Podcasts from Women & Money presented by Sarah Pennells (1) related to Personal Finance

Sarah Pennells looks at how to create the perfect work/life balance with guests Neil Shah, Chief De-Stressing Officer at the Stress Management Society, and life coach Karen Perkins, who discuss other factors that can increase stress, and Sarah Evans, an Employment Lawyer with Slater and Gordon, who looks at whether people should have the right to work flexibility and what employers should take into account.

If you're close to retirement, or thinking of setting up a pension pot, where do you start when it comes to choosing a private pension? Lorna Blythe, from Royal London, explains to Sarah Pennells what pensions are and how they work; Danisha Chada, a chartered and certified financial planner with Smith and Williamson, looks at how much help could a pension company give to its individual customers, Alan Chan, from IFS Wealth and Pensions, explains what the first steps are when taking out a pension for the first time.

What do you do when you buy big ticket item, like a computer or a car, and it immediately breaks down? Sarah Pennells is joined by James Walker, founder of Resolver, Matt Stone, founder of TestDrives2U and Peter Stonely, from Trading Standards on this week's programme. Together they look at the changes in the Consumer Protection Law, what warranties are available for faulty cars and how to avoid any pitfalls when researching the products.

An increasing number of people are choosing to live together, rather than get married or form a civil partnership. But, while it’s becoming more commonplace, the legal status of cohabiting couples remains something of a mystery to most of us. Sarah Pennells is joined in the studio by Mary Marvel of Advicenow and Law for Life, Paula Myers, a lawyer with Irwin Mitchell, and over the phone by Christine Webber, a writer, broadcaster and psychotherapist, to discuss the various different issues moving in with a partner can have, and how best to deal with them.

This week Sarah looks into weddings and the costs they can accumulate. Although for many couples it is the happiest day of their lives, it is often also one of the most expensive. Joining Sarah are Andy Webb from Be Clever With Your Cash, Charley Beard from The London Bride, Rachael Southwood from Wedding Ideas Magazine, Alison Hargreaves from Guides for Brides and Rosie Ames from Green Union.

With the state pension age changing, it can be tricky to find out how much you can get. Is it giving women a better deal? Malcolm McLean, a consultant with the actuary firm Barnett Waddingham, Harry Rose, the editor of WhichMoney, and John Shearer, from The Pensions Advisory Service, discuss whether the new state pension will affect carers. Sarah will also look at what are the changes for women who take time out of the workplace to bring up their children. She also speaks Lin Phillips from WASPI who are campaigning for the government to offer concessions to women caught out by these rises who didn't get enough notice.

After new changes were announced in the new financial year, Sarah Pennells and her guests will be looking at the new lifetime ISAs and how savings are being taxed. Anna Bowes, from Savings Champion, Trystan Lewis, from Griffin Wealth, and Anna Sofat, from Addidi Wealth shed light onto this issue that will affect thousands of women living in the UK.

Sarah Pennells is joined in the studio by Lucie Lemay from 9to5 Foodie and over the phone with Hannah Mills from Wedges and Weights to discuss how to get the best value for money when getting fit. They discuss everything from creating nutritious meal plans on a budget to ways to stay fit for less.

Sarah Pennells is joined in the studio by Jane King, an IFA at Ash-Ridge Private Finance, Adam Lake of Turn2Us, Tom Connor of Drewberry Insurance and over the phone by Alistair McQueen of Aviva, to discuss how to best protect your finances if you're self-employed and don't have the security of working for a large company or organisation. What are the benefits and drawbacks of being self-employed? Do the positives outweigh the negatives?

Sarah Pennells looks at how to save money on your food bill. Dawn Quest, joint founder of mealsourkidslove.com, joins Sarah with fellow guests Helen White, from Love Food Hate Waste and Annie O’Leary from Netmums. Together they discuss how supermarket offers can make customers spend up to 20% more than they plan to, despite food costs going down. The guests share tips on how to reduce food waste and how to cook food in a creative and healthy way, they also say that encouraging children to take part in buying and preparing food will help promote healthy eating.