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The Meaningful Money Personal Finance Podcast

The Meaningful Money Personal Finance Podcast

By: Pete Matthew
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About this listen

 Pete Matthew discusses and explains all aspects of your personal finances in simple, everyday language. Personal finance, investing, insurance, pensions and getting financial advice can all seem daunting, but with the right knowledge and easy-to-follow action steps, Pete will help you to get your money matters in order. Each show is in two segments: Firstly, everything you need to KNOW, and secondly, everything you need to DO to move forward on the subject of that episode. This podcast will appeal to listeners of MoneyBox Live, Wake Up To Money, Listen to Lucy, Which? Money and The Property Podcast. To leave feedback or ask a question, go to http://meaningfulmoney.tv/askpete Archived episodes can be found at http://meaningfulmoney.tv/mmpodcastMeaningfulMoney Ltd Economics Personal Finance
Episodes
  • Listener Questions 18 - IHT, Trusts and Care

    Listener Questions 18 - IHT, Trusts and Care
    Jun 25 2025
    We’ve managed to cobble together another themed Q&A episode, this week dealing with questions around Inheritance Tax, Trusts and Care planning. Lots for Roger and Pete to get stuck into! Shownotes: https://meaningfulmoney.tv/QA18 00:48 Question 1 Hi Pete, Hi Rog, Thanks for your ongoing work on the Podcast, I’ve been listening for many years and have learned a great deal from you both. Keep up the good work! My question is in relation to trusts. My parents, both aged 70, have recently got round to updating their wills, putting POA in place for finance and health and have been in discussion with a solicitor about putting a trust in place, primarily to safeguard their assets from being used up in the event of them having to go into care in later life. At present I believe their estate to be approximately £600,000 including their house which I would imagine is worth approximately £250,000. The rest is made up of savings. I don’t believe their estate would be subject to inheritance tax so I don’t believe this is the reason for setting up a trust. I have listened back to your previous episodes on trusts but I was wondering, firstly whether much has changed since these podcasts in relation to the general setting up and management of a trust? Secondly I wondered if you could explain the negatives to my parents putting the majority of their assets into trust, namely are there any ongoing fees, can my parents take assets out of the trust should they need to and what are the tax implications for the beneficiaries when my parents pass away? Would any of these things change in the period where only one of them has passed away? I appreciate this is a huge topic and you may not be able to address all of these queries but it appears they have been advised of the positive parts of this process but I would like to ensure we are aware of the potential pitfalls. Thanks once again! Jon 11:10 Question 2 Hi Pete and Roger, Still loving the show and I'm enjoying the current variation in format - keep up the fantastic work! My question relates to estate planning: My wife and I own our home (mortgage free) 50/50 as tenants in common. We have up-to-date wills, LPAs, expressions of wishes and "Dead Files" set up. Each half of the house will be left to our daughter as and when, with the appropriate "right to reside" wording in place for the remaining partner. We are both in our late fifties, so hopefully not needed for many years yet. The IHT side is fine as it's just numbers - allowances and values etc. What I can't quite get my head around is any potential CGT liability for our daughter following the second death. Not so much for the financial impact, as she is already comfortable in her own right (with my and - via the podcast - your encouragement over the years) and will inherit further monies when we pass, but more from a planning perspective. I have looked online and disappeared down several rabbit holes, but from what I can gather although she inherits half the house on the first death, essentially because the surviving partner continues to live in it and therefore any actual money can't be realised, CGT is only calculated from the date of the second death (assuming she sells the house at that point). Is this correct, or will her CGT liability on half of the value start on the first death and be based on (half of) the house valuation at that time, as obtained for that probate? Maybe I'm taking the planning a little too far, but I like to be prepared. These circumstances will be more and more relevant to families over time, I'm sure. Your usual wisdom and common-sense views would be very much appreciated (even if the answer is "...it depends!"). Thank you again for the information and humour the two of you provide each week - long may you continue! Best wishes, Glen 16:11 Question 3 Hi guys Thank you both for a great podcast, big shout-out to Rog because he gets missed off sometimes in these testimonials – genuinely wish I had found this podcast years ago. Have made so many past mistakes but now correcting them one by one! I have a question about care costs which I hope you could answer. My mum is suffering from late stage dementia and my dad who is her 24/7 carer is struggling to cope (they are both 80yo). I have PoA for my mum and am trying to involve myself more in her care plan going forwards. Care (in the home initially) is going to be required and I was wondering how this is paid for. My parents worked hard and have reasonably large savings and investments in both their individual names and in joint names and the extent of these means they would have to pay for care. What we are not clear on is whether money or investments in my mum’s name would ONLY be used to pay for her care or whether jointly held money or investments would be used or whether anything in my father’s name would also be used to pay for care? I’ve tried to find the answer to this online but cannot find a clear answer so ...
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    41 mins
  • Listener Questions Episode 17 - In Our 30’s

    Listener Questions Episode 17 - In Our 30’s
    Jun 18 2025
    A bit of a themed Q&A this week, with some great questions from folks in their 30’s. We cover share save schemes at work, large inheritances and retirement planning - yes, even in your 30’s! Shownotes: https://meaningfulmoney.tv/QA17 01:29 Question 1 Hi Pete and Roger, First of all I wanted to say I'm a new but avid listener to the MM Podcast, I'm so glad I found it while I'm still (relatively) young, I'm 39 and after years of making bad financial decisions the MM podcast has turned my attitude to money/investing and pensions on its head. I now relish the challenge of taking care of my finances rather than what felt like years of fighting against it. I wanted to ask a question regarding selling Investments vs taking a short term loan. I work for a large pharmaceutical company and as a perk of being an employee I pay into 2 share schemes through work. The one I'm thinking of selling is a plan whereby I'm limited to a certain amount a month I can pay in and whatever I pay in is matched by my employer, so half the shares in this scheme are free. Needles to say I pay the maximum into this to benefit from the BOGOF offer. I've recently had a large unexpected bill that even my emergency fund can't cover! And I wanted to know if selling the shares would be advisable over getting a 12 month loan? If I sell the shares the money will be paid to me through my next pay so it will be subject to tax and NI contributions, after a bit of number crunching I've worked out that what I'll pay back on the loan is a lot less than the tax and NI I'll pay on the shares, however it does mean being in debt for 12 months, but I'm reluctant to sell the shares as I'd earmarked it as a supplement to my pension. If this was cash sitting in an account then it'd be a no brainer but I'm sure that I've heard people advise against selling investments. Please could you help and offer some advice as I'm really not sure what's best as I do what to avoid debt too. Thanks in advance, Anthony 05:30 Question 2 Hi Pete and Roger Thank you so much for the podcast and content you put out - for free! - it's incredibly generous and has helped thousands of people including myself. I appreciate this is not a typical situation, but I am 30 years old and am due to inherit £500,000 (yes, really, though due to unhappy circumstances). Up until now (in no small part due to your content!) I've been confident managing my finances. I am single, and am just approaching becoming a higher-rate tax-payer as an NHS doctor. It is a stable job with a great pension and guaranteed pay progression. I have a £200,000 mortgage on my house which I am comfortably paying out of my salary. I also have a £10,000 cash emergency fund in place, and no other debt apart from my student loan. Due to the NHS pension (and the complexity of avoiding annual allowance breaches with a SIPP alongside a DB pension), I have favoured directing all my personal savings into my stocks and shares ISA rather than a SIPP, all in a 100% equities passive global tracker (currently about £60,000). I don't know what to do with this inheritance. I will put the first £50,000 in Premium Bonds. After that, I like the simplicity of £20,000 per year into the stocks and shares ISA in a passive global tracker. But in the short-term this still leaves a vast sum in cash. Even if I paid off the mortgage (which I'm unsure about, as I've had plans to spend on house renovations fairly soon), there is still a vast amount of cash left unsheltered. (First-world problems, granted.) I could pay for advice, but I would rather self-manage as I feel I don't want to do anything too complicated if someone could explain a simple strategy using a GIA. Option 1: GIA Is it easy to calculate the dividends on an accumulation global tracker fund? Should I ditch the simplicity of global trackers to find dividend-paying funds/investment trusts to try and pay less tax? Option 2: Cash Option 3: Holding gilts to maturity Have I missed anything? Does it really matter whether I do Option 1 or 2 in the grand scheme of things? Any thoughts would be much appreciated! Kind regards, James 14:30 Question 3 Hi Pete (and Roge) Thanks for all you have done and continue to do on the podcast. I've now read both your books which I would warmly recommend to anyone. I've tried to keep this brief but tricky not missing out key details! My wife and I are in our mid 30s and have SIPPs invested in passive, 100% global equity, accumulation funds. With a reasonable time horizon, and stomach for volatility, we're very happy with this approach. We would like the option to retire as soon as we reach the Normal Pension Age minus 10years which we assume will be 60 by then if we assume the state pension age will rise to 70. Given this background, how do I pivot away from 100% equities to a cash flow ladder? My current thinking is to do the following: - 10 year prior to retirement buy a Gilt with a 10 year maturity - do this for following ...
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    43 mins
  • Listener Questions Episode 16

    Listener Questions Episode 16
    Jun 11 2025
    It’s time for another Listener Questions session! This week we cover commercial property in pensions, ethical investing, inherited pensions and so much more. Shownotes: https://meaningfulmoney.tv/QA16 01:02 Question 1 Hi Peter / Roger, Many thanks for all the wisdom plus superb book, you two really make my week with the banter. I always hear about DB and DC pensions but wondered if you’d ever cover the following: Many business owners like myself own buildings outright (as a pension) within a Commercial Sipp and then loop back into this rental payments. Also, within this using a GIA for diversified investments including cash lump sums for tax relief when possible. I’m heading North of sixty soon and feel its time to start thinking of the exit plus implications. It would be fantastic to hear your advice on these in the future. Best Regards, Steve 05:47 Question 2 Hello Pete Can ethical investing beat inflation? Myself and my husband are both 63. We retired at the end of last year, having sold the business we have run for the majority of our working lives. We have some small DC pensions and a SSAS which includes a commercial property. We both have cash ISAs. I've done some research, helped massively by your podcasts and YouTube videos, so thank you so much for these. From what I have learned I understand that we need to invest the cash from the business sale in Global Equities. We also need to look at the investments within the SSAS which, up to now, the SSAS provider has managed. Cash in the SSAS also needs to be invested. Is there a way of picking a Global Index Tracker which is ethical and will beat inflation and that requires minimal management to keep fees low? I realise that we need to look at our cash accounts too with this in mind. Many thanks for all your excellent resources and advice, the fog of financial planning is starting to clear and I'm feeling less panicked about being able to manage the money for our future. Kind regards, Rachel 12:52 Question 3 Dear Pete and Rog, Your podcasts have been a real source of steadiness for me over the past few years - a pair of reliable voices amidst the wider financial chaos. I’m writing with a question about nominee (beneficiary) pensions. Sadly, my father passed away recently, and I’ve inherited half of his private pension pot - around £70k from a total of £140k. It’s been set up as a nominee pension, which I understand allows the money to remain invested and grow tax-free, with flexible access at any age. This has been a significant and unexpected legacy, and it’s opened up the possibility of scaling back to part-time work well before the official retirement age. (I’m in my late 30s, so there’s still a way to go, but it’s a big deal for me and brings more options for me) I don’t plan to draw from the pot for many years. My intention is to let it grow. The catch, however, is that the provider, without naming names, (let’s just say three letters, last one P), is expensive compared to what I’m used to (I invest monthly in a Vanguard LifeStrategy ISA). When I’ve done some projections I can see that if leave the money where it is indefinitely, the fees will quietly erode a decent chunk of the long-term gains. There’s a 6-year early exit charge, so for now I’m content to leave it be. I’m still dealing with bereavement and all the admin of being an executor, so pressing pause on any big financial decisions feels like the right call at this early stage. But when that 6-year period ends, I’ll be weighing up whether to stick or twist. My question is: can nominee pensions be transferred to another provider without losing the key benefits, like the tax-free growth and the ability to access the funds flexibly before retirement age? I’ve looked into alternatives- transferring into my ISA would take years due to the annual limit; a general investment account loses the tax perks; and a conventional pension would lock the funds away until age 55+, which undermines the very flexibility that makes this pot so helpful for future semi-retirement plans. I’d be really grateful for any ideas or thoughts you might have on this. All the best, Alan 19:29 Question 4 Hi guys, I am 31 years old and currently investing 15% of my gross income into my retirement. 6.8% via my employer's DB CARE scheme, and the other 8.2% into my SIPP. My wife and I also contribute £200pm into a S&S ISA for our son. We hope by the time he is 18 (3 months old now) this fund could pay for university, travel, driving - whatever he wants to do (within reason!). By age 60, I would like to be in a position to retire, whether I do that or not is another question, but I would at least like the option to. I often see YouTube videos titled "SIPP vs ISA which is better?" but I don't see much about how to use them in tandem. Do you have any advice on the optimal weighting between an ISA and SIPP given I'd like to retire before State/DB pension...
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    39 mins
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I have spent hours watched the you tube videos. However with these podcasts it is even easier to listen on the move. Every podcast is of interest but many will change the way you engage with money and can change you life. That statement may seem over the top but these podcast are full of tips you can use to sort your money out whatever stage of life you are at. Pete Matthew is a genuine guy who wants to help the masses. I have never met Pete but feel like he is a friend helping me on my financial journey. Keep the Podcasts flowing Pete.

Be prepared to get hooked

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I have been listening to the Meaningful Money podcast for many years now. Pete is a great teacher, from whom you will learn all about personal finance for those of us in the UK.
I learnt how to invest in a Stocks & Shares ISA, how to pick a fund for my workplace pension, and I am now learning how to plan my retirement.
There are hundreds of episodes but you don’t need to listen to them all. The Ultimate Guides season is a good starting place as it covers what most people need: budgeting, investing, retirement planning.

I have learnt how to invest from Pete, you can too.

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Listening to these podcasts is educational and entertaining in equal measure. If I’d heard something like this 20 years ago I’d be a much wealthier person than I am today that’s for sure. It’s for that reason I pass on the knowledge I’m gaining each episode to my children for the best start to their personal finance journeys. Thank you Pete and Roger.

If only I’d found this sooner!

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Lisa is an amazing inspiration and her story and journey are inspurational
This is a wonderful episode.

Great episode. Well done Lisa

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This is a great podcast. it takes you through all stages of financial planning, throughout different stages of your life,and different areas of advice. It does it in layman's terms at an understandable pace.

Great approach to financial decisions and understanding

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