenfold this year and doubled in just seven weeks. But can it keep rising as adoption gets more widespread, does blockchain's promise justify the price, and does any of this matter as to whether it is in a bubble or not? In this excerpt from the This is Money podcast, Simon Lambert and Georgie Frost discuss Bitcoin's astonishing rise. Follow us on Instagram @dmgnewmedia...

Britain’s car industry is crying foul, as not a single new diesel car avoids the Budget tax hike because the test they have to pass hasn’t come in yet. Car makers claim that new diesels are fine, but can we believe them? Meanwhile, campaigners want extra taxes and a serious crackdown on diesel drivers, but it’s ended up with councils leading the way with a piece-meal approach. Who should we believ...

The Chancellor axed stamp duty for first-time buyers in the Budget up to £300,000, but his own watchdog claimed it would drive up house prices. So is the Office of Budget Responsibility right? Simon Lambert says its logic is flawed and that we need to be even more radical on stamp duty - maybe even making the seller pay. Follow us on Instagram @dmgnewmedia. Follow us on TikTok @dmgnewmedia Follow...

It was billed as a make or break Budget, so did the Chancellor pitch it right? Philip Hammond pulled a George Osborne-sized rabbit from the hat at the end with the abolition of stamp duty for first-time buyers, but was that enough to make us to forget the gloomy economic news and the gags? On the plus side, the Budget brought an income tax cut for most, the promise of more homes being built, and n...

Yes, it’s another Budget. On Wednesday, November 22, Philip Hammond will stand up and deliver his second Budget of the year and this is his chance to ride to the Conservatives’ rescue. After the last Budget mess, the snap election that went wrong, the unexpected rise of Corbynism, and the Brexit arguments that just won’t go away, the Chancellor will be hoping that he’s the one to get everything ba...

Have you ever dreamed of retiring early, or at least choosing to work on your own terms? There is a niche but growing movement that’s all about financial independence - it’s not necessarily about stopping work completely, but it is about having the choice to do so. So, could you achieve financial independence, how hard would it be and how long would it take? And why would you even want to retire e...

How quickly does the Bank of England think that the base rate will rise after its first move up? Simon Lambert looks at the figures and outlines the good, the bad and the awkward, in this excerpt from the This is Money podcast. Follow us on Instagram @dmgnewmedia. Follow us on TikTok @dmgnewmedia Follow us on X @dmgnewmedia Email us hello@dmgmedia.co.uk Text us  020 7938 6000. Hosts: Georgie...

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 Lamb...

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 gettin...

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 inherit...

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 per...

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. Follow us on Instagram @dmgnewmedia. Follow us on TikTok...

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...

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 Follow us on Instagram @dmgnewmedia. Follow us on TikTok @dmgnewmedia Follow us on X @d...

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...

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...

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...

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 car...

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...

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. T...

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...

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 electr...