The Meaningful Money Personal Finance Podcast

In this Meaningful Money Q&A episode, Pete Matthew and Roger Weeks answer six listener questions on UK personal finance - from gifting money to children using the 'normal expenditure out of income' rules to whether ISA withdrawals can support one-off big spends. They also cover pension consolidation and FSCS protection, investing while living abroad, how DB pension accrual affects SIPP annual allowance, and how to bridge the gap to State Pension without over-relying on AVCs. Finally, they tackle the practical steps to opening a Stocks and Shares ISA - and how to get started with confidence. Practical, jargon-free guidance for UK savers and investors navigating pensions, ISAs, tax and retirement planning. Shownotes: https://meaningfulmoney.tv/QA53 02:35 Question 1 Hi Pete and Roger, I have followed meaningful money for around 6 years now and it has been an invaluable source of sensible advice which I have followed. This has left my wife and I in a very good situation for retirement as you will see below. You deserve an MBE at least!. Love the double act with Roger as well. I am 62 and my wife is 60 years young. Our total pensions will be around 35K a year which is all we need for our basic living cost and general going out etc. We have a house worth £750K with no mortgage and no debts. I have a DC pension around £920K and my wife around £650K and our two boys have just moved out of our house and so we are now retiring and relearning life B.C. (Before Children). I have begun looking into gifting them money out of excess income. I like the idea of giving with warm hands - and strangely so do my boys! Putting our scenario into google gemini, using UFPLS with regular drawdowns and keeping within the current 20% tax band we could each have around 50K income after tax over the next 30 years. Really cannot see us spending more than 40K/year travelling and this will certainly reduce in time as we get older and so will give the increasing excess to our kids. To keep HMRC documentation simple (hmm) we plan to use our joint account to give gifts to the boys but I am guessing that we will need to prove to HMRC that we have equal income to do this? So my wife will take 8.5K less from her DC pension than I from mine. I hope this all makes sense. I presume if our incomes were not balanced we would have to pay out from our individual accounts and document both for HMRC purposes? In addition I have 200K and my wife around £150K in ISAs and savings . I know we can each gift 3000/year from the ISA as well as using excess income from our pension. Again, I asked google gemini about this and apparently I can use the ISA for certain capital payments. Eg a) to buy a new car b) redo bathroom/bedroom c) a large holiday Not sure what would be the position if we said our largest holiday each year is paid from an ISA and any other holidays are from our pension income and we still gift excess to the kids? - seems a very grey area. I am sure in time HMRC will look closer into this area. So I think it will be sensible to still use the ISA in the next few years and not take everything from the pension and possibly change to funds from accumulation to income as well? One last thought as all this is based on the current tax rates. The IHT rate NRB has not changed since 2009 and would be worth around £530K today and I am presuming there will be increasing pressure to raise this given house price growth and especially after 2027 when pensions are included in the estate for IHT? Best Regards, Bill 09:37 Question 2 Dear Pete and Roger, I can't thank you enough for the excellent free content you put out into the world. I recently got diagnosed with a degenerative condition which will affect me and my family down the line. Your podcast has inspired me to take control of my finances including putting the right protections (insurances) in place and using investing to help navigate a more uncertain future - THANK YOU! The information is accessible and you guys make me chuckle as I go about my day! My question... I am keen to make my life easy when it comes to managing my finances but I have hit a wrinkle in my plan. My preference would be to consolidate my pension into as few pension accounts and underlying funds as possible. To me the levels of protection available through the FSCS seem too low to be compatible with keeping a pension all with one provider. Am I missing something? How do you think about balancing this risk, without ending up with lots of pension accounts with different providers? Additionally, I have been selecting the same low cost All-World tracker ETF across my family's ISAs and SIPPs, is this inherently risky too and should I aim to use different fund providers (perhaps that aim to achieve the same investment objective). Anyway, I may be being overcautious here or be misunderstanding the level risk but any reassurance would be greatly appreciated. Thank you again Andy 18:24 Question 3 Hi Roger and Pete, I'm 32 and I've been listening the podcast for a few years and the advice (particularly about investing) has helped me immensely. I have a question about investment portfolios when moving abroad. I moved away from the UK 2.5 years ago, at which point I stopped investing into Vanguard and moved to Interactive Brokers. I still have a decent amount invested in Vanguard, but I'm not sure whether it makes sense to consolidate everything into one platform or keep it split over two. I don't have any immediate plans to return to the UK, although I imagine I will eventually. Do you think it makes any difference in how the investments are split, or am I worrying about nothing? Thanks for sharing any of your *thoughts* and perhaps clearing this up for me. Keep up the amazing podcast, Michael (originally from Cornwall!) 21:23 Question 4 Hi Pete and Roger I recently discovered your podcast and am working my way though the back catalogue! I am finding it extremely informative and it is helping me demystify a subject I have found confusing for a long time, so thank you. My question is how do I calculate the amount I can contribute annually to my SIPP whilst also contributing to a DB pension and AVCs (£200/month)? My annual gross salary is £25744. I opened the SIPP to give me flexibility to retire earlier than 67 when I intend to access my DB pensions (as well as my current local government DB pension I have a deferred University DB pension from previous employment), ideally between 60-62, and access the SIPP along with my S&S ISA to bridge the gap. Thanks, Melanie 27:28 Question 5 Hello Pete & Roger, I'm a long time listener and as a result in far better financial shape than I was for many years, thank you. In work I am often akin to the Shawshank Redemption character Andy Dufresne as I find myself offering financial or pension scheme advice to colleagues. This advice ends with recommending your good selves and the knowledge repository that is the Meaningful Money archive and books! I am 56 and just over 4 years from my planned early retirement at 61, when I will have 36 years contributing into a company DB pension. I plan on taking this in a stepped format (with PCLS) to offer a higher initial payment until my state pension starts 6 years later at 67. To maintain basic rate income tax, I am paying my maximum matched pension contributions plus AVC's through salary sacrifice (until 2029) to keep just under the 40% tax limits. My wife will be solely reliant on her (full) State Pension having not contributed to a personal pension, she will receive this when I am 64, meaning our combined funding danger zone will be around 3 years during which we may need funds to top up our income either from the PCLS pot or ISA savings to this final combined total, "our figure". So my question: You repeatedly talk about retiring with options such as having pensions, ISA's and savings etc. but I am concerned my pension and AVC fund will be totally concentrated with little else. After maximising the pension and AVC contributions it looks likely I will not contribute enough to fund a savings pot that could comfortably cover the 3 year danger zone. Will this pension / AVC concentration matter? Should I continue paying the AVC's to avoid higher rate tax on my income and recovering tax rebate into the AVC pot? To me this makes sense, but would funding a savings pot give us flexibility to fund our pension gap somehow that I am missing, and do I need to target an ISA or other savings pot in my remaining working years. This prospect would feel like not living for today, but retirement is in touching distance so might it be worthwhile? Many thanks & best regards, Tim 34:52 Question 6 To the Bruce Springsteen and Little Steven of the financial world! Hi guys my name is Cam, I'd just like to say you guys are absolutely fantastic at what you do, the knowledge you provide is genuinely incredible and immensely helpful. I think I speak for all your listeners when I say without your podcast there would be a lot of people struggling with personal finance! Keep up the good work Pete and Rog! I am 27 years old, 17 months ago I quit my 9-5 and started my own dog walking business, I have since trained to become a dog trainer too. My business has gone from strength to strength and I'm very proud. However the change from going from a wage structure to a varied income per month has been a tough adjustment especially when saving and wanting to invest and so on. I contribute to my pension each month, I pay into a LISA each month (for a first time home) the only thing I don't do is pay into a stocks and shares ISA. Firstly how do I open one? I have listened to your podcast for well over 2 years now and have listened to the majority of the back catalogue, I feel like I know what to do but it's a genuine fear that's stopping me from opening one. I don't know how to explain it - it's almost like my head is telling me 'don't open one you'll mess it up.' Is it literally as simple as sign up to a provider, open an account, add money in each month? I feel stupid saying I'm fearful of opening one but I genuinely am! The last part of my question is simply is there anything else I should be doing that I'm currently not? Insurance wise I have income protection and the necessary insurances for my business. Thanks once again you absolute legends! Cam Boring Money ISA Comparison: https://www.boringmoney.co.uk/compare/stocks-and-shares-isas/

In this Meaningful Money Q&A episode, Pete and Roger answer six listener questions on pensions, retirement planning and tax for a UK audience. We cover whether to put life insurance into trust, how to reduce the 60% marginal tax trap around £100k income, and whether taking a defined benefit pension early can make sense when health is a factor. Plus, we explain the Royal Mail Collective Defined Contribution (CDC) pension, share practical guidance on dealing with overseas pensions, and discuss when to take 25% tax-free cash for the best outcome. Shownotes: https://meaningfulmoney.tv/QA51 01:36 Question 1 Hi both, I have a question relating to discretionary trusts for life insurance policies. I'm from Scotland, 37, married with 2 young children and have a life assurance policy with Vitality which is currently not in trust. I was considering putting into a trust for the benefits associated to inheritance tax but was looking to get your opinion on whether it was necessary or not, and what the pros/cons are. Thanks, Marc 05:46 Question 2 Hi Pete and Roger I am a relatively latecomer to the podcast - its been a year or so now but your work makes the complications of planning for retirement so much more understandable so thank you for bringing clarity to a very difficult subject. I have two first world questions if I may. Neither are time critical. I am in a fortunate position. DB pensions will kick in over the next 2 years (I am 63) totalling circa £75K pa and with the state pension at 67 it won't be very long - if tax thresholds and rates don't change - before I will be hitting the 60% effective rate. So to delay the inevitable, I am thinking I will need to contribute to a DC pension! As I understand it, if I have a DC scheme for three tax years and presumably contribute to such a scheme each year (say £100?) in the year I hit the £100K income, I will be able to contribute gross £3600 x 4 (so £2160 pa or £8640 in total, less any annual contributions along the way) in the first year or with care spreading that amount over 2-3 years to ease the tax burden. I realise when the money is withdrawn it will still be taxed at my marginal rate, but maybe the 60% marginal rate will have been removed by then - I can hope! Is that right? Have I missed anything or are there any other techniques generally available? I am also in a position that when my wife and I both die, unless carehome fees have eaten into the estate, there will be inheritance tax to pay as our combined wealth is well over £1m and we have already given away what we reasonably can to our children. As I understand it, inheritance tax is payable 6 months after death but all being well probate will be granted well before that so our bank accounts can be used to pay the tax (our children have financial and health powers of attorney but they are irrelevant on death). Apart from incredibly expensive life assurance or a lifetime gift of cash for this purpose, is there anything else we can do to facilitate payment (the nature of our affairs means there's not much more we can do to mitigate the liability itself, ie the vast majority of the value is in the family home!) Many thanks, David 11:46 Question 3 Hi Roger and Pete, First of all thank you for all the content you provide, it has been incredibly useful as I start to really take the idea of early retirement seriously. I am 49 and looking to retire as early as financially possible as I have medical issues that mean my life expectancy is somewhat curtailed - though I plan on defying the inevitable for as long as possible. I have a DC pension which I plan to access as soon as I stop working in hopefully 10 years' time. I also have an index-linked deferred DB pension which provides a 50% widows pension as one of the benefits. I am torn between accessing this 6 years early (with a 25% reduction) as I start drawing from my DC pension, or delaying so that my wife is better taken care of later in life. Whatever I choose, all the projections seem to stack up that my DC pension should last into my 90s, but I'm acutely aware that I will probably want to go a bit overboard when I first retire and try to maximise travel and experiences. My question is, am I missing something in the DB trade off? Assuming I live a while after retiring, accessing the pension early will take a decent amount of time before we're financially worse off than we would have been if we'd waited (~13 years). However the combined loss of my state pension and the smaller DB income could leave my wife short of funds. I would really appreciate your perspective on this scenario and anything else you think I might want to consider, many thanks again for all of your words of wisdom, Dan Meaningful Academy Retirement Planning: https://meaningfulacademy.com/retirementplanning 19:40 Question 4 Hi Pete and Roger! My partner works for Royal Mail, she is under the new starters contract and started in 2022, at which point the pension scheme was a typical defined contribution scheme with very generous contribution levels from the employer of 10% with a 6% contribution from the employee. This was 'easy' to make assumptions on for compound calculations to plan for our very far away retirement as we are both currently 27 years of age. Now this brings me to today's pension scheme, which is known as a Collective Defined Contribution plan. I'm struggling to find any information on this type of scheme as it seems to be the first of its kind in the UK, and seems to have been used for a while in the Netherlands. Now the wording of the scheme seems to be worded as if it's a Defined Benefit scheme with a lump sum being paid at retirement age and a 'Guaranteed income for life' amount being paid each month, however it has the caveat that the payout per month may decrease if investments do not perform as expected for better or for worse, so this is not a guaranteed amount at all in reality. The issue I have with this is that with a standard DC scheme like my own, if I was to die either before or during retirement, the remaining money in the pot would be inherited by my surviving spouse or if she was to pass away before I do, it would go to the next nominated beneficiary. With the Collective DC scheme, it's worded that if my partner was to die before she claimed it then I would receive the 'income for life' portion at a reduced rate of 50% and lose out on the lump sum entirely or if she was to pass away after claiming it then she would clearly receive the lump sum and I would remain to collect 50% income for life for as long as I remain alive. This seems to be very unfavourable for anyone receiving the benefit of this scheme on the whole. Now with some calculations, not using exact figures but somewhere close, I've just done some comparisons as the new Collective DC plan was sold as far and away a better option than the old DC Plan, but I cannot find a way for it to make sense. It's hard to see how this new scheme is better in any way compared to the old scheme, even if the contributions from the employer look more generous on paper. Is there something I am completely missing or misunderstanding with this new type of pension scheme? I have not seen much content online about it at all and would love for this to be featured in a podcast episode or video or even just for a chat on this matter as I feel very underwater with this. I can't seem to find a good way to factor this pension into our plan as we do plan to retire before the age of 67, this is just the age stated on the CDC scheme for payout so this is the assumption I am working with. There is an option to opt out of the CDC plan and join a regular NEST DC plan instead but this only has 4% employer contributions on top of the 5% employee giving a yearly contribution of x per year. I suppose my main gripe would be how much you would lose out on if the worst was to happen as traditionally this would remain as a pot for next of kin to inherit, however if my partner and I both passed away at age 70 (I certainly hope not!) and didn't have kids under the age of 18, the entire amount of money would be lost. This is the part I'm struggling to wrestle and the NEST pot even looks appealing with this in mind. I know the future is uncertain and we could live to 100, but the chances are relatively low. Apologies this got a bit long and ranty, I would appreciate any feedback. Keep up the amazing work and I have learned loads from your content over the years. Many Thanks, Joe 29:56 Question 5 Hi Pete and Rodger, Like many people these days, I spent part of my career working overseas. I'm now 52 and have been thinking about how best to deal with personal pensions I accrued while working abroad, in my case, in Japan and the United States (both broadly equivalent to 401(k)-type schemes). While working overseas, I didn't accrue sufficient qualifying years to receive any state pension benefits, but I did build up some company personal pension entitlements. The amounts are relatively small (less than £100k in total), which makes me question whether it's worth the time and cost of seeking formal financial advice. My UK-based pensions and ISAs are relatively straightforward and well organised, but these overseas pots feel more cumbersome by comparison. I imagine there must be many people in a similar position, holding small overseas pension pots and unsure what the most sensible approach is. From an administrative perspective, it feels as though the simplest option may be to access these pensions as soon as I reach the relevant retirement ages, rather than continuing to manage them long term. That said, I'd welcome any general thoughts or guidance on typical approaches people take in this situation, and any obvious pitfalls to be aware of. Many thanks, Lawrence Perceptive Planning - https://www.perceptiveplanning.co.uk 34:20 Question 6 58 now and both thinking of retiring at 61 with no mortgage and kids self sufficient. At age 61 we will have around £300k in savings (inc stocks n shares ISAs, cash ISAs, Premium Bonds and Bank Accounts) and between us will have around £450k in Pensions at age 67 and the wife will get a £7k a year NHS DB pension. Our idea is to live off the cash first from age 61 till age 67 to let the pension pot grow to its absolute max and then draw down the 25% tax free to add to state pension at age 67 then live off the rest at about 4% per year BUT others say take the tax free 25% before 67 because if do it at 67 it will add to the state pension taking you over the personal allowance! We want to let the pot grow more for actual retirement age of 67 onwards and leave more for the kids inheritance long term if we don't use it all so unsure what to do. For clarity, it's our intention to lump sum some money in to our pensions and ISAs in April with some of our 'available cash' and may also lump sum in to my Stocks n Shares ISA to leave it growing for say between 8 to 15 years until we need it. Any advice welcome, Steven. James Shack video on Withdrawal Strategy https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4MDvcEcHXI

In this episode (Part 1 of 2), Pete and Roger unpack the big question: should you consolidate your pensions and investments, or can you oversimplify and accidentally make things worse? We break down what pension consolidation really means in the UK, the strongest arguments for and against it, and the key benefits and risks to watch for (including charges, safeguarded benefits, and 'all eggs in one basket' concerns). If you are approaching retirement planning and want more clarity, confidence, and fewer moving parts, this is a practical guide to help you think it through properly. Part 2 will focus on what to actually do next, step by step, if you decide consolidation might be right for you. Shownotes: https://meaningfulmoney.tv/session623 02:42 KNOW - The emotional pull of consolidation 08:16 KNOW - What consolidation actually means 10:56 KNOW - The strongest arguments FOR consolidation 25:00 KNOW - The strongest arguments AGAINST consolidation 44:35 KNOW - When consolidation is usually a very good idea 47:16 KNOW - When caution is essential 48:36 KNOW - The "good enough" middle ground 50:10 Summary

In this episode of the Meaningful Money Podcast Q&A, Pete Matthew and Roger Weeks answer six real listener questions on UK personal finance - from inheriting a SIPP (and the under-75 vs over-75 rules), to how inheritance tax could hit a property-heavy estate. They also discuss what to do with a large Employee Stock Purchase Plan (ESPP) holding, whether a longer 35-year mortgage can be a safer option, and the realities of financial planning for UK expats. Finally, they tackle a growing concern for many UK investors - how to protect wealth from increasingly sophisticated scams and impersonation fraud. Shownotes: https://meaningfulmoney.tv/QA49 02:04 Question 1 Hello Pete & Rog. Thanks for the wonderful podcast I will keep it as brief as possible as it means hopefully you can squeeze more content for your listeners. I am a 35 yr old renting in London with a salary of approximately 35k and would consider buying my own place if I could build up enough of a deposit. My mum died a long time ago but my dad has just been informed that he has a medical condition which will probably end his life in the next 5 years or so. He is currently 73. I don't have any siblings and my dad has shared with me the details of his assets which primarily comprise of a SIPP of around 200k (he has taken and spent his 25% tax free amount). My question may sound a bit morbid but it reflects the reality of life unfortunately. It's about the rules of inheriting this SIPP. I'm not sure I fully understand the 'rules' about if my dad passes away before 75 or after he is 75. My understanding is that if less than 75 I can just 'cash in' the 200k tax-free and for example use it as a deposit for a house. That seems straightforward. But hopefully he will get well past his 75th, so if that's the case I understand the 200k would be taxed as income, so I would be crazy to take it all out in that way. So what would be my options in that case? - Is there any way to take it out of the pension wrapper without having to pay tax to give a bit more flexibility? - could I just inherit it as a pension and if so, would I still be able to take 25% tax free? - can I draw down from before I reach pension age e.g. to pay the mortgage or rent (mindful not to go up into the next tax bracket)? Have I got the rules right and are there any other options I could consider? Regards, Steve 07:08 Question 2 Hi Pete & Roger Love the content and just discovered your YouTube podcast! I'm concerned about my wife parents (Mid 70s) inheritance tax liability and was wondering if you had any advice on how to structure the portfolio to reduce it or if it was worth considering a gifting strategy. Primarily I'm concerned as the recent inclusion of pensions into IHT from 2027 and I'm pretty sure their estate is over 2m and therefore a reduced residence nil rate. Rough figures are below: Current house - 1.1m (according to Rightmove - jointly owned) Own another house 800k (according to Rightmove - jointly owned) Own a holiday letting business (retirement business) which has three properties circa 1.1m (according to Rightmove - jointly owned) With this in mind I put their IHT liability at 2m+ without factoring their pensions Questions What do you consider the ball park IHT bill to be? How do you suggest my wife (mid 30s) approach this issue? Or should she just deal with the cards as they lie in the future? Tony 14:05 Question 3 Hi Pete & Roger, I wanted to start with a thank you for your podcast - specially for acting as the friendly, inclusive and relatable voices of finance. The podcast is a welcome change to the scarier world of finance which many of us sometimes run and hide from! My question for you is regarding my ESPP. I was employed by a US-based company around 10 years ago. During my time there I was able to sacrifice a percentage of my salary which was put towards the purchase of company shares at a discounted rate. It's a very effective scheme, and although my salary there was modest, I've been able to leave the shares alone which are now worth around £230k. The predicament I now have is what to do with these shares. I've been happy to let the shares sit and grow, which they have been doing extremely well, though the value of them now has me wondering what my future strategy should be. For reference, the 10 year growth on these shares is around 850%. As far as I'm aware, I'll need to pay tax on these shares when it comes to selling them as there's no way to transfer them into my stocks & shares ISA or similar. So it's either leave them where they are, or sell some/all of them now and transfer the cash (after tax) into my stocks & shares ISA, SIPP or elsewhere. I'm 40 and looking to purchase a house next year with my partner - though we don't need these funds for that purchase. I have a stocks & shares ISA, a cash ISA and a SIPP, as well as a modest amount in a LISA and cash savings. Whilst I don't feel like I have all of my eggs in one basket, I do feel increasingly nervous about the value of the shares which are entirely dependant on the success of one company. That said, the returns to date have been incredible and I wouldn't want to miss out on future growth. I'd love to know if you have any guidance on this, and if there's any factors that I haven't considered yet. Thanks again, Ian 20:36 Question 4 Hi Guys, Love your podcasts. You've helped me a lot with understanding my finances and I'd love to ask a question. My wife and I are 36 and have been back in the UK for 3 years. We are hoping to buy our first property in 2026. Due to our age, is it okay and safer to do a 35 year mortgage and pay more off monthly to pay the mortgage off quicker? We aren't high earners but hoping to put any extra onto the mortgage principle. Hope to hear from you. Kind Regards, Dhiren 23:49 Question 5 Dear Pete and Roger Thanks a lot for all the education and sensible insights you are providing to all I am an avid listener of your podcasts and watch your videos regularly. Now I can see Roger as well. Both very handsome and knowledgeable. Your discussions are lively and interesting. I am also a member of the academy from the beginning. Also on Facebook community. Currently working my way through retirement guide. I am working abroad for nearly 8 years. I was told by a financial planner that he can't advise non UK tax payers as per regulations. Since then you have been my main source of information and guidance. I am an Ex NHS consultant and now receiving pension. I have a very small SIPP and substantial Investment ISA which I can not contribute to. So my main investment is through GIA. All via Vanguard. Apart from this I have stocks and shares account with a couple of providers which helps me to keep thinking about investment opportunities. I am not a big risk taker and currently doing well with my stocks. I read and listen to a variety of educational materials to help with this I have 2 questions. Is it possible to get financial planner help for UK citizens while working abroad? What should I do with my investments before coming back to UK to live, for tax planning and reduce risk of huge tax for selling investments after coming back? Currently I am in Middle East with zero percent income tax. My pension is also at zero percent under DTAA arrangements. Sorry for long question. Thanks a lot again for your suuuuuuuuuper work. Continue great job Kind regards, Sudhakar Link: Perceptive Planning https://www.perceptiveplanning.co.uk/world-citizens 28:37 Question 6 Hi Roger and Pete, Love the podcast. Thank you for everything. This is about to be a long question, for which I'm not at all sorry. I've seen articles and videos about the increased sophistication of hacks and scams. Things like stealthily getting access to accounts and for years collecting information that can then be used to impersonate you to socially engineer access to bank accounts. AI plays a part in letting people change how they sound to make impersonating on calls easier than ever. Going forward, I'm worried that one of the biggest threats to my wealth is not a market crash, but someone getting access to my investments through fraudulently calling support lines and impersonating me, or alternatively getting access to my money through 'traditional' password leaks and viruses. To this end, I've been overpaying my mortgage as a way of having money locked away in an asset that cannot be liquidated without a solicitor (and hopefully more stringent checks of identity), but I'm going to be mortgage-free in less than 5 years at this rate. My question is: Am I overblowing the risk here, and what are my options if I want to reduce the my risk from this perspective? I have considered: - Having multiple S&S ISAs with different providers should mean that only a fragment of my portfolio can be lost through any one hack. - Buying 'real' estate as an investment seems appealing from a security standpoint, regardless of expected returns, and although recent changes have made BtL less attractive, the old Rothschild saying of "Buy when there's blood in the streets" could mean that now might be a good time to buy. Is there an advantage in having overseas property as a wealth storage mechanism? - Putting money in my DC pension pot will lock the money away until retirement, but suddenly becomes fair game to foul play once I do. - Buying an annuity is not as fiscally efficient as drawdown, but is an attractive way of mitigating risk of losing it all to a scam caller. Especially if I'm old and doddery and more likely to fall for a scam. - Buying physical gold (and a safe or a Swiss safety deposit box) doesn't appeal to me, but I have considered it. Please assume that I'm being sensible with passwords and 2FA. My question isn't about basic IT security practices, but which of these decisions you think might be a good/bad decision and whether there's anything I haven't considered. Thank you, Alex Link: Cal Newport - https://calnewport.com/

Pete and Roger reveal how to spot a good financial adviser from a bad one. Learn the red and green flags—from transparent fees to pressure tactics—and the key questions to ask before committing. Essential listening for anyone considering financial advice. Shownotes: https://meaningfulmoney.tv/session609 Everything You Need To Know 04:00 - life vs product 05:18 - listens vs talks 06:40 - behaviour vs numbers 08:25 - clear vs vague 09:38 - plain English vs jargon 11:21 - transparent fees vs evasive costs 13:12 - probabilities vs certainties 14:48 - evidence based vs secret 'sauce' 16:15 - calm vs urgent 17:46 - facts first vs opinions first 19:50 - "I don't know" vs blagging 20:44 - written rationale vs 'trust me' 21:41 - respects advisers vs criticises advisers 23:40 - growth & protections vs chasing returns 25:31 - professional vs sloppy Cheatsheet: https://meaningfulmoney.tv/adviser-checklist Everything You Need To Do 29:18 - ignore unsolicited approaches 31:58 - verify they're legit 33:48 - get fees and scope in writing before committing 36:36 - first meeting questions 43:40 - pressure test

This week we finish off our two-parter on how to become a financial adviser. In this session, we cover the 'softer' part of the job, the human side which is arguably MUCH more important than the hard numbers… Shownotes: https://meaningfulmoney.tv/session607 02:18 - Why Financial Planning Is Not About Money 05:30 - Planning vs Product 14:38 - The Core Human Skills of Great Advisers 25:50 - Behavioural Coaching (The Real Job) 33:15 - Judgement, Responsibility, and Pressure 38:31 - Ethics and Integrity in the Real World 47:57 - Who Thrives on the SOFT Side 50:05 - Bringing the Hard and Soft Together

It's another Meaningful Money Q&A, taking in the £100k tax trap, splitting pensions on divorce, safely switching investment platforms and much more! Shownotes: https://meaningfulmoney.tv/QA38 01:59 Question 1 Hi Roger and Pete, Long time listener, first time questioner. My wife and I have both earned in excess of £100k for a few years now, meaning I am acquiring a peculiar set of skills on the various ways to use pension contributions, rollover allowances, gift aids, etc to keep us both below the (entirely bananas) £100k cliff-edge each year. My question is on the £60k pension annual allowance. Does it only apply to the amount of pension savings in a given year which can be made without paying a tax charge, or does it also count as the maximum amount of pension deduction which can be taken to calculate net adjusted income as part of completing our tax returns? The (slightly over-simplified) situation in my mind is that if I earned £160,500 in a given year, I would prefer to pay £61k into a pension, thereby reducing my net adjusted income to £99,500 to stay below the cliff-edge, even if I had to pay 40% tax on the extra £1000 above the pension annual allowance. As a fun aside, I asked this to my preferred AI - and I leave a link to see if you agree with it's answer or not - https://g.co/gemini/share/8c23e91cb658 Stephen 07:58 Question 2 Hello Pete & Roger Listen and enjoy all your podcasts regularly but every now and again you get one that addresses specific points to the individual listener. For me it was Podcast QA18. A really great podcast. 1. The 2015 changes to pensions made significant differences to pensions and most financial experts have rightly advised using your pension as one of the best places to put savings. It does seem unfair that you plan your savings and pensions well in advance for retirement based on government rules. and then you you find you are likely to have a sizeable IHT bill. At 78 it is difficult to turn the ship around quickly. Many more people will be affected by this over the next decade. The main reason however for my question relates to ways to reducing the effects of this IHT change. The general allowances and the 7 year rule are all clear. However the main exemption that could help is the little used Gifts form Excess Income. I have read up as much as I can and the whole system seems rather vague and many things open to interpretation, even by financial experts. There is no clear and precise set of rules whereby you can be certain something is capital or income. Your executor will have to understand all this and have all the back up documentation to convince HMRC that the gifts are justified. I do have excess income and spent significant time over the past weeks analysing all our expenditure and income sources ending up totally confused and with a severe migraine. Any advice on how best to handle this can of worms would be appreciated. 2) So many of us these days have children living in different countries with their families. All with different citizenship and residency situations in different countries. There seems to be very little information about IHT and general tax issues in relation to gifts and inheritance of money and pensions for children and grandchildren in this situation. Best regards, Peter 16:52 Question 3 Hello Roger and Pete, Thanks for a great series of podcasts. Some of them confirm what I already know and some give me insights, ideas and an understanding I didn't have. You provide a great service. My wife and I are 54 and 55. We are getting divorced. The divorce is amicable and we want to share everything evenly. I take home £5k/month and she takes home £2.3k. We will split this evenly as long as we both work. Our pension funds are not of equal value. I have DCs and SIPPs worth £800k and ISAs worth £100k. I also have a small DB pension that will pay out about £3k/year in today's money at age 67. My wife has a DC pension worth £210k and ISAs worth £220k. She has a DC pension that will pay about £2.5k/year in today's money at age 67. As you can see, the majority is in my name. This makes sense as I have worked whereas she has taken time off to raise our children. We have equal claim to the money in my mind. I think the ISAs are straight forward. We can balance the value by selling some of hers and investing more in my name. The DC pensions are more difficult. By right I should give her £295k to make them of equal value but how do we do this? We want to avoid expensive solicitors and accountants but are not sure if we can DIY this. Please share any advice you can give. Regards, Jay 25:43 Question 4 Hi Pete and Roger, Thanks so much for what you do with the podcast. It's completely changed my approach to my finances, especially over the last year which has felt even more important after the birth of my son. I have a question about investment platforms. I currently have about £70,000 invested in passive world index trackers via a platform. I estimate my total annual fees including fund and platform fees to be about 0.66% pa. I don't think this is terrible but I think it could be less. I'm considering transferring my investments (which is a mixture of stocks and shares ISA, LISA and (very small) SIPP) to a cheaper platform. Do you have an advice on the transfer process, especially in whether to transfer all the funds in one go or is there a strategy you'd recommend to avoid falling foul of market fluctuations? Thanks, Jack 30:47 Question 5 Hi Pete and Roger, You guys are the best. You've given me my only financial education. Never underestimate what a difference you are making to ordinary people's lives. THANK YOU. I am 42 years old saving into my workplace DC pension. I have a bit of a gap because I started late and then freelanced for a few years, so playing catch up, but thanks to you both, seeing the positives in this, rather than beating myself up. I am basing the 'gap' on not quite having 3x salary saved by age 42 - is that a decent rule of thumb? As you both say, arming people with knowledge can be a good thing and a bad thing, because armed with this new knowledge we can go off and overcomplicate things. I decided to pull my pension from the default fund and pick 6 funds. What's the best route for working out if I am paying too much in fees, if I have got too much crossover across funds, and if the more pricey ones are worth it? Do I need to get financial advice or could I do this myself (being a complete layman obvs)? Do you have any tips on the process of comparing, finding inefficiencies and consolidating? What's a reasonable number of funds would you say? 3? 1? BTW I've done the same thing with my ISAs since they let us have more than one. How do you just pick one and stick with it, and not get distracted by the new shiny providers? It seems like newer, better products and platforms come out all the time. Or am I worrying unnecessarily and might it be ok to have fingers in many pies? Thanks again for all you do. Hayley 37:47 Question 6 Thanks for all the content, I listen to every episode and often share the pod with others to share the good word! My partner will soon be able to get her NHS pension. While we were looking at the numbers, I began to wonder whether there is any benefit in taking the maximum lump sum and investing it outside of the pension. My thinking was that she would probably be able to generate the same amount of income from investing it in the stock market, but that when she dies she will be able to pass the capital on, whereas her pension will just stop paying out. I think the maximum she can take is about £70k. Presumably she could put this in a GIA and feed it into an ISA over a few years, accepting that any gains in the GIA would be subject to tax. I just wondered if there were any other tax implications that I hadn't considered? If not, then presumably it's just a case of comparing the drop in the annual pension payment against the expected returns (after tax) from investing outside the pension? Would love to know your thoughts on this. Thanks again, and keep up the good work. Tim

Welcome to the first podcast of 2026 where Roger and Pete answer more of your varied and interesting questions, covering everything from what to do when you've maxed out your pension and ISA, to whether you should borrow on your mortgage to invest! Shownotes: https://meaningfulmoney.tv/QA37 01:30 Question 1 Hello to Roger and his trusty sidekick Pete, Only kidding Pete, but it will make Roger feel good briefly. I must credit the pair of you for your continued dedication and commitment to educating the wider population on all things financial. I have gone from strength to strength in planning my retirement with the guidance and abundance of free information you have provided, the books you have written Pete, as well as signing up to the Meaningful Academy Retirement Planning and now planning to retire several years earlier than originally intended. Using the information provided and learnt, I have got my finances in order but more importantly, that decision is to align my future life (and that of my wife) to the finances we need and when our needs are likely to be met, hence the realisation retirement is not as far away as we had originally perceived, so I really appreciate what you have done for me and my family. My question maybe very simple, but it was sparked during a previous Q&A session Listener Question – episode 20 - 30th July – Question 2 – The question surrounded company Shares. I am employed by BAE and I purchase company shares each month, partially as a sensible Tax saving being a higher rate tax payer (purchase them pre Tax) but also for the first £75 worth each month I buy each month, the company will match, so effectively £150 worth of shares which technically costs less than £50 in real money each month. Now whilst I do sell some shares along the way (after the 5-year maturity to avoid tax payment), I continue to have a reasonable amount invested (£35k subject to tax relief period on some). A statement you made during the above session was "as a sideline issue we tend to say to people that investing in shares for the company you work for is a bad idea at any scale, thus to avoid backing one horse and it's not a good idea to hold onto shares for a company you work for." Now I thought I was onto a winner and being tax efficient and building an amount of money which I tap into on an occasional basis as well as additional source of income once retired, but are you implying, as you did to that listener, I might consider cashing some in and transferring the money else where? Perhaps in this instance it is suffice leaving it there, as the examples you gave were for smaller companies (in comparison) that folded, whereas BAE one of the larger Defence industry companies, doesn't appear to be going anywhere soon? I do have a Royal Naval DB pension already paying out, as well as a part DB and part DC pension with BAE (continuing to build), so I'm not reliant upon the money, which is another factor why I've not considered moving them away or am I doing myself a bad deal, id value your opinions (not advice ha ha)? Thank you for your time Regards, John 08:02 Question 2 I'm 39, a basic rate taxpayer and I have a Lifetime ISA and a SIPP with HL. Can I save for retirement in my Lifetime ISA and invest in the same funds as my Pension after receiving the 25% bonus to achieve similar growth. Then at age 60, withdraw all that money tax free and pay it into my pension (up to my allowances and possibly using previous years) to gain the 20% tax relief just before I draw the pension? I would also save some money on platform fees as the LISA is 0.25% vs the SIPP at 0.45%. I know I can get cheaper platforms elsewhere but I find HL easy, intuitive, and feel like I can trust them with my money, which really encourages me to save in the first place. Thanks, Robert 13:40 Question 3 Hi Pete and Roger, Longtime fan and listener, thanks for all the great work you do! I'm 40 years old and a member of the LGPS DB pension scheme, which I've been paying into since my early 20s. My partner is also in a DB scheme (Central Government). We have no debt other than our mortgage. We currently live in a modest home we bought for £89k, but are thinking about upgrading to a bigger property for more space and comfort (no plans to have children). That said, we've enjoyed the low cost of living here. We've built up around £160k in savings, split roughly 40% in a Stocks & Shares ISA and 60% in Premium Bonds and cash. I've tried to keep the ISA intact as a form of flexibility/security around retirement, potentially to retire early or reduce hours in the future. The dilemma is: 1. Do we spend most of the savings on a better house and accept working longer? 2. Or do we stay where we are, keep our financial flexibility, and potentially one of us works less or retires earlier? 3. Or is there a sensible middle ground, spending some of the cash to improve our living situation while still preserving part of our financial cushion for future flexibility? We're just trying to balance quality of life now with freedom and options later, and would love to hear your take on it. Is there anything else we haven't thought about? Thanks so much for your thoughts! Gez 19:25 Question 4 Hi Pete and Rog, big fan of the show and I appreciate the helpful topics you cover. I am currently going through a remortgage and am extracting equity from our house to invest. The new mortgage rate is around 4% and our LTV will be around 80%. The additional monthly costs are within our budget too. My strategy is to invest the extracted amount in a stocks and shares ISA with my wife, utilising the £20k allowance each per tax year. This will be invested into globally diversified index funds. I have ran calculations on how much I will be paying in additional interest vs how much is probable from stock market returns. Over 25 years, the additional interest paid on £50k extracted at 4% is £29k Over 25 years, having invested £50k, I would need to return 1.84% to break even from this deal. This is due to the way mortgages are amortised via repayment vs the investments compounding positively. With conservative returns of 7% used, this will net £236k of interest. Am I missing anything here? Keep up the great work and I'm very interested to hear whether you have done this in the past. Stephen 26:40 Question 5 Hi Pete and Roger, Recent discoverer and now big fan of the show here - I have now caught up on all the Q&A episodes and am continuing to work my way through the back catalogue: a lot of material! My questions centre on tax-efficient options once ISAs and pensions are maxed out, and how to "bridge" savings if retiring before pension-age. I am 36, married and have 2 young daughters who are the apple of my eye. We have a very manageable mortgage and I benefit from a very well paid job. However, an extremely stressful period last year sent me on the track of better understanding personal finance (and ultimately finding you) in order to achieve financial independence and not need to tolerate that kind of situation ever again, as well as be free to dedicate my time and energy to things without worrying about how much money they pay. 1) I am trying to get to functional financial independence (i.e. paid work is entirely optional) as soon as possible - I now max out my annual pension and ISA allowance each year and am likely to continue to in the future. Are there any other normal vehicles I can use for additional saving and investing? Giving money to my wife to use her ISA allowance? Anything else? I don't want to overpay the mortgage for the next several years as we managed to get a fixed rate that is below the current rate of inflation. 2) I have a good understanding of our essential and discretionary spending, and with a conservative annualised rate of return I could theoretically stop contributing to my pension pot in the next 7ish years and compounding would mean it would be big enough to fully support us once we can access it. My question is - is there a good rule of thumb or approach for working out how much I need to save outside the pension if I wanted to stop working for money before 57? Is it just a case of working out # years x expenses or is there anything more sophisticated to it? 3) bonus question - feel free to cut if it doesn't fit: I'm familiar with the idea of asset allocation and rebalancing to "smooth the ride" for my portfolio. Most things I've read or listened to have focused on equities vs. bonds. When I was looking at a number of bond indexes recently the returns have been pretty flat, often 4% from a cash ISA, what's the point of the bonds? Am I missing something? Thanks so much for all the knowledge you put into the world, giving people the tools to look after themselves. The chat is pretty great too! Kind regards, Martin 37:18 Question 6 Hello Pete & Roger Thank you for your fantastic materials, so well explained. We're 62. We already have a standard pension pot Annuity and we have around £300,000 in savings in building society accounts. (We value peace of mind over the potential for big gains, so we're not really considering stocks and shares). We're wondering whether, rather than rely entirely on savings accounts, it would make sense to use a Purchase Life Annuity. With current annuity rates, it looks like that's a Yes, so we're curious what your expert view is on this. We're aware of the downside: that it leaves us without much of a savings pot for any unexpected very large need. Have watched the Annuities: Back from the dead? video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=alTTzrd2NbY - which talked about buying an annuity with pension, but in our case it would be Purchase Life Annuity, so does that make a difference when purchasing an annuity? Thank you again! Moira