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Gold has hit record highs this week and has rocketed so far this year. What’s driving the price and how do you invest? Tanya Jefferies, Georgie Frost and Lee Boyce turn their attention to the precious metal — a notoriously volatile investment, but yet seen as a safe haven. Energy bills will be back on the up, with the new Ofgem price cap announced for October. Is it worth fixing before the hike comes in? And one in four are expected to struggle this winter with their energy bills — just as the new Winter Fuel Payment is taken away for millions of households. We bust some myths on inherited state pension and ask how DWP can be dishing out incorrect information and also question whether annuity deals have peaked. Plus, we run the rule over two juicy reader questions. Firstly, what are your rights if you drunkenly lend money to a friend? Secondly, what can you do about a property next door being converted into an HMO with six students?

Inflation is theoretically running out of steam but there's one essential that's still gloing up in price rapidly: food. Even as energy prices and other recent highly inflationary items run out of steam, the cost of food seems to show no let up - with reports reporting inflation-busting rises. What is going on here? How much have food prices risen, why have they gone up so much, are supermarkets or brand-name makers profiteering, and will costs ever come back down? Georgie Frost, Angharad Carrick and Simon Lambert, delve into food prices on this week's episode - and look at any ways you could save money. Plus, mortgage rates are falling while the base rate is going up: why is that and what happens next? Should you invest in a VCT, not just for the juicy tax breaks but also for the investment opportunities on offer? And finally, we met the founders of Seatfrog to find out how they are helping passengers buy up unused first-class seats on trains at bargain prices and their plans for making train ticket-buying better.

Mistakes. We all make them, but whether we will admit them freely often depends on what they are and how we made them. Investing mistakes can be among those that are tough to swallow and own up to. Often the easiest thing is to brush them under the carpet and try not to think about it too much. But looking at where we went wrong and learning from it is an important part of long-term investing. On this week’s podcast Georgie Frost, Lee Boyce and Simon Lambert discuss investing blunders. Simon confesses some of his and what he thinks he’s learnt from them over the years, the team look at new research on why people give up investing and how big a part loss aversion plays in that. And This is Money invites listeners to get in touch and reveal their investing slip-ups to feature in a future show (no names need to be mentioned, of course). Also on this week’s show, is the Bank of England flirting with negative rates or just indulging in Maradona monetary policy? And what on earth is an estate rent charge on a prospective new home and should it put you off?

Stock markets crashing tend to put savers off investing in shares, but there has been a sizeable rise in new investors in Britain during lockdown, reports suggest. That came as savings rates plummeted (again) and people decided to go hunting for a bargain amid the stock market turmoil in March and April. But who are these novice investors and what do you need to think about to get started? On this week's podcast This is Money editor Simon Lambert tells host Georgie Frost what first timers need to know about building an investment portfolio - and gives some tips on easy ways to get started and why British isn't always best for investors. Managers can invest in their own fund or investment trust, but how do you find out if they do - and whether they're buying or selling, and does it matter? Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs backed Marcus Bank has pulled its best buy easy-access savings account – assistant editor Lee Boyce reveals why and how we are set to see rates tumble even further. Should you gamble on taking a European summer holiday in July, August or September and if you are tempted, what do you need to know? Euro 2020 should have been starting today, but at least for sport-starved fans Premier League football returns next week. However, you'll need a major tournament-style wallchart if you plan on catching the action, with Amazon Prime, BBC, BT Sport and Sky Sports all having games on – how do you watch for the cheapest price? And finally, property sales in England have started to edge up but apparently million-pound-plus homes in the country are leading the way. Are buyers really swapping Millionaire's Row for Millionaire's Lane?

Investing has proven to be the best way to beat inflation and grow your wealth over the long-term, but how do you get started? And if you do already invest but feel you’ve lost track of your goals or ended up with a jumble of investments, how can you improve things? In this second edition of a two-part podcast special on saving and investing, Simon Lambert and Georgie Frost dive into how to be a smarter investor. They bust the jargon and look at why people should invest, how to get started, what investments you can choose and how to find the right ones for you. Simon discusses his experience of investing, what he got right along the way and importantly the things he got wrong. But why should you invest? Well, between 1900 and 2017 owning UK shares would have delivered an average return of 5.5 per cent, beating cash savings at 1 per cent and property at 1.8 per cent, according to the respected Credit Suisse Investment Yearbook. There’s no guarantee that history will be repeated, but companies should always have the ability to put money to productive use and reward investors with rising share prices off the back of their profits, dividend payouts, or interest on bonds.

It might not be on the top of your to-do list when you have a child, but investing and saving for them to build a tidy nest egg for when they reach adulthood is best done sooner rather than later. In the latest This is Money podcast, editor Simon Lambert, assistant editor (and new parent) Lee Boyce alongside host Georgie Frost look at the best ways to save for your children. We discuss investment options, Junior Isas, a pension and other ways, and why 'the hardest step is the first, but it is also the most powerful'. Lee has a target of a £50,000 pot to build up for his new daughter ahead of her 18th birthday in 2036 – and discusses how he plans to achieve this, with a little help from Einstein's eighth wonder of the world, compounding. Elsewhere, we talk about how invest for your own retirement and Fidelity's 'Power of Seven' matrix, as it looks like the pensions dashboard is finally moving ahead. We talk about the collapse of online estate agent Emoov and the future of the industry with the Bank of England's latest Brexit predictions suggesting property values could fall 30 per cent in the worst case scenario. Finally, we reveal the latest British Gas rip off and whether could we have found the answer to expensive boiler replacements.

Welcome to the This is Money Show on Share Radio, brought to you in partnership with NS&I. It’s the start of a new financial year and with it a number of new tax changes and price hikes. Taking an Easter themed look through what all this means for the pound in your pocket Georgie Frost is joined by Personal Finance Editor Rachel Rickard Straus and Consumer Affairs Editor Lee Boyce. Plus we put the biggest retailers to the test with the annual Easter taste test.

Welcome to the This is Money and Share Radio podcast, brought to you in partnership with NS&I. With world stock markets continuing to surge despite global uncertainty this week we’re asking if the FTSE could really break the 10,000 barrier by the end of the year. Examining the views of some of the world’s biggest investors from Warren Buffett to Neil Woodford Georgie Frost is joined by Editor Simon Lambert and Consumer Affairs Editor Lee Boyce. Also on this weeks show we look at a few backfires for the Government lately as many banks prove reluctant to roll out its Lifetime Isa whilst it continues to steam ahead with record hikes in probate fees despite only 2% support. This is Money is presented by Georgie Frost in partnership with NS&I.

Welcome to the This is Money and Share Radio podcast, brought to you in partnership with NS&I. Are we seeing the end of an era for ultra cheap mortgages? HSBC is withdrawing its record low 0.99% deal which could usher in a new wave of price hikes. It’s not just mortgages undergoing price hikes though. Rail fares are set to rise 2.3% whilst growing commuter dissatisfaction with poor service has prompted Transport Secretary Chris Grayling to devise a new plan for better management. In the end though train times might be the last of our problems as we hear about one financial expert predicting major financial Armageddon just around the corner. Could we be in for the worst crisis yet? And what can people do to prepare? Gold is being tipped as a favourite but certainly not spread betting which is currently undergoing a crackdown. Georgie Frost is joined by Personal Finance Editor Rachel Rickard Straus and Consumer Affairs Editor Lee Boyce to find out more about this potential money meltdown. Also this week we take a look at Money Mail’s annual Wooden Spoon Awards and see which of Britain’s shambolic businesses have made it onto the shortlist.

Welcome to another episode of This is Money, brought to you in partnership with NS&I. This week, Editor Simon Lambert and Consumer Affairs Editor Lee Boyce team up with Georgie Frost to deliver you the best of financial journalism and analysis this week. And who knows where Brexit will take us, but the simple fact is for now Europe still has a profound effect. Most notably Germany this week, as serious instability at Deutsche Bank, the country’s largest bank, and massive job cuts at Commerzbank, it’s second biggest, are sending waves through the banking sector this side of the channel. It’s not all bad news for the Germans though, as their budget supermarket Aldi is eating up more of the market share in Britain, though it seems at the expense of their own profits as well. Sustainable strategy? We’ll have to wait and see. Also on the show, the World Economic Forum raises its estimation of the British economy, the Help to Buy scheme has run its course, BHS gets a digital resurrection, and the gang give their favourite of their 50 top savings tips. This is Money is presented by Georgie Frost, in partnership with NS&I.