Share Sounds. presented by Georgie Frost related to Pensions & Retirement - Planning for Retirement

The debacle over widespread errors in the state pension that This is Money and Sir Steve Webb uncovered, continues. As of the end of October last year, DWP had paid out just under half a billion pounds to more than 80,000 people who’ve been underpaid. But what about those who have died? Tanya Jefferies, Lee Boyce, Angharad Carrick and Georgie Frost reveal the case where a letter was sent to the daughter of an 100 year-old man three years after he passed away, stating he had been unpaid state pension for two decades. Yet, despite the letter – months later, she was left hanging on what the DWP was actually going to do about it. And still on the state pension front, people continue to complain of top-ups chaos as the Government gets ready to launch a new online service next month. Sir Steve is calling on DWP and HMRC to get in more staff. You don’t need HMRC to have more staff to answer your call, oh no! You just need to be a VIP. Apparently there is a helpline, also known as Public Department 1 (PD1) which answers calls nine times quicker. We explain more. On the savings front, the FCA is launching a campaign to encourage savers to shop around – and if you rushed to sign up for a one-year fixed-rate cash Isa this time in 2023, Lee explains why you must act. Optional and mandatory service charges at hospitality venues – Georgie, Ang and Lee give their verdict. And finally, the price of bitcoin jumped beyond $60,000 this week. What’s behind the latest cryptocurrency surge?

The cost of a comfortable retirement has jumped over the past year - but what do you need to get one and will you get there? As the Pension and Lifetime Savings Association updates its annual look at how much income people need for a basic, moderate or comfortable retirement, Georgie Frost, Lee Boyce and Simon Lambert take a look at what this all means for you. If a comfortable retirement costs a couple £59,000 a year and a moderate one £43,000, which one do you have a chance of achieving - and are there any important bits being left out of the costs? The team look at the cost of retiring, why it might not be as expensive as it first looks, how to invest for retirement and what sort of back up the state pension will provide. Plus, why our real top rate of income tax is 60% - and it's not the highest earners hit by it on their next pay rise - and is there any hope that Jeremy Hunt will be the Chancellor who finally does something about it. The case for not just cutting stamp duty but getting rid of it altogether. And an interview with a modern-day business legend. Simon speaks to easyJet and easyGroup founder Sir Stelios Haji-Ionnou about how he started the airline and built it up and his Young Entrepreneur awards.

Georgie Frost, Simon Lambert and Tanya Jefferies discuss a new online service coming next Spring for state pension top-ups. Also, Simon looks at what's going on in the Bond market. There's also comment on premium bond values, and the team pick up a cause of local disputes: cameras in the back garden!

If the triple lock is stuck to, the state pension should rise by 8.5% next April. That will be an inflation-busting rise but a promise is a promise - and the triple lock is meant to be a cast iron guarantee that the state pension will rise by either 2.5%, average wages, or inflation. Except it's already been unpicked once and arguing about whether the government can wriggle out of it has become an annual event. It's expensive and paid for by current workers, but the triple lock has improved the state pension - and one day those workers should get that payout themselves. Yet, has it run its course and is it time for a better policy than the triple lock? Georgie Frost, Sam Barker and Simon Lambert debate the triple lock and whether to keep it. Plus, why is Facebook Marketplace such a wild west for consumers and what happened when we tried to set up our own (fake) scam? Santander's cracking 5.2% easy access savings deal was pulled this week. The team discuss whether another account will come close in future and why those who signed up to This is Money's savings alerts didn't miss out. And finally, a reader has viewed 40 homes for sale but not found one they like. What should they do?

Inflation has been ravaging our finances, but it is also threatening our future. According to new research, if you want a comfortable retirement, you need to build a pot of nearly £600,000. The rising cost of living requires an extra £4,200 a year to maintain the same lifestyle as in spring last year - which means you have to save another £69,000 in all. Tanya Jefferies, Georgie Frost, Lee Boyce and Helen Crane delve into pensions, as separate research shows more than half of people saving into one believe they will never put away enough to stop working when they get older. What can you do? Tanya reveals how to invest your pension and live off it in retirement. One thing that isn’t going to help your retirement funds is forking out to help your kids get on the property ladder. But that is exactly what is happening at the moment and in huge numbers. Financial aid is expected to support almost half of all homes purchased by buyers under the age of 55 this year - totalling £8.1billion. Is tapping into the Bank of Mum and Dad fair? People who spent big sums on state pension top-ups are angry their cash has gone missing and they can't get answers out of HMRC or the Department for Work and Pensions – Tanya gives an important update. Lee runs the rule over the new 6.2% one-year fixed-rate from National Savings and Investments, alongside four savings trends gleaned from a new Bank of England report. Helen reveals the four pressures landlords are facing as more of them opt to sell up. And lastly, are you suffering from dogflation, catflation or any kind of petflation? And how can you bite back?

The state pension is getting a boost this week, meaning many pensioners will see their payments go above £200 per week or £10,000 per year for the first time. The Government has also recently announced that it is delaying a decision on hiking up the state pension age to 68 until after the next election – perhaps influenced by protests across the channel. Pension commentators said move would be 'incredibly unpopular', and likely 'political suicide'. Governments don’t like to upset retirees because they vote in high numbers — but maintaining the status quo is incredibly expensive. Has something ultimately got to give when it comes to the state pension age and maintaining the triple lock? Georgie Frost is joined by Tanya Jefferies and Helen Crane to discuss. We also look at one lucky This is Money reader who is getting an even bigger rise, seeing his pension go up by more than 16%. It sounds like great news — but he is wondering whether it means he has been short-changed in the past. Elsewhere, research this week has shown Britons are still dragging their feet when it comes to making a will. The team looks at why it’s important, how to do it — and why it isn’t just about money. Also, E-Toro’s Sam North provides the latest update on the markets as we head into the long weekend. We also discuss why broadband companies have been able to get away with ignoring instructions from regulator Ofcom to make switching easier for customers. It told them two years ago that they needed to make it possible to swap providers in just one day — so why are most of us still left languishing without an internet connection for up to two weeks? Finally, do you fancy a sabbatical from work to travel? Some big firms are offering the extended time off as a perk to long-serving staff — but would your boss let you go, and how would you afford it?

Jeremy Hunt had a spring in his step this week as he delivered his Budget. It was a considerably different air to the gloomy warning of trouble ahead in his November Autumn Statement. The headline act was a major shake-up of pension saving rules, removing restrictions that limit the amount that can go in without tax penalties. The lifetime allowance was abolished rather than raised, the annual allowance got a big bump, and rules to stop pension recycling were eased. Was this a bung for the rich shovelling cash into their pension - and doctors - or a move that will help many more young professional savers aspiring to a decent retirement, who may not realise the lifetime limit could be hit? Georgie Frost, Helen Crane and Simon Lambert delve into the Budget and joining them to explain the pensions element is a special guest, This is Money's retirement columnist and ex-pensions minister Steve Webb. Also in the Budget was news on the economy, a ray of hope on energy bills, and a big expansion of free childcare... but it won't come in for some time. The team look at all those elements and more. And finally, as the Budget claimed the headlines something else was rumbling on: a mini-banking crisis sparked by the Sillicon Valley Bank collapse. What is going on there and should we be worried?

You'd like to imagine that when it came to the state pension, you'd be dealing with a more robust system than the ones that deliver the average customer service nightmare. Savers could be forgive for questioning whether that was the case after a string of recent blunders. First we had the underpaid women's state pensions scandal, now we have the pension top-ups system creaking at the seams, at the same time as it turns out there may be a serious problem with the records of those who have received Universal Credit. The common thread running through exposing these problems has been This is Money's pension and investing editor Tanya Jefferies and retirement columnist Steve Webb. They have worked tirelessly to help those affected and bring these issues to light. This week, we had a state pension double header of news with an admission of the problems over Universal Credit and the Government finally extending the deadline for boosting state pension via top-ups. Tanya talks us through the problems and discusses what they mean for people, with Georgie Frost and Simon Lambert. Also, the team talk about why you should put your savings in a cash ISA, where to find the best ones and why transfers might be the most important thing you can do. Plus, who are the Dividend Heroes, what have they got to do with the Rolling Stones and what can we learn from them on long-term investing? And finally, rising interest rates have severely hampered the amount of mortgage a monthly payment can buy, so, could you afford your home now?

Those aged between 43 and 54 may have been concerned by rumours this week that the Government is planning to increase the state pension age to 68 much sooner than planned. Officially, the rise to 68 is set to happen between 2044 and 2046, but ministers allegedly want to bring forward the change to 2035 with the policy being floated for inclusion in the March Budget. It comes as warnings have been sounded that those retiring in future decades will face a gap between the income that pension savings and the state pension will provide, and what they need to live even a moderate retirement. This is Money's pensions and investment editor, Tanya Jefferies, deputy editor Helen Crane and host Georgie Frost discuss how likely this is to actually happen - and what pension savers could do to prepare for it. We also look at mortgage rates which, having gone from all-time lows to unexpected highs in the last year and a half, could now be edging down past the 4% mark. Why have a raft of high street lenders cut their rates in recent days, and will they simply hike them back up again if the Bank of England decides to increase the base rate again next week? And what should borrowers in the unenviable position of needing to remortgage at the moment be factoring in when they make their decision? Another group set to be impacted by next week's base rate decision are savers. With NS&I having increased the interest rate on its ever-popular Premium Bonds from 1% to 3.15% in the space of a year, is that now the best place to keep your rainy day fund? EToro's Sam North also lets us know why next week is going to be a big one for the investment market. Helen gives us the lowdown on which companies are doing right by their customers, and which are not. Once renowned for its tip top service (free coffee, anyone?) John Lewis has taken a battering in Money Mail's wooden spoon awards - but it also placed high on a separate survey of the firms that customers liked best. So what is going on? Finally, we dish out some advice on how to spot bargains in charity shops, haggle down prices at car boot sales and then make money selling things on.

What do you picture in retirement? Is it an early exit from the rat race to travel the world, a gradual step back and a bit of golf, or working until state pension age and then spending some time treating the grandchildren? We will all have a different image in our heads of what our retirement years might look like, but whatever that is it is important to think about another question: could you afford to do those things? While most of us will be saving into a pension, we often have little idea how much income it will need to provide when we retire and how big the pot will need to be to do that. Stepping into that gap is the now regular report from the Pension and Lifetime Savings Association, which helps paint a picture of what a minimum, moderate and comfortable retirement would look like – and crucially what it would cost. Georgie Frost, Simon Lambert and This is Money’s pension and investment editor, Tanya Jefferies, delve into the report and look at what it found. How do those retirement standards translate into reality, how much will the state pension cover, how much on top of that will people need and why has the minimum retirement income rocketed 20% – far above official inflation? Simon speaks to Sam North, of eToro, for our weekly market update, who explains how a bang on expectations US inflation figure was received and why the FTSE 100 has made a good start to the year. Later, the team look at inheritance tax, why it is catching more people in its net, how high house prices mean more families are seeing hundreds of thousands pocketed by the taxman and what can be done to make the much-hated tax work better and feel fairer. And finally, does using cash help you budget or is it a false economy. Simon says for him it’s the latter, but what do Georgie and Tanya reckon?