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What you need to know about money each week and what the news means for you, from the UK's best financial website.
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Was the Budget too little, too late - and what will it mean for your money?
Jeremy Hunt bounced around delivering his Budget on Wednesday, proudly declaring his commitment to tax cuts and supporting working families.
Another 2p was chopped off National Insurance and the threshold at which child benefit is removed was raised from £50,000 to £60,000.
But you don’t need to be a financial expert to know that the Chancellor’s version of events isn’t quite the whole story.
Because Mr Hunt is also presiding over a long-term stealth tax freeze to thresholds that is costing workers dear and his child benefit move merely kicked sky-high marginal tax rates down the road, rather than getting rid of them altogether.
Nonetheless, a tax cut and an extra £5,000 Isa allowance – even if it’s a slightly iffy, limited one – is not to be sniffed at.
So, was this an escape velocity Budget that puts Britain back on the path to growth?
Or was it too little, too late, from a Tory party that has sported successive Chancellors who have been keener to raise our taxes by hook or by crook rather than cut them – or even just keep thresholds in line with inflation.
On this week’s Budget special This is Money podcast, Georgie Frost, Lee Boyce and Simon Lambert look at the winners and losers and go searching for the devils in the detail.
What is the NI cut worth to you? Will you get some child benefit back? Did pensioners deserve a tax cut too? With a failure to reverse his capital gains and dividend tax raid, what has the Chancellor got against small investors?
And will the British Isa be any good?
All that and more – plus a look at why Nationwide is buying Virgin Money and whether that’s good or bad for us all. -
Quick Budget reaction: Investing experts on the Chancellor's speech
On this bonus episode of the This is Money Podcast, Simon Lambert is joined by Charles Stanley Direct’s Lisa Caplan and Garry White for a quick run through what was in the Budget.
Investment experts Lisa and Garry talk us through the main Budget points and what they mean for people.
Join us on Friday for the full Budget episode where the This is Money Podcast team will dissect Jeremy Hunt's plan and reveal the devils uncovered in the details. -
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? This week, 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? -
Will the Budget cut taxes and get rid of these traps?
With the Budget tipped to be the Chancellor’s last roll of the dice before a General Election, expectations over tax cuts are growing.
But what taxes could Jeremy Hunt choose to cut and why – and is there hope that he will sort out the tax mess that Britain has got stuck in.
The higher income child benefit charge creates marginal tax rates above 50 per cent, meanwhile the removal of the personal allowance bakes in a 60 per cent income tax rate between £100,000 and £125,140.
Should these tax traps and painfully high stamp duty be removed? On this week’s podcast Simon Lambert argues that Mr Hunt needs to have a clear out, chuck a load of stuff in the stupid tax box and bin it.
Simon, Georgie Frost and Lee Boyce look ahead to what could be in the Budget and what it would mean for you.
Also, on this week’s episode, energy bills are due to fall as the price cap is cut but how much will this save you?
It’s not just tax catching people out, student loans are also proving difficult to shift as interest mounts up due to high inflation. Does the student finance system need a sort out too? And what is Simon’s triple lock for student loans plan?
And finally, don’t get spear phished or tap jacked, Lee talks us through the new scams you need to know about. -
The UK is in recession but does that matter (and could things be about to get better)?
It's finally happened. After months of will-we, won't-we speculation, the UK economy has finally succumbed to recession.
The ONS revealed this week that a drop in GDP in the final three months of 2023 meant that Britain had racked up two consecutive of negative growth - and thus the dreaded R word is here.
But is this a bad one, why does the term 'technical recession' keep being bandied about and do these backward-looking figures mask things already getting better?
On this week's podcast, Georgie Frost, Helen Crane and Simon Lambert look at what recession means for the UK and you.
Plus, who are the villains among big banks and building societies when it comes to sky-high standard variable rates for mortgage borrowers and is it them or the customers themselves to blame if somone ends up paying almost 10 per cent interest?
Also on the show, the customer turned down for a switching bonus by HSBC because they had a Midland account 21 years ago.
And finally, electric car sales aren't growing as fast as the government or car makers want. Does that mean it's time to drive a bargain?
Customer Reviews
Great information, poor audio
Great information and engaging. However, it is quiet compared to other podcasts even on full volume. Needs sorting out
Overly negative
Regular listener but I’m done, at least for now. I find the dialogue overly negative, repeatedly bashing ‘the system’ each week. More focus on the positive things people can do would be an improvement.
Informative
Informative podcast in an easy to understand format. Great delivery with subtle humour added in.