Original Broadcast: This is Money
Happy new year, happy new lockdown. 2021 has seen off 2020, but schools and large chunks of the economy have shut down again and people have been ordered to stay at home, as across the UK the nations adopt their own version of lockdown. It’s probably been the gloomiest start to a year for as long as many can remember and a tough winter for people, businesses and the economy lies ahead. So what happened? The UK stock market jumped, of course. Contrary as this may seem, there is some logic to investors buying into the hope that better times lie ahead. We have Covid-19 vaccines being rolled out that will hopefully make this national lockdown the last people have to endure – and we also have a Brexit deal. On this week’s podcast, Georgie Frost, Lee Boyce and Simon Lambert look at what the fresh lockdown means for the economy and why investors are choosing to look straight through it and develop a new appetite for buying British. Are UK shares undervalued and a great opportunity for 2021 and beyond – and will a strong consumer rebound once the economy is reopened prove the catalyst the FTSE needs? The team also discuss the potential implications of the Brexit deal for people’s finances and businesses. Meanwhile, the FTSE 100’s gains may have been substantial for a week on the stock market, but they are nothing compared to bitcoin’s continuing rise. The cryptocurrency cracked $40,000 this week: what’s going on, are people making real money out of this, and is there any idea what could happen next? Also, on this week’s podcast, the team talk moving home and getting your property looking attractive for a sale and with everyone stuck at home again, how to improve your wifi.
Guests: Simon Lambert,Lee Boyce
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Original Broadcast: This is Money
Stock markets crashing tend to put savers off investing in shares, but there has been a sizeable rise in new investors in Britain during lockdown, reports suggest. That came as savings rates plummeted (again) and people decided to go hunting for a bargain amid the stock market turmoil in March and April. But who are these novice investors and what do you need to think about to get started? On this week's podcast This is Money editor Simon Lambert tells host Georgie Frost what first timers need to know about building an investment portfolio - and gives some tips on easy ways to get started and why British isn't always best for investors. Managers can invest in their own fund or investment trust, but how do you find out if they do - and whether they're buying or selling, and does it matter? Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs backed Marcus Bank has pulled its best buy easy-access savings account – assistant editor Lee Boyce reveals why and how we are set to see rates tumble even further. Should you gamble on taking a European summer holiday in July, August or September and if you are tempted, what do you need to know? Euro 2020 should have been starting today, but at least for sport-starved fans Premier League football returns next week. However, you'll need a major tournament-style wallchart if you plan on catching the action, with Amazon Prime, BBC, BT Sport and Sky Sports all having games on – how do you watch for the cheapest price? And finally, property sales in England have started to edge up but apparently million-pound-plus homes in the country are leading the way. Are buyers really swapping Millionaire's Row for Millionaire's Lane?
Guests: Simon Lambert,Lee Boyce
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Original Broadcast: This is Money
Should you save cash and accept low interest rates, or invest and take the risk that you could lose money? This is the perennial dilemma for those with some money to set aside, who are looking to build their wealth. And it’s not been made easier by a rollercoaster 20 years. Since the turn of the millennium, we’ve had three hefty stock market crashes, but we’ve also had the past decade of historically low interest rates. In response to paltry savings rates, more people have been encouraged to invest in shares for a better return, but the coronavirus crash has left the UK’s flagship stock market index, the FTSE 100, below its level on 31 December 1999, and burnt the fingers of many recent investors. So, is it worth investing, or should you just stick with the relative stability of cash? On this episode of the This is Money podcast, Simon Lambert, Lee Boyce and Georgie Frost look at our exclusive statistics on who is investing, who is bowing out of the market, and what the new generation of younger investors are doing. They also dive back into the question asked last week: how long do you need to invest for to avoid losing money? With some charts and data sent through to the team by Duncan Lamont, head of research and analytics at Schroders, they compare how putting money into either cash or the stockmarket fared over the past 150 years against inflation – and what the likelihood was of losing money over varying time periods. The team also look at what might happen next to house prices after the coronavirus lockdown put the property market into a deep freeze. Simon dives into the varying predictions of how much property prices could fall – and the bullish suggestion of one estate agent that it’ll all be fine. And finally, we discuss the businesses that we spoke to this week who are fighting veteran insurer Hiscox, because they believed they should be covered against coronavirus with policies that cite infectious or contagious disease… but it says they are not.
Guests: Simon Lambert,Lee Boyce
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This is Money with Georgie Frost, editor Simon Lambert and Pensions reporter Tanya Jeffries. In this week's episode: Deal or no deal? It’s crunch time for Brexit – but where is it all heading? Does anyone know?! So is it time to batten down the hatches, or should you be greedy while others are fearful? Also today – the end of the road for the WASPI campaign after losing a landmark case at the High Court? But we do have some good state pension news… Plus all change at the top – as Tesco gets the Boots and rags to riches motors, what are the classics of the future?
Guests: Simon Lambert,Tanya Jeffries
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Original Broadcast: This is Money
Global financial markets have been flying up and down and all over the place this week, and it’s all to do with one boot-shaped country in the Mediterranean. Italy has found itself embroiled in a power struggle between Eurosceptic populists – winners of the March general election – and the pro-EU establishment. The ramifications have spread across the globe and will affect Britons from big-time investors to anyone building up a pension pot. Also in this episode, This is Money editor Simon Lambert, presenter Georgie Frost and personal finance editor Rachel Rickard Straus talk about what you can do to stop your dream house move falling through, and whether proposals to make tax on savings and dividends simpler will work – or just see savers pay more tax. And finally, in troubled times for the high street, the team look at one retailer bucking the trend.
Guests: Simon Lambert,Rachel Rickard-Straus
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Original Broadcast: This is Money
Have you ever really thought about what it is that creates the modern economy? These are the things that surround us and we interact with, or depend on, everyday but rarely think about. From credit cards, to shipping containers, batteries and double-entry book-keeping, there are a lot of things that are more interesting than you may think. And for this special Christmas edition of the This is Money podcast we have a treat for you. Tim Harford, author of Fifty Things that Made the Modern Economy, presenter of the podcast of the same name, and Undercover Economist makes a guest appearance. He joins Simon Lambert, Rachel Rickard Straus and Georgie Frost in the studio to talk about what it is that shapes the world around us, why it matters, and how what are commonplace things now were dreamed up and then completely changed the way we live.
Guests: Simon Lambert,Rachel Rickard-Straus
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Welcome to the This is Money Show on Share Radio. The UK parties are now getting into full election mode and already we’ve seen a range of policy suggestions, debates and u-turns appearing. From energy price caps to scrapping death duty hikes we’ll but looking at what all these could mean for the finances of voters. Also weighing in on the French election and GDP Georgie Frost is joined by Editor Simon Lambert and Personal Finance Editor Rachel Rickard Straus. Plus it’s your final week to spend the old paper five pound note.
Guests: Simon Lambert,Rachel Rickard-Straus
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With the clock ticking on Britain's two year negotiation period the Brexit debate is proving far from over. So what could the outcome mean for Britain's rural economy? In this special report Share Radio's Tom Hill looks at the hopes and fears of the country's farming and fishing industries.
Guests: Tom Hill,Guy Smith,Wyn Grant,Alan Hastings
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Welcome to the This is Money Show on Share Radio, brought to you in partnership with NS&I. After repeatedly ruling out a general election this week Theresa May made the shock announcement Britain would be heading to the polls, again. The election is set to be dominated by Brexit but there is certainly more at stake. To explain what the vote could mean for the pound in your pocket and what you should be looking for from your future MP Georgie Frost is joined by Editor Simon Lambert and Consumer Affairs Editor Lee Boyce. Plus it's not just politicians we're being encouraged to switch as we look at the benefits of shopping around for a better broadband and energy deal.
Guests: Simon Lambert,Lee Boyce
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Welcome to the This is Money Show on Share Radio, brought to you in partnership with NS&I. It’s the start of a new financial year and with it a number of new tax changes and price hikes. Taking an Easter themed look through what all this means for the pound in your pocket Georgie Frost is joined by Personal Finance Editor Rachel Rickard Straus and Consumer Affairs Editor Lee Boyce. Plus we put the biggest retailers to the test with the annual Easter taste test.
Guests: Lee Boyce,Rachel Rickard-Straus,Tom Hill
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