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Georgie Frost

This Is Money: Tale of the state pension underpaid for 20 YEARS

Georgie Frost
Original Broadcast:

This is Money

This Is Money: Tale of the state pension underpaid for 20 YEARS
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?
Guests:

Angharad Carrick, Tanya Jefferies


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Georgie Frost

This Is Money: Why has Britain fallen behind on getting richer?

Georgie Frost
Original Broadcast:

This is Money

This Is Money: Why has Britain fallen behind on getting richer?
Britain's disposable income has dropped substantially over the past 14 years compared to where it should be, according to a new report this week. The Centre for Cities said that the average household's disposable income has fallen £10,000 behind where it would have been if pre-2010 growth rates had been maintained. On average we have got better off, but we are well below what would have been expected. Georgie Frost, Lee Boyce and Simon Lambert look at what the problems could be, why aren't we getting richer quicker, why are we falling behind our international peers and what can be done. Plus, while our living standards aren't rapidly accelerating, house prices have and the average seller made more than £100,000 last year - are property inflation and the slowing in disposable income growth linked? Simon, thinks it's part of the problem. Savings rates have started to slip, so do dividend-paying investment trusts yielding 5% or more look like an attractive move? And finally, some tips on how to make the most of Avios points - but who on the team is the Avios winner, and who is the self-described Avios loser?

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Gavin Oldham

Thought for the Week: The £2 Billion Challenge

Gavin Oldham
Original Broadcast:

Thought for the Week

Thought for the Week: The £2 Billion Challenge
The UK sub-postmasters' scandal is not just an issue for politicians: it deeply questions the quality and integrity of corporate governance, auditors and the legal profession: for example, surely The Law Society should have monitored the quantum of convictions and cried 'wolf'? The huge quantum of unclaimed adult-owned Child Trust Funds is a similar massive injustice for young people from disadvantaged and low-income backgrounds. Politicians, account providers and regulators need to take urgent action to tackle the £2 billion challenge: however, The Share Foundation is crying 'wolf' in this case — but will people listen? Background music: 'Missing Persons' by Jeremy Blake

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Georgie Frost

This Is Money: Should you stick your money in Premium Bonds, a savings account or invest?

Georgie Frost
Original Broadcast:

This is Money

This Is Money: Should you stick your money in Premium Bonds, a savings account or invest?
After a good year for Premium Bonds when the only way was up for the prize fund rate, savers got a blow this week as a cut arrived. The prize fund rate is being cut to 4.4% from 4.65%. That edges the average return - which you may or may not get - from Premium Bonds further below the best savings deals, so should you save instead? Or would many Premium Bond holders be better off investing? Georgie Frost, Lee Boyce and Simon Lambert discuss whether Premium Bonds stack up. Plus, as the US securities regulator approves bitcoin ETFs, is the price now headed for $200,000 as some suggest, or could this be enticing more naive investors into the volatile world of crypto that's been dogged by fraud? Later, Lee reveals his car insurance woes - and shares tips on how to deal with your own renewal quite pain-free. And finally, find out who on the podcast team is not drinking for January, who is taking an extremely haphazard approach to it, and who is planning to go all the way to Easter, as we discuss the no and low-alcohol beer boom and the ones we rate the best.

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Georgie Frost

This Is Money: Pension blunders and why a bond spike is worrying investors

Georgie Frost
Original Broadcast:

This is Money

This Is Money: Pension blunders and why a bond spike is worrying investors
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!
Guest:

Tanya Jefferies


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Georgie Frost

This Is Money: Will your energy bills rise this winter despite a falling price cap?

Georgie Frost
Original Broadcast:

This is Money

This Is Money: Will your energy bills rise this winter despite a falling price cap?
Inflation is easing, food prices are coming down from their peak and the energy price cap dropped last weekend. But you are still paying around 10% more for your groceries now than last year, petrol prices are rising, mortgage rates are still high, and you may end up paying more for your gas and electricity this winter too. But how is that possible? Angharad Carrick, Georgie Frost, Lee Boyce and Helen Crane tackle energy bills and look at who might be paying more in the next three months. And when it comes to water bills, some firms are looking at charging 44% more over the next seven years. Why? Crane on the Case tackles a parking charge issued after someone waited too long in a McDonald’s drive-thru queue. Despite that, Helen managed to get a positive result – but why are so many parking charges being dished out every day, and where is the promised government help to stop it happening? Lee gives you a run through of another busy week in the world of savings and banking. NS&I has pulled its best buy one year fix paying 6.2%; NatWest has a secret top 5.2% easy-access deal; Moneybox is offering the top cash ISA of 5%; and Starling Bank is now offering to pay you for having a current account. It’s also been a hairy week for Metro Bank – but we explain why FSCS has you covered. And finally — the list of the UK's 'perfect' retirement locations has been revealed - and there are some surprising names on it, including the Outer Hebrides. Consumer group Which? has taken retirees' wish-lists for their later-life locations to work out its own grouping of the 12 top places to spend your golden years. But does it tally up to what you think is a perfect retirement location?
Guest:

Angharad Carrick


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Gavin Oldham

The Financial Outlook for Personal Investors: Opportunities for mature investors and young adults

Gavin Oldham
Original Broadcast:

The Financial Outlook for Personal Investors

The Financial Outlook for Personal Investors: Opportunities for mature investors and young adults
With Simon Rose enjoying a short break, we bring you a short episode featuring two opportunities: the Sustain — Social event in London on 21st October (find all the details and booking arrangements at https://sustain.social and book using the discount voucher code SHARERADIO50), and the need for young adults to claim their Child Trust Fund account via https://findCTF.sharefound.org

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Georgie Frost

This Is Money: Could the most hated tax in Britain be axed?

Georgie Frost
Original Broadcast:

This is Money

This Is Money: Could the most hated tax in Britain be axed?
It’s been called the most hated tax in Britain - but only 4% of people pay it. You could be forgiven for thinking inheritance tax is something only the super-rich need to worry about. But thanks to rising house prices and an increasing desire to transfer wealth between generations, more and more people are being drawn into the net. It happens not only when someone is left property or other assets from someone's estate, but also when they accept a gift from someone who passes away before the 'seven year rule' tax exemption kicks in. The Institute for Fiscal Studies says that that 4% could become 12% within a decade. And many of those who will never pay inheritance tax still hate the idea that the Government is taking a big cut of the wealth people have worked hard to build up over their lifetime. So it might come as welcome news that Rishi Sunak is reported to be considering cutting the tax, or even scrapping it altogether, as a potential vote-winner ahead of the next election. What’s wrong with inheritance tax, how could it be made fairer - and could the Government really just get rid of it? Simon Lambert, Helen Crane and Georgie Frost discuss. That’s not the only plan the Government is said to be hatching for our finances. It’s also reported that Chancellor Jeremy Hunt wants to increase the £20,000 annual allowance for saving into an ISA - but only for those who use it to invest money into companies listed on the ailing London Stock Exchange. The team consider what puts people off stocks and shares ISAs, whether the rules are too restrictive for the way we manage our money today, and whether encouraging people to pour money into a market which has had a bit of a tough time of late is a good idea. Plus, it’s a year since the disastrous mini-Budget which rocked the mortgage market. With a raft of reductions from big lenders this week, could rates on home loans finally be turning a corner now the base rate has been put on ice? And finally, we discuss whether the time might finally have come to commit to a fixed rate on your energy bills.
Guest:

Helen Crane


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Georgie Frost

This Is Money: Have interest rates peaked and what next for savings and mortgages?

Georgie Frost
Original Broadcast:

This is Money

This Is Money: Have interest rates peaked and what next for savings and mortgages?
And suddenly they stopped. After 14 interest rate rises in a row, the Bank of England stalled and kept base rate on hold. A lower than expected inflation number and slew of economic reports indicating the heat was being taken out of the economy were credited with staying the Monetary Policy Committee's hand. So, will 5.25% now be the peak for base rate or could rates once again start to head higher from here? And what does the Bank of England's decision to pause mean for savings rates and mortgage rates? Georgie Frost, Lee Boyce and Simon Lambert discuss why interest rates were held, what nudged inflation down, what could happen next and what all this means for savers, borrowers and investors. Plus, what does the government rowing back on Net Zero plans mean for electric cars, EPCs and how we heat our homes? And finally, if your neighbours can see into your garden and you don't like it, can you just stick up a very tall fence or do you need planning permission (and risk triggering a neighbourly battle)?
Guest:

Lee Boyce


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Georgie Frost

This Is Money: Should we gift every newborn £1,000 to invest?

Georgie Frost
Original Broadcast:

This is Money

This Is Money: Should we gift every newborn £1,000 to invest?
Every child could receive a pot of £1,000 at birth to be channelled into long-term investments in UK growth under proposals to give the young a leg up and revive a ‘stagnant’ economy. The idea of a ‘New Generation Trust’ is part of a package of reforms that could add £225billion to the economy, says a report by the City of London Corporation. A £1,000 payment to all newborn children would need to be invested - and it is claimed this could provide long-term capital for UK PLC. It revives memories of the Child Trust Fund scheme launched by Gordon Brown two decades ago, and later scrapped by George Osborne – and that hasn’t exactly been a roaring success. Lee Boyce, Simon Lambert and Georgie Frost discuss the merits of the idea – and why whether this happens or not parents should start building a pot for children as early as possible. It’s been another exciting week for savings – Santander has a new best buy easy-access deal, Moneybox has launched a top cash Isa and First Direct is offering five prizes of £12,500 for those who switch current account – including a £175 bonus for doing so. Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey has been speaking in front of MPs at the Treasury Select Committee about base rate – are we close to the peak? House prices saw their biggest slump since 2009 according to Halifax, with the average home falls £14,000 in a year – chiming with similar data from Nationwide. And finally, electric cars are slumping in value – many models have lost 30% or more in a year. Is now the time to buy, and what on earth is going on?

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