The Meaningful Money Personal Finance Podcast

Today we’re going to look at combining or consolidating pensions - a big subject which we’ll try to do some justice…   Shownotes: https://meaningfulmoney.tv/HB10   What You Need To Know 02:15 Why transfer? 04:47 How the process works. 07:47 Things to watch out for. 14:39 About Defined Benefit transfers.   Everything You Need To Do 26:44 Get up to date with your existing plans. Pension Transfer Checklist (PDF) 28:27 Decide if there’s any reason to leave the pension where it is. 29:44 Request the transfer. 31:07 Chase to completion. 35:07 Podcast Review.

11/27/24 • 37:51

In this episode, we want to look at the financial advice process, and give you the helpful basics that you need to think about if you are considering getting professional financial advice. Shownotes: https://meaningfulmoney.tv/HB9   What You Need To Know 02:24 Advice vs planning - Advice is product-led, Planning is outcome-led. 08:11 The Financial Planning process. 08:50 Establish and define the relationship. 11:50 Collect client information to have context for advice. 15:04 Analyse and assess the current position. 16:45 Develop the plan and make recommendations. 22:32 Implementation. 23:33 Ongoing review. 28:05 Costs and value. 35:00 Qualifications and designations.   What You Need To Know 39:03 Begin with the end in mind. 41:30 Contact several advisers. 45:47 Get costs and scope in writing. 48:25 Be prepared to be vulnerable. 53:50 Podcast Review

11/20/24 • 55:27

It's time for another listener Q&A! This time we cover paying off student loans, old pensions, alternative to pensions and ISAs and much more. Shownotes: https://meaningfulmoney.tv/QA2    00:40   Sophie - My question is that I am about to start earning a lot more than I thought I was as a graduate. I have always been told to ignore my student loans by my parents as it's essentially a tax, but looking at some calculators I would pay it all off in 25 years before it gets cleared and pay more than double the £45,600 in interest. I'm thinking of trying to overpay it off more quickly than that as it seems very big to have especially with 7.3% interest rate. I'm not sure if I should prioritize this, as I could start now, but as I'm starting work I'm still very uncertain of what to save and how I should treat this debt. Or should I not worry about it this early on? 06:55   Ellie - My partner recently traced a pension from an old employer. When he contacted the company they told him the pension was all paid out to him when he left the company, 9 years ago. He was 28 at the time. Is that possible? I believed it wasn't possible to access pensions until 10 years before state pension age. The exceptions I'm aware of (certain types of job/illness) aren't relevant here. I can't believe this pension would have had particularly special properties. It was while he was working for Experian. He doesn't remember receiving a lump sum, and is checking with his bank (it's too far back to see online). Did the person he spoke to just make a mistake? He is reluctant to go back to them without anything concrete, and it is hard to trust what they say. Any advice on what to do next? 12:15   Joanne - I am a higher rate tax payer and contribute to a SIPP on top of my employer pension (very generous DB scheme) to keep my earnings underneath £100k so that I can benefit from free childcare hours and about the 60% tax trap bracket between £100-£125k. However, I am now breaching the annual £60k pension allowance and so end up paying significant tax on the additional pension contributions in my self assessment. I am so aware that this is a privileged position to be in and want to contribute my fair share of tax but I wondered what other channels I should be exploring to be as tax efficient as possible please (I have never dabbled in VCTs!) 18:44   James - How do I weigh up the relative value of AVC on my DB pension rather than investing in a LISA or S&S ISA where I retain my capital? 22:25   Giles - I have fallen into the 60% tax trap on a number of occasions, to mitigate this I have tried to top up my pension to get my earnings below 100k to reduce my tax bill. Being the main earner and with 2 very expensive teenagers I don’t have enough spare cash to do this easily so have taken the money out of a S+S ISA in the past. I know this shifts the balance of my assets massively into pensions but it seems worth it to reduce tax. My question being is this a reasonable plan? Is it a good idea to do this or am I better keeping retirement options more flexible with a larger ISA pot?

11/13/24 • 29:53

Today we’re going to focus on a subject that we often allude to, but which we want to take a bit further and deeper. We’re always talking about the need to be intentional, but what does that actually mean, in practice? Shownotes: https://meaningfulmoney.tv/HB8 Everything you need to Know 02:03 The definition of being intentional . 02:59 About goals . 06:48 Consistency . Everything you need to Do 07:50 The Two Spheres . 08:58 Be intentional with our personal finances . 18:38 Be intentional with our investments . 37:37 Rinse and repeat. 38:49 Podcast review. Meaningful Academy Financial Foundations  https://meaningfulacademy.com/financialfoundations 

11/6/24 • 41:22

In today’s episode of our Helpful Basics season, we’re going to be talking about Pensions and ISA, explaining how they work, comparing them and helping you to know which ones to use and when. Shownotes: https://meaningfulmoney.tv/HB7 Everything you need to Know 02:07 Paying money IN. 13:50 Taking money OUT. 22:40 What happens when you die. Everything you need to Do 33:07 Join your employer's pension, or stay in it, or open one if self employed. 36:50 Use ISAs for medium term savings. 38:17 Use LISAs for first-time house purchase or to supplement retirement savings. 40:17 Blend 41:15 Be intentional, review regularly. 43:56 Podcast review.

10/30/24 • 46:01

Today we’re going to be covering Helpful Basics in the area of self employment and side hustles. We’ll be talking about what you need to know and what you need to do if you’re planning on going it alone in business or supplementing your income in some way… Shownotes: https://meaningfulmoney.tv/HB6 What You Need To Know 01:55 What is self-employment? 04:08 What is a side-hustle? 09:18 How tax works as a self-employed person.   Everything You Need To Do 20:37 Start as you mean to go on. 26:44 Register for self employment. 29:22 Start a pension. 31:07 Think about insurance. 34:03 Plan for the future. 39:25 E-myth Revisited book.   40:40 Review of the podcast

10/23/24 • 42:50

We have a slightly different episode because today I am speaking with the good people from a company called CheckMyFile all about credit files and credit scores - why they are important and how we can optimise them to our benefit. CheckMyFile: https://meaningfulmoney.tv/checkmyfile Shownotes: https://meaningfulmoney.tv/HB5 01:33 - Pete chats with Beth. 04:15 - What is a credit record / credit report / credit score 06:50 - Purpose of a credit record. 08:52 - What makes a good / bad credit file 12:00 - Credit card to increase your score before buying a house - is that true? 13:26 - Important to be on Electoral Role. 14:28 - Bad debts, using debt responsibly. 18:15 - What can be done to improve your credit score? 21:24 - Credit is attached to person, not address. Financially linked people. 23:40 - Check your credit file. 26:35 - Is there a business equivalent? 27:43 - What is CheckMyFile and why should people use it. 32:00 - Pete and Roger chat and a podcast review.

10/16/24 • 35:33

In this episode we want to cover the helpful basics of a subject that underpins EVERYTHING to do with personal financial success - behaviour. Shownotes: https://meaningfulmoney.tv/HB4 Everything You Need To Know 02:06 We are really bad at making good decisions. 07:18 Many things are objective. 13:40 Our higher functions allow us to pre-think decisions. 15:56 Our goal is to be intentional. Everything Your Need To Do 19:05 Know yourself. 27:35 Set clear goals to keep you on the path. 32:33 Use all the tools at your disposal. 42:55 Pursue higher thinking. 52:40 This week’s reviews

10/9/24 • 55:04

It’s our first dedicated Q&A show! Roger and Pete answer six great questions from YOU - the listening audience. Shownotes: https://meaningfulmoney.tv/QA1 

10/2/24 • 39:35

In this episode we’re going to do our best to give a decent run down of the State Pension - something that will form the backbone of most people’s retirement income. We need to understand how it works, how to check what we’re due and how to maximise it. Shownotes: https://meaningfulmoney.tv/HB3 

9/25/24 • 37:01

Today in our Helpful Basics season, we’re going to talk about choosing your first investment. Lots to cover, but should be fun! Shownotes: https://meaningfulmoney.tv/HB2 

9/18/24 • 60:20

This new season is called Helpful Basics. Each week, Roger and Pete will pick a subject each week which might seem like a fundamental or basic subject, but we’ll try to go pretty deep so that everyone learns something. For the first episode of the Helpful Basics season, we’re going to cover what you need to know when you first start working. Shownotes: https://meaningfulmoney.tv/HB1 

9/11/24 • 69:48

Today I’m chatting with my friend Alastair Ford about a project we’ve been working on together, but also about our rationale for it and why we think it’s a timely addition to the Meaningful family of services.   Meaningful Coaching: https://meaningfulcoaching.co.uk  Shownotes: https://meaningfulmoney.tv/session545 

8/21/24 • 37:45

Today I’m joined by my friend Dave Algeo a mid-life health coach to talk about the link between health and wealth and lots more besides. Shownotes: https://meaningfulmoney.tv/session544 Dave’s Daily Sprout email: https://midlifereshape.com/MM24

8/14/24 • 46:30

Today we want to talk about the last Big Mistake, one which we come across all the time with our older clients, and that is worrying about care fees. This is an important one that we want to cover to give you some reassurance. Shownotes: https://meaningfulmoney.tv/BM10 

8/7/24 • 49:51

Today, in the penultimate episode of this series, we’re talking about the Big Mistake of Not Spending Enough, which might surprise some people! Shownotes: https://meaningfulmoney.tv/BM9  

7/31/24 • 39:53

We’re on the home straight of a season covering the big mistakes we can all make with our finances, and today we’re talking about neglecting our financial reviews. It’s easy to put things off, but keeping a regular eye on our financial situation is so, SO important. We’re going to talk about why that’s the case and how to make it as easy as possible to make sure they happen every time. Shownotes: https://meaningfulmoney.tv/BM8 

7/24/24 • 35:17

Today we’re going to be talking about the big mistake of waiting until… Until what? Well, we mean putting off making decisions until some arbitrary point the future, or until some self-determined set of circumstances come to pass - all will become clear, we hope!   Shownotes: https://meaningfulmoney.tv/BM7 

7/17/24 • 28:15

Today we revisit the vitally important subject of what the experts call behavioural finance or behavioural economics, which is really the study of how we interact, as emotional human beings, with the cold, hard world of finances. Shownotes: https://meaningfulmoney.tv/BM6 

7/10/24 • 43:07

We’re carrying on our season of Big Mistakes and today we’re covering the mistake of not planning for later life, which is truly a big mistake. There’s lots to think about in later life and too many people leave it too late, causing problems for themselves and their loved ones. Shownotes: https://meaningfulmoney.tv/BM5 

7/3/24 • 52:41

Today we’re going to look at the big mistake of Being Too Cautious, or to put it another way, taking too little risk. Obviously we’re talking primarily about investing here, and we want to talk about why risk is your friend and the impact of taking too little risk on your future outcomes. Should be an interesting discussion!   Shownotes: https://meaningfulmoney.tv/BM4 

6/26/24 • 41:36

We bang on about watching our investing costs all the time. And for good reason - not paying heed to the impact of costs can mean throwing away money unnecessarily.   Shownotes: https://meaningfulmoney.tv/BM3 

6/19/24 • 37:53

Today we’re going to talk our second big mistake: starting late. Of course this may not be a mistake, it may be the result of circumstance, and as we all know, life doesn’t always conform to the perfection we’d perhaps wish for ourselves. Shownotes: https://meaningfulmoney.tv/BM2

6/5/24 • 37:23

In this new season covering some big mistakes that any of us can make with our finances, we start with the mistake of listening to the wrong people. But how can we determine who the wrong people might be? Show Notes: https://meaningfulmoney.tv/BM1

5/29/24 • 38:13

Today I am joined by repeat guest and financial planning legend, Chris Budd. He has a new book called the Four Cornerstones of Financial Wellbeing and it’s a very helpful read for anyone struggling to keep money in its place, or with the effects that money can have on our mental health.   Shownotes: https://meaningfulmoney.tv/session533 

4/10/24 • 50:35

Today we’re rounding off Season 27 by covering the last of our big ideas - and it’s one of the raisons d’etre of Meaningful Money, that most people don’t need advice. Shownotes: https://meaningfulmoney.tv/BI10 

4/3/24 • 50:42

Today we’re covering the ideal order of financial priorities, something Pete and Rog learned early on in their financial planning training. The order was summarised by the acronym PIPSIO Protection Income Protection Pensions Savings Investments Other PIPSIO is nothing more than a useful mnemonic, but it really does serve a purpose. I still remind the advisers at Jacksons of it now and again. Shownotes: https://meaningfulmoney.tv/BI9

3/27/24 • 38:55

Today we’re covering a classic piece of financial advice - definitely a Big Idea of investing: Time IN the market, not timing the market! Shownotes: https://meaningfulmoney.tv/BI8  

3/20/24 • 35:44

Planning is - or should be - the framework for all financial decisions, but it is misunderstood by many. Hopefully this episode will explain a little about what planning is, how it works and how to go about it. Shownotes: https://meaningfulmoney.tv/BI7 

3/13/24 • 46:28

Today we’re going to be talking about the importance of prioritising today in your finances. That might sound counterintuitive to some, but we’ll put some nuance on it and try and give you some practical things you can do when faced with the dilemma of whether to use your money today or put it away for the future. Show notes: https://meaningfulmoney.tv/BI6 

3/6/24 • 29:48