Original Broadcast: This is Money
You have to feel for Rachel Reeves. After establishing a solid reputation in opposition, things haven’t gone to plan as Chancellor so far. Her Autumn Budget led to widespread criticism over tax rises on employment and extra costs for businesses, while questions abound over whether her plans will deliver the growth Labour promised voters. Now, a slow burn rise in the UK’s borrowing costs has led to gilt yields surpassing the levels seen after Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng’s ill-fated mini-Budget. Unfortunate, for a Labour party that has spend the past couple of years citing a gilt yield spike as evidence while banging on about Liz Truss ‘crashing the economy’ and Tory mortgage penalties. But is Britain’s current predicament Rachel Reeves' and Sir Keir Starmer’s fault, or do they just find themselves caught out by an unfortunate set of circumstances? Or is it a bit of both? Where did things start to go wrong? Was it the Budget, or was it the claimed ‘£22 billion black hole’ and months of miserabilism? And what are gilts and why do yields even matter? In this episode, Georgie Frost, Lee Boyce and Simon Lambert dig into what’s gone wrong with Britain’s finances and what it means for people. Plus, in better news, Lee looks at the jobs that delivered the biggest pay rises last year and why. Simon explains what’s going on with the US hedge fund staging a raid on seven investment trusts — and why investors should make sure they vote. And finally, Lee catches up with Dave Fishwick as the new 'Bank of Dave' film is released.
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Original Broadcast: Thought for the Week
Turnout at the 2024 general election was 59.7%, the lowest at a General Election since 2001, and 7.6 percentage points lower than in 2019. We are all keenly aware of the disproportionate number of Labour MPs (63.2%), notwithstanding their low overall polling (33.7%), but only now are we starting to see how young people have been disenfranchised by their poverty. This correlation between youth and poverty supports our consistent and strong calls for inter-generational rebalancing, and the need for more long-term focus in western democracies. If we don't take action, we run the risk of oscillating between an over-sized self-interested state driven by socialism and self-interested reactionaries driven by populism. Background music: 'Generations Away' by Unicorn Heads
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Original Broadcast: This is Money
Georgie Frost, Simon and Lee Boyce with their annual review episode: Simon and Lee assess the last twelve months, looking at what's happened to mortgage and savings rates, house prices and investments, and what changes may be to come in 2025. It's been quite an eventful year with changes of government on both sides of the pond ...
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Original Broadcast: Thought for the Week
Dame Julia Hoggett is Chief Executive of the London Stock Exchange, and featured in a half-page interview in The Sunday Times Business last weekend. She is a strong advocate for encouraging personal share ownership, which demonstrates clearly how a sense of responsibility builds from individual ownership: this is also particularly evident in employee share ownership. The correlation between ownership and responsibility at an individual level throughout society needs to be more fully understood and supported by business and politicians. Background music: 'Waiting' by Andrew Langdon
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Original Broadcast: Thought for the Week
Matters of life and death featured strongly in the House of Commons last Friday. thanks to Kim Leadbeater's Private Members' Bill on assisted dying — it's curious how the new UK parliament has developed such a fixation on 'end of life'. The Government's plans for inheritance tax might encourage people towards a serious look at philanthropy — register to join Philanthropy Impact's webinar on Donor Advised Funds, starting at 12 noon this Wednesday 4th December. Background music: 'Wandering Soul' by Asher Fulero Image source: Philanthropy Impact
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Original Broadcast: This is Money
Crypto has been a little quiet of late. Out of the spotlight, minding its own business. But Donald Trump gets voted back in as US president and boom — bitcoin surged beyond $90,000 for the first time. The rest of the crypto market has also seen a boost, so what's going on? Where is it likely to head next and what do you need to be aware of if you are cashing out your gains? Simon Lambert, Lee Boyce and Georgie Frost delve into bitcoin and friends to give their verdict. The number of ISA millionaires has soared, with a 228% jump of investors joining the club in just two years. And there are 25 of them who hold an average of £8.9million. Just how do you build such a big pot? Britain's first ISA millionaire, Lord Lee, gives his three tips. Fresh from her Budget speech, the Chancellor has announced plans to use our pension savings to boost economic growth by creating megafunds. Just what are they? We tackle an tricky question about IHT and giving away a home. And finally, Lee's Collecting Corner is back ... this time he reports from a trading card, and reveals two Paddington-themed treasures sent in by readers... a 50-year-old stuffed toy, and a limited edition signed print snapped up at a charity shop for just £30.
Guests: Lord Lee
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Original Broadcast: This is Money
President Trump is back. The US election finally came to a head this week and rather than the knife-edge result many expected, Donald Trump secured a decisive win over Kamala Harris. This episode is a special double-header: the team discuss that US election result and interest rate cuts in the first half, and then celebrate the tenth anniversary of the This is Money programme, born in Share Radio in 2014, in the second. First up it’s President Trump. In a sense, he is more of a known quantity this time round — having already racked up four years in the White House before. But that’s only in so much that Donald Trump can ever really be a known quantity, and the financial world is preparing to strap itself in for another roller-coaster ride. But why does Trump claiming a second run as US president matter to our finances in the UK? What could his policies and pronouncements mean for small investors in Britain? And will the President-elect really drive mortgage costs up on British homes? Georgie Frost, Lee Boyce and Simon Lambert discuss the potential impact of the new Trump presidency on the show this week. Plus, the Bank of England has cut base rate again to 4.75%, but has cautioned that it sees higher inflation and slower rate cuts in future. The team discuss what that means for our mortgages and savings. The menace of out-of-control bamboo in people’s gardens and what you can do if a neighbour has some is also up for debate. And finally, This Is Money fans should listen to the end for the tenth birthday chat – and an announcement of some celebrations.
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Original Broadcast: This is Money
On this special bonus episode of the This is Money Podcast, Rob Morgan, chief analyst at Charles Stanley Direct, joins Simon Lambert to answer the big questions that have emerged from last week's Budget. They discuss, amongst among other things: pensions and inheritance tax — who will be caught out? What can investors do — should they spend their pensions before other savings? What has happened with capital gains tax — and who will it catch? What are the best ways to keep a CGT bill down? How can savers and investors beat the frozen threshold stealth tax? And what are the financial planning basics people should make sure they get right?
Guests: Rob Morgan
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Original Broadcast: Thought for the Week
The yellow-shaded column is the OBR's forecast for borrowing in 2028-29 as at March this year; the blue-shaded is their latest forecast. Is this really 'Invest, Invest, Invest' or 'Borrow, Borrow, Borrow'? The problem is that it all lands on the shoulders of today's young people, who will struggle more to find jobs after the employer NI changes and whose prospects of home ownership and family formation are already weighed down by student debt. Background music: 'Missing Persons' by Jeremy Blake
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Original Broadcast: This is Money
Rachel Reeves' maiden Budget last week saw the first-ever female chancellor make £40billion of sweeping tax rises in to plug funding gaps in the NHS and schools. While it left many of us with something to be miserable about when it comes to our money, there were also some important dodged bullets, as Simon Lambert, Georgie Frost and Helen Crane discuss. Among the losers were landlords, investors and those who have stashed wealth in their pension, as stamp duty, capital gains tax and inheritance tax all came under the spotlight. The attack on the middle classes was perhaps to be expected from a Government which has told us those with the broadest shoulders must bear a bigger burden. But aside from a rise in the minimum wage and 1p off a pint, did the Budget give enough of a boost to 'working people' — and will changes to employers' National Insurance Contributions indirectly hit them in the pocket anyway? Given growth was the buzzword of the Labour election campaign, did Reeves miss an opportunity to get people excited about British industry and entrepreneurship? We also dig into what wasn't announced in the speech, including a not-so-fond farewell to the short-lived British ISA, and a child benefit change that could have helped single parents found itself on the scrapheap.
Guests: Helen Crane
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