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The yellow-shaded column is the OBR's forecast for borrowing in 2028-29 as at March this year; the blue-shaded is their latest forecast. Is this really 'Invest, Invest, Invest' or 'Borrow, Borrow, Borrow'? The problem is that it all lands on the shoulders of today's young people, who will struggle more to find jobs after the employer NI changes and whose prospects of home ownership and family formation are already weighed down by student debt. Background music: 'Missing Persons' by Jeremy Blake

Image source: OBR

Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft, has called for an overhaul of copyright legislation to recognise the broad span of human creativity. It is indeed time to re-align the balance between sharing knowledge and ring-fencing ownership, but the quid pro quo is to provide mass participation in the wealth creation made possible by Generative Artificial Intelligence. John Maynard Keynes' experience of the two world wars of the 20th century showed how complacent attitudes amongst the wealthy led to these tragedies, and Gillian Tett has drawn a parallel with today's cocktail of globalisation, capitalism and rapid technological development. The Achilles' heel is still acute wealth polarisation, but mass participation could provide a way forward. Background music: 'Intellect' by Yung Logos

With the '50% matured' stage for Child Trust Funds being reached at the end of October, The Share Foundation hopes the Chancellor will announce introduction of its 'Default Withdrawal at 21' plan in the Budget. This would immediately release c. £250 million of accounts to low-income young adults. Meanwhile The Share Foundation's pre-launch announcement of its forthcoming 'Stepping Forward — Performing Arts for Life' course also caught the eye of BBC news with their webpage article of this major life skills initiative for young people in care, building on the success of its Stepladder Plus course. Background music: 'Hopeful Freedom' by Asher Fulero

Mike Indian fillets Rachel Reeves' first Budget, with a massive increase in taxes, in large part to be paid by business, particularly through an increase in their National Insurance contributions. While the public sector will be getting considerably more money, it is important for the government to make the state more efficient. It is Mike's view that Reeves will be raising more taxes further down the line. He also looks at the Tory leadership contest but believes the new leader will not only not become PM but won't even be the leader in two years' time. As for the US election, the polls are tight – as always – and if there isn't a clear, outright win, we can expect a protracted and bitter aftermath.

UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves delivers her first Budget. The recording is unabridged and without additional comment.

Rachel Reeves' maiden Budget last week saw the first female chancellor make £40billion of sweeping tax rises in to plug funding gaps in the NHS and schools. While it left many of us with something to be miserable about when it comes to our money, there were also some important dodged bullets, as Simon Lambert, Georgie Frost and Helen Crane discuss. Among the losers were landlords, investors and those who have stashed wealth in their pension, as stamp duty, capital gains tax and inheritance tax all came under the spotlight. The attack on the middle classes was perhaps to be expected from a Government which has told us those with the broadest shoulders must bear a bigger burden. But aside from a rise in the minimum wage and 1p off a pint, did the Budget give enough of a boost to 'working people' — and will changes to employers' National Insurance contributions indirectly hit them in the pocket anyway? Given growth was the buzzword of the Labour election campaign, did Reeves miss an opportunity to get people excited about British industry and entrepreneurship? We also dig into what wasn't announced in the speech, including a not-so-fond farewell to the short-lived British ISA, and a child benefit change that could have helped single parents found itself on the scrapheap.

Steve Caplin explains how US scientists have found an impressive way of trapping CO2 while Australian boffins have worked out how to generate electricity from polystyrene. Airbus are to increase internal baggage space on planes by 60%. An AI version of Michael Parkinson will soon be hosting a new chat show. The largest prime number has been discovered. Steve explains how to conquer "Hi Dad" text fraud. There's a clever crowd-funded camera for kids that will project the images. And Russian judges have fined Google $20 decillion, many times the size of the global economy.

Neil Shah of Edison Group looks at Rachel Reeves' Budget. In advance, many peole were withdrawing money from investments but, although the gilts market has seen yields rise, there's a general air of relief that it isn't more draconian. He feels things should normalise in the coming weeks and that, with the UK still forecast to grow, it's a good investment climate. Low-margin, high-workforce sectors like hospitality and retail might suffer but with declining interest rates, real estate and housebuilders could benefit, as could companies associated with increased government spending in health, social care and education.

James Cameron-Wilson says that box office is up a mere 3% with new #1 ‘Venom: The Last Dance’, the third in the franchise with Tom Hardy. Full of British actors, it is dark and violent. The antithesis is #2 ‘The Wild Robot’, a delightful animated feature about a robot learning from the animals on an uninhabited island. It's a genuine original and looks terrific. James was moved and entertained. On Sky/Netflix is ‘Woman of the Hour’, starring and directed by Anna Kendrick. Although based on a true story about a serial killer on a TV dating show, James found it only mildly diverting. He did recommend, though, that people search out the 2011 version of ‘Jane Eyre’ online, starring Michael Fassbender and Mia Wasikowska.

Hypnotists break down phobias by creating a 'stepping stone': building a third person substitute: however, in order to be effective for the individual, that focus has to be transferred to the first person perspective. Adam Cox shows how this can be achieved, and how to become resourceful, competent and calm to deal with whatever troubles you.

If you want to find market-beating stocks, sometimes you have to go where few others are. Jim Gillies and Ricky Mulvey discuss why the market may be overreacting to Boot Barn’s CEO departure, a niche-grocer that’s seen its stock double in the past year, and finding “growth at a reasonable price.” Then, 17 minutes in, Larry the Werewolf joins Ricky to take a look at Hershey and offer up his top three favorite candies for Halloween. Companies discussed: BOOT, SFM, AER, HSY. Host - Ricky Mulvey; Guests - Jim Gillies, Larry the Werewolf

Today we’re digging into financial regulations, advanced financial instruments, and the financing Boeing needs to stay afloat. Asit Sharma and Dylan Lewis discuss Robinhood’s venture into the event derivative market and why it’s no surprise to see the brokerage venture further into advanced and more speculative trading to drive transaction revenue, the CFPBs “open banking” push and what it means for consumers and banks, and Boeing’s plan to issue $19B in shares to pad the balance sheet and navigate a tough time for its business. Then, 16 minutes in: Carvana stock has been on a wild ride — Fool Analyst Yasser el-Shimy joins Mary Long to discuss why so many investors have bet against Carvana, and how that bet has played out. Companies discussed: HOOD, BA, CVNA. Host - Dylan Lewis; Guests - Asit Sharma, Mary Long, Yasser El-Shimy

Adam Cox is joined by Leon Ward from charity, MyBnk. Most young people who have experienced care face an uphill struggle when turning 18. However, this is never truer than when it comes to financial education and literacy — with many care leavers feeling lost and unable to manage their money effectively. Leon discusses this and how MyBnk offer support. https://www.mybnk.org/

Adam Cox is joined by Arun Ranganathan from Tally Money. The Hindu festival of Diwali is upon us, and today marks Dhanteras – the day when it is tradition to gift vibrant delicacies and, of course, gold. Arun, a practising Hindu tells us about how the gifting of gold has changed in modern times. https://www.tallymoney.com/

The State Opening of Parliament on Wednesday 17th July was somewhat of a watershed after fourteen years of Conservative governments. Here is the unabridged King's Speech, encapsulating in just over twelve minutes the priorities of the new Labour Government. Image Source: Daily Express. Background music following the speech: 'Pastorale' by Joel Cummins

The core of the problem with unclaimed, adult-owned Child Trust Funds (of which there are over £2 billion waiting to be claimed) is with accounts opened by HMRC. That's why The Share Foundation has proposed a 'default withdrawal at 21' process, based on the young person's National Insurance number. Danny Kruger MP took part in the CTF conference in Westminster on Tuesday 5th March, and two weeks later in a Westminster Hall CTF debate, and supported this initiative which could release £1/4 billion each year to help these young and predominantly low-income young adults. Background music: 'Waiting' by Andrew Langdon

The debate on 19th March 2024 was hosted by Sir Jeremy Quin MP to call for the need to simplify family access to Child Trust Funds for disabled young people, and a number of MPs contributed to the debate, including Danny Kruger and Ed Davy. The audio record is provided by Parliament Live, and is an unabridged recording of proceedings, without additional comment. Listeners may notice an adjournment for voting in the House of Commons.

Adam Cox is joined by Gemma Bourne from Big Society Capital to discuss why the government should reallocate a larger proportion of its existing spend to further scale initiatives that tackle the UK's homelessness and temporary accommodation crisis. With new research showing that these house funds are already having a major impact, it could help us combat homelessness. https://bigsocietycapital.com/

Professor Tim Evans of Middlesex University explains why he so enjoyed new Argentine President Javier Milei lecturing the great and good of the World Economic Forum about libertarian and Austrian economics, attacking corporatism and socialism. He feels Milei could be the most consequential politician economically-speaking for many years. He also looks at falling EV car sales, lamenting the way in which politicians set goals for achieving their hobbyhorses irrespective of scientific progress and consumer demand. And he is fascinated by a meeting between journalist John Humphreys and members of Gen Z, which showed them to be different to the popular perception.

Steve Caplin takes Simon Rose through a cornucopia of techie Christmas gift ideas. Among his favourites are the crowdfunded Linka Lasso bike lock and the Hover X1 self-flying camera. There's an app to help with the office Secret Santa and a distillery to brew your own booze. You can get a magnetic wrapping tripod, a great phone case with a built-in stand, teflon mats for flaky BBQ food, an underseat suitcase for flights, magnetic bookmarks, a folding charger plug and even an electrified Land Rover Defender to use as a shore tender with your superyacht.

Welcome to a special episode of The Financial Outlook: the investment section of the Managing My Money course. What's the difference between saving and investment? It's all in the risk. We talk about shares, bonds and funds, and which perform best over the long term. The Managing My Money course has 16 sections in total, and is presented by Glen Goodman and Annie Weston. You can enjoy the whole course, produced in association with the Open University via Share Radio's home page. Here's the link to the slides for this episode: https://www.shareradio.co.uk/help-guides/managing-my-money/supporting-slides/mmm-week-5-episode-10-supporting-slides/

“The [Child Trust Fund] scheme has been closed to new entrants for over 12 years. In this time HMRC has been focusing resources on evaluating and improving existing schemes. We will continue to keep the need to evaluate old schemes under review.” So said Andrew Griffith MP, Economic Secretary to HM Treasury in reply to a parliamentary question from John Ashworth MP, Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions. But this is not an 'old scheme' — there is currently over £1.7 billion sitting in mature accounts belonging to over 900,000 mainly low-income young adults throughout the UK who don't know anything about their good fortune! Their Child Trust Fund harvest is seeing too little action at present: but it's not too late to get it sorted, and the current focus from the National Audit Office and Public Accounts Committee will certainly help.
Background music: 'Hopeful Freedom' by Asher Fulero

The huge take-up of ChatGPT over recent weeks has brought the challenge of Artificial Intelligence into sharp relief. As the Chief Executive of its creator, OpenAI, said in one of his blogs, 'Artificial Intelligence will bring unimaginable wealth but, unless something changes, most of us will get none of it. We need a radical solution'. Conventional wisdom sees Universal Basic Income as the way through this dilemma, but this will only bring us more state intermediation and human subservience. We can put forward a better solution, by enabling all to share in the wealth that technology brings and to play their part in its future governance.
Background music: 'Digital Solitude' by Silent Partner

Jonathan Davis, editor of the Investment Trusts Handbook, tells Simon Rose what makes investment trusts special and why investors should consider their merits. He explains the differences to other types of funds, including the premium and discount. He discusses the yields on alternative assets (including renewable energy and even music royalties) and how trusts can continue paying dividends even in bad years. The handbook, from Harriman House, is available in hardbook or free as an ebook (https://tinyurl.com/mt69fc24).

It’s the last episode of Answers (but don’t worry, we’re just moving to Motley Fool Money every Tuesday). We’ll reminisce on our biggest lessons learned over the last seven years and answer your questions, some financial, some festive.

The Talk by the WealthiHer Network, every month on Share Radio: this month we are here to talk about the secrets of some of UK leading female businesses leaders and their journeys within launching their businesses. Tamara Gillan is joined by Charlotte Bobroff, the executive director at J.P. Morgan who has been incremental with working with female founders from female high-powered businesses. She recently curated an event surrounding female high-powered businesses and she will be discussing her findings. Also, we have the pleasure of Daina Speddings, who is an investor at BGF and will share her perspective on the investment journey.

Scrooge has made the deal of his life with Chinese investors and must now quickly return to London on Christmas Eve to close the deal. On the flight back, during a fitful sleep, Scrooge confronts his past and present and learns the future consequences of his miserly life to find the true meaning of Christmas. Proscenium Online Theatre is super excited to be bringing you a whole new season of audio dramas in 2022. Starting off with 'The Girl in the Yellow Dress', a dark romance by South African playwright Craig Higginson, and 'Plunder', an original Hong Kong based thriller by American playwright Alan Olejniczak. In the meantime - sit back, close your eyes and enjoy the Proscenium Online Theatre’s production of 'A Christmas Carol'.

https://www.prosceniumonlinetheatre.com

Join the Sustain:Social panel session on December '21, considering the outlook for investors in the wake of the COP26 in Glasgow. The panel comprises of - Chair: Rodney Hobson Panel: Gervais Williams (Premier Miton Group); Jamie Broderick (Impact Investing Institute); Mohan Gundu (Sustainable Funds Group); Mike Appleby (Liontrust Sustainable Investment team); Gavin Oldham (The Share Foundation / Share Radio).

Food banks are providing a vital role to help people this winter, and the Trussell Trust supports more than 1,200 throughout the United Kingdom. In this special episode of The Bigger Picture, their Chief Executive Emma Revie briefs supporters about their progress, and their plans for the future. If you would like to support the extraordinary work undertaken by this charity, please visit https://trusselltrust.org

If you missed Chancellor Rishi Sunak delivering his speech on 27 October, here's your chance to hear it. Plus, read our commentary on Monday 1 November for Share Radio's perspective, including our assessment of the contrast with the mid-70s, when public borrowing last hit stratospheric levels.

Imagine a world in which everyone has a stake in the great tech firms that serve them each day, and where dividends are gradually replacing wages to provide regular income for everyone, as work becomes scarcer as a result of automation? Imagine a world where every young person not only has a small inheritance with which to start their adult life, but also the opportunity to build its value by learning life skills? Simon Rose is taking a well-earned break this week, so we’re taking the opportunity to bring you a talk given Gavin Oldham in August to the leading City of London think-tank Z/Yen.

Click link for slides for presentation

On 31 August '21 The Share Foundation hosted a virtual event for young people in Wales, to help them find money that the government put away in a Child Trust Fund for when they reached 18. All young people born in the UK from 1st September 2002 should have one of these accounts, but huge numbers don't know anything about them! With Welsh-speaking help from Jac, this audio podcast of the virtual event tells you all about your good fortune, and invites you to register at https://findCTF.sharefound.org so that Sharefound can help link you with your money. Please share! And if you want to join a virtual event yourself, please visit https://www.sharefound.org/ctf-virtual-events and register for your choice of date: they're taking place each fortnight.

Every child in the UK born between 1 Sept 2002 and 2 Jan 2011 has a Child Trust Fund (CTF). But one child in six has lost contact with the money. Gavin Oldham, Chairman of The Share Foundation – which runs the Junior ISA & Child Trust Fund schemes for children in care for the Department for Education - is trying to re-connect them. He talks through the CTF, how to track an account down, and what a child can and can’t do with the money.

In a new partnership with publishers Harriman House, Share Radio has produced its first audiobook 'Superinvestors', written by Matthew Partridge and read by some of Share Radio's best known presenters. 'Superinvestors' lays bare the investing secrets of legendary investors - from early 20th-century figures such as Benjamin Graham and John Maynard Keynes, through to more modern names such as Anthony Bolton and Warren Buffett.

How you can help young people in care prepare for adult life by supporting The Share Foundation’s ‘Stepladder of Achievement’ programme.

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Share Radio has put together a list of our ‘Top 5 Money Saving Apps’ to help our listeners make the most of their money.  All the apps featured here are free to download on either Apple or Android devices. Read more...