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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

UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves presents her first Budget on Wednesday 30th October after a major spending review. Her election commitments on tax rates and the priority she has given to restoring growth will limit the scope for raising further revenues, but there's plenty of room for re-balancing health spending by introducing mandatory health insurance for wealthy old folk. The balance between what comes in and what goes out is a struggle for almost all western democracies: in the United States, debt interest accounts for 76% of income tax receipts. In the UK it's 36%: still high, and that's notwithstanding the impact of frozen tax thresholds causing higher receipts, which would act to reduce that percentage. Background music: 'People Watching' by Sir Cubworth

In a House of Lords debate on the continuing conflict in Sudan, Archbishop Justin Welby called for a long-term plan towards peace building. The need for that is just as acute in Ukraine and, using all his considerable skills in reconciliation, he could open the door to a pathway to peace by going to meet Patriarch Kirill in Moscow. Thus far Kirill has given steadfast spiritual support to Putin, but is this in keeping with the Christian faith? How can the clear instruction to 'love your enemies' be reconciled with the continuing devastation and anguish in Ukraine and the abduction of more than 20,000 children? Background music: 'Confliction & Catharsis' by Asher Fulero

Mike Indian looks ahead to the Budget, discussing whether Labour will be breaking its manifesto commitments, feeling that a time-limited wealth tax would be better than discouraging pension saving. He discusses the surprise ejection of James Cleverley from the Tory leadership contest, perhaps the one best placed to unify the party. He predicts that at the end of this Parliament, it will be Boris Johnson who is leader of the opposition. He also reflects upon the life of Alex Salmond, who so nearly became Prime Minister of an independent Scotland. He had flair and talent, though perhaps not integrity. The latter, in the long run, is more important in a politician.

Whether you voted Labour or not, with any new government, there is a sense of optimism. Things can only get better… apparently. But within days, Rachel Reeves and co. poured cold water over all that — and the gloom and doom about the economy and what then could be (and crucially not be) in the Budget hasn’t stopped. Well, Simon Lambert is fed up. So he has put forward an alternative budget with less than two weeks to go. Do you agree with him? And what would you do? Alongside Georgie Frost and Lee Boyce, the trio talk about budget pessimism. Did it need to be this way? There has been plenty of speculation that NI paid by employers will rise and they may even have to pay NI on pension contributions. What does that mean? This week CPI fell below the Bank of England's 2% target in September, reaching its lowest point in three years. What does that mean for interest rates? More major lenders have put mortgage rates up — where next for home loan deals? And just what is Sonia, if not an Eastenders character or 80s pop star? Lastly, there has been plenty of pre-budget speculation about inheritance tax. But what about the here and now... can you really get caught out by taking your extended family on an annual holiday?

Steve Caplin delves into the world of tech. Tesla's Robotaxi disappointed investors. Standing desks turn out to be no better than being seated. A robotic finger can now be used for digital examinations. The Dresden Sinfoniker has a robot conductor – with three arms – to perform complex music. There's an electric version of the old BMW bubble car. You can buy Vespa scooters with 75mm anti-armour cannons attached. A bell has been designed for runners – at a price. And firemen at the Stadtallendorf fire station may be regretting not installing a fire alarm.

James Cameron-Wilson explains that box office is down 17%, with a big drop-off for the new Joker movie. He couldn't get excited by new #1 ‘Transformers One’. Being animated, it negates the wow factor and he was bored rigid. For the first time in his career, he thinks a film should not have gone on general release. #3 ‘Terrifier 3’ is a Christmas horror movie so strong some patrons have been made ill. James says it would have been banned in the 80s. Again, he recommends people to catch ‘Beetlejuice Beetlejuice’ or ‘The Outrun’, both still in the charts. On AppleTV+ he enjoyed ‘Wolfs’ with George Clooney and Brad Pitt playing well off each other as rival fixers, even if it does get increasingly silly.

Neil Shah of Edison Group finds London Tunnels' project fascinating. Despite the name, they are listed on Euronext and aim to turn the network of tunnels under Holborn Underground into a major tourist attraction. Although intended as air raid shelters they became a home for MI6 and ended up being used by the GPO. Details of a forthcoming presentation are on the Edison Group website. Card Factory is demonstrating that a combination of bricks and clicks could be more effective than a pure online operation. The company is expanding its product range, stores and its online business and is trading at a larger discount than it should be.

You might think that self care sounds somewhat selfish, but it's worth remembering that you can't pour from an empty cup. You need to look after yourself to be able to care for others. So if you're struggling with prioritising self care and to look out for your own interest, it's worth remembering those last two words of the instruction to love your neighbour — as yourself.

Amazon is the latest hyperscaler to team up with an energy company to power its AI ambitions. Asit Sharma and Mary Long discuss the collaborations laying the groundwork for the coming “Intelligence Age.” Then, 18 minutes in, Sanmeet Deo and Ricky Mulvey debrief Tesla’s “We, Robot” event and take a look at the humanoid landscape. Companies discussed: AMZN, D, MSFT, GOOG, GOOGL, CEG, EQT, SMR, TSLA. Host - Mary Long; Guests - Asit Sharma, Sanmeet Deo, Ricky Mulvey

When you are the custodian of almost $10 trillion, how much more can you possibly grow? Motley Fool Contributor Matt Frankel joins Ricky Mulvey for a look at bank earnings. They discuss why Charles Schwab is welcoming a rate-cutting cycle, Goldman Sachs’s biggest red flag, and Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan’s outlook on the American economy. Then, 14 minutes in, Motley Fool Senior Analyst Buck Hartzell joins Alison Southwick and Robert Brokamp to kick-off a series on Berkshire Hathaway, and how the conglomerate’s collection of businesses work together. Companies discussed: SCHW, GS, BAC, BRK.A, BRK.B. Host - Ricky Mulvey; Guests: Matt Frankel, Alison Southwick, Robert Brokamp, Buck Hartzell

Adam Cox is joined by Vestergaard's Lead Scientist, Rinki Debb & Regional Manager of Public Health, Emmie Cacace to discuss malaria. Many of us may think that malaria is less of a threat than it used to be and is under control. In fact, nearly 7 in 10 Brits say they hear less about the efforts to combat the disease than they once might have. However, the fight is far from over – with one child dying every single minute. https://vestergaard.com/

Adam Cox is joined by Nick Drouet from Kyndryl. They discuss their new report which has revealed the extent of unpreparedness and readiness of UK and global businesses when it comes to preventing cyber-attacks and minimising the impact of climate disruption, amongst other important issues of our time. https://www.kyndryl.com/gb/en

Adam Cox is joined by Damian Stirrett from ServiceNow. They discuss the International Investment Summit and the big announcement they made at the event. ServiceNow announced a significant investment of $1.5bn into their UK operations and is launching an AI reskilling programme aimed at reaching 240,000 UK learners by 2027. https://www.servicenow.com/uk/

Adam Cox is joined by David Hallett from Exscientia. They discuss AI, in particular how it can help and streamline drug discovery. They also discuss which types of AI technology they're using at Exscientia. https://www.exscientia.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...