Thursday, January 30, 2025

Friday, January 24, 2025

Stressed About Money? Here’s What Really Matters.

Are you going to be OK?

When it comes to money—your money, your future—it’s a question that can linger in the back of your mind: Am I going to be OK?

It might even keep you awake at night. But what if I told you that with a bit of understanding, a few small steps, and the right mindset, you could answer that question with a resounding “yes”?

That’s what this channel is all about.

We have a problem here in the UK: we don’t teach anything much at all about money in school, so unless we have a parent or some other mentor who teaches us the basics, we’re left to navigate a complicated financial world by trial and error. If we’re lucky, we’ll maybe make some good financial decisions, but it could go either way.

We know that we *should* think about our future—about saving and planning for retirement one day. But it feels too complicated, too far away, or even too scary to deal with right now.

So, we push it aside. We hope for the best.

The problem is, hope isn’t a plan. Ignoring our financial future leaves us in a bad place, where danger lurks: bad decisions, missed opportunities, and the crushing weight of not knowing if we’ll be OK.

But here’s the good news—we don’t have to stay there.


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The post Stressed About Money? Here’s What Really Matters. appeared first on Meaningful Money – Making sense of Money with Pete Matthew | Financial FAQ.



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Wednesday, January 22, 2025

Monday, January 20, 2025

Listener Questions – Episode 4

Questions Asked

  • Big fan of the show. Really appreciate your work.
    Dad is 92 with rapidly declining health (Dementia and mobility issues). He is still living at home with Mum (80) who is caring for him with family help. At the moment, it is about manageable.
    I am managing their finances. We have moved the majority of savings into my mum's accounts. I have used up mum's entire ISA allowance for this year. There is still around £38k of savings sitting in a no interest paying Barclays account.
    Due to their ages, I do not want to tie up the cash for too long, though at this point in time, they do not need to use this money as they are still able to live off my Dad's pension.

    Can you suggest how I might manage this chunk of cash? Possibly a simple savings account, but I am aware that the interest rates are not exactly brilliant, and I wonder about moving into a GIA instead (I have moderate experience buying/selling shares in my own SIPP and ISA, though I am personally high on the risk curve with investments heavily in MSTR and TSLA).
    Any advice would be appreciated.
    Cheers, Rich

  • Love the podcast (obviously!), it’s genuinely very helpful and has really helped me get my stuff together!!!
    Not sure if this is something you’d know about but, do you think you would be able to explain to me in your very listenable way, how to work out maternity pay, as in how it’s actually calculated and how to plan to make up the difference etc plus anything else that might be helpful that I don’t even know that I don’t know!! I can’t really find what I’m looking for anywhere else so just thought I’d ask as I find your explanations of things easy to understand (and could listen to you chat about anything tbh)!!
    Thank you!
    Jess
     
  • Thanks so much for your brilliant podcasts. I love the idea of the question and answer ones!

    I have a fun question I have been meaning to ask for ages. I keep my contingency fund in premium bonds, and I periodically enjoy a thought experiment, around what I would do if I were to win the big prize of £1 million. (I fully realise this will never happen, but it is a helpful thought experiment to get me thinking about where my priorities lie in case I do receive a much smaller lump sum in the future).

    I have no bad debts, I have a contingency pot and I contribute to a pension and ISA.
    My hypothesis is that I would give some to charity (maybe 10%?), might retain 5% for fun – a nice holiday or an upgrade to my car, would max out my ISA and pension,  and then would split the rest between a world index tracker and one or two investment properties. I’m curious to hear your thoughts on this and how you would allocate.
    Thanks!
    Justyn

  • The mantra is that the most important time to take advice is when nearing retirement. That's certainly true for us now, and my other half sought some regulated advice recently in respect to tax free cash and pension recycling rules. The advice was provided (that it was not tax free cash recycling) & so we are continuing with the plan as discussed  / agreed with the regulated IFA that we contracted the discussion with (we checked the company and the individuals credentials out on the FSA website .. All good).

    The question is (call me paranoid, but quite a lot of money – for us, is involved) what happens if in due course HMRC come to us and effectively look to impose penalties for us acting in accordance with the regulated advice provided / paid for (ie, they dont agree with it / decide it has broken the recycling rules)?
    I have no (sane) reason to suggest this will happen, but paranoia is a terrible thing!!
    Keep up the good work (oh, and Roger as well)
    Regards,
    Kevin Milsom

  • With UK inflation now only 1.7% (from 16 Oct 24), are we in a very unusual phase were inflation is less than half of the rate you can easily get on savings?
    This leads onto thinking about investing versus savings – we all invest to try and beat inflation, but we can currently do this easily with no risks via savings accounts.
    It is a conversation my wife and I are having at the moment!
    She is  ‘saver' and I am an ‘investor'.
    Of course we have a good mix of both from all the guidance you have provided.

    Cheers
    Dave Hicklin

  • Hello gents!
    Big fan of the podcast and the youtube channel. Thanks for everything you do!

    Question for you – which I realise is pretty niche so you may not want to cover it.
    I am in the fortunate position of reaching max pension taper threshold (due to a great salary, some even greater RSU awards and an increasing company share-price!).
    I have some pension contribution carry-forward but will have used this all up by FY26.
    My employer do a 7% pension contribution if employee contributes 4%.
    But for those reaching taper threshold, you can opt out and the company will instead just give the 7% on top of your salary (which is very generous!).

    Thinking ahead, my question is:
    – Would it be better to:
    a) take the combined 11% contribution and opt for a scheme-pays for the tax above the £10k allowance when time comes. I am thinking this way I still get a years worth of investment of the pre-tax money before the tax is paid – which *might* be beneficial? or
    b) opt out and take the post-tax increase in salary and put this somewhere else? My wife's and mine ISAs will be maxed already, so would have to be GIA most likely (or premium bonds!?).

    I'm thinking A makes most sense. I still get the £10k tax free and benefit from some further untaxed money working for me for a little while at least. The tax has to be paid either way, but I am delaying it till later.

    What do you both think?
    Thanks very much!
    Paul

Send Us Your Listener Question

We’re going to spin out the listener questions into a separate Q&A show which we’ll drop into the feed every 2-3 weeks or so. These will be in addition to the main feed, most likely, but they’re easier for us to produce because they require less writing! Send your questions to hello@meaningfulmoney.tv Subject line: Podcast Question


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The post Listener Questions – Episode 4 appeared first on Meaningful Money – Making sense of Money with Pete Matthew | Financial FAQ.



* This article was originally published here

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Sunday, January 19, 2025

Thursday, January 16, 2025

Friday, January 10, 2025

Listener Questions – Episode 3

Questions Asked

  • First of all I have to thank you for the many years of enlightening listening that I have enjoyed. I thought it was excellent when Pete created the content, however it only improved with the addition of Rog. Yours is by far the best personal finance podcast that I listen to, and long may it continue. My question revolves around index funds & ETF’s. Many of the American podcasts cite the advantages of ETF’s over traditional index funds (unit trusts) however from what I understand this is due to tax considerations which apply in the US & not here. Please could you confirm if this is the case. I use a Vanguard index fund (unit trust) and wish to continue doing so, however am I missing out on not using ETF’s? Thanks again for all that you do for us, your listeners.

    Best wishes, Steve Horton

  • Love the podcast!
    I’m trying to understand what I can pay into my workplace pension. I’m close to £180k on my P60 & have no other income. My firm pay 6% into my pension, I then pay 6% which they also match. In addition I contribute another 2% so 20% in total, approx. £27k for a Pension Input Period. Feels like I have a relatively simple setup but I’m worried about breaching any limits around the £60k. Do I really need advice as I feel like I should be able to work this out myself!
    Thanks
    Steve D
  • I am 38 and 4 years ago came into a large sum of money (£600k). My wife and I were in decent shape with a manageable mortgage, life/CI insurance, decent pension balances.I opted to not employ a financial advisor, mainly because I was wary of fees.I am now questioning my decision. I have slowly been putting the money into my SIPP and ISA, keeping the rest in a GIA (invested in global index – Vanguard), paying  the tax on dividends and, with time, capital gains. Also been using my wife's allowances.My question is this, was I silly to not employ a FA? Would there have been an obvious non-risky way of protecting the GIA balance from the tax-man, which would have paid for the FA many times over? We’re still saving into the GIA with regular monthly direct debits, although modest amounts.

    Love your podcast/YouTube output, which I feel have made me a better citizen – more relaxed because I am sure that my finances are unlikely to have any nasty surprises! Keep up the good work. Stuart

  • I've been listening to your great podcast for years and have a simply question for you both. If I am retired with no earnings and taking money from my drawdown pot, can I still contribute £2880 into a pension and get the £720 tax relief off the government? Can I do this even if I might not even be paying tax?
    Nigel
  • I’m 57, self employed (so no employer contribution for me!) and have a SIPP and Stocks and shares ISA. Basic rate taxpayer. I plan to start drawing from these in a few years time. I’m wondering ( as there aren’t going to be many years for the compounding ) whether it’s still worth adding to my SIPP? I’ll get the tax uplift if I put money into my SIPP but then 3/4 will then become taxable but I don’t think there will be enough time to make a gain large enough to offset the tax I will then pay. Should I just bung everything into my ISA? Have I missed something?Thanks very much if you’re able to answer my question! Best LC
  • I made a mistake when starting my investment journey by choosing platform recommended funds which are currently not performing well. I have had them for 3 years, is it best to cut my losses and invest in to my choice of global multi asset fund which I've had for 2 years that has been performing well?
    Thanks, Marc
  • Matthew asks:
    1. My wife and I are selling both our homes (bought before together) and moving into a rental for 1-2years in a new area before we buy. We will have £500k in cash for 1-2years. Are we best investing in government bonds? Premium bonds? High interest savings accounts? We’re both top rate tax payers and have no other assets.
    2. My NHS salary will soon go over £100k and we are starting a family. You speak a lot about overpaying pension for tax reasons and it also helps keep the £20k childcare allowance. I don’t think I can overpay an NHS pension, or can I? Others seem to be getting cars on lease to avoid it. Any ideas?

Send Us Your Listener Question

We’re going to spin out the listener questions into a separate Q&A show which we’ll drop into the feed every 2-3 weeks or so. These will be in addition to the main feed, most likely, but they’re easier for us to produce because they require less writing! Send your questions to hello@meaningfulmoney.tv Subject line: Podcast Question


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The post Listener Questions – Episode 3 appeared first on Meaningful Money – Making sense of Money with Pete Matthew | Financial FAQ.



* This article was originally published here

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Thursday, January 9, 2025

Monday, January 6, 2025

Helpful Basics: The Financial Advice Process

What You Need To Know

  • Advice vs planning – Advice is product-led, Planning is outcome-led.
  • The Financial Planning process.
    1. Establish and define the relationship.
    2. Collect client information to have context for advice.
    3. Analyse and assess the current position.
    4. Develop the plan and make recommendations.
    5. Implementation.
    6. Ongoing review.
  • Costs and value.
  • Qualifications and designations.

Everything You Need To Do

  • Begin with the end in mind.
  • Contact several advisers.
  • Get costs and scope in writing.
  • Be prepared to be vulnerable.

We’re going to spin out the listener questions into a separate Q&A show which we’ll drop into the feed every 2-3 weeks or so. These will be in addition to the main feed, most likely, but they’re easier for us to produce because they require less writing! Send your questions to hello@meaningfulmoney.tv Subject line: Podcast Question


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Follow MeMo on Instagram

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The post Helpful Basics: The Financial Advice Process appeared first on Meaningful Money – Making sense of Money with Pete Matthew | Financial FAQ.



* This article was originally published here

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Saturday, January 4, 2025