Share Sounds. from This is Money related to Pensions & Retirement - SIPPs

This is Money recently welcomed Sir Steve Webb for a special episode where he answered listeners' questions on everything you need to know about pensions. In this excerpt, Steve and Simon Lambert discuss whether you should invest in a work pension or Sipp - and how to make the most of them.

Sir Steve Webb has been This is Money's pensions agony uncle for the past eight years - and this week he celebrated an astonishing 400 columns. Every week, Steve, in partnership with This is Money's pensions and investing editor Tanya Jefferies, answers readers' questions about retirement. Steve joins Georgie Frost and Simon Lambert to answer your questions about pensions. From how to invest for retirement, to the state pension and tax , this show highlights what you need to know about pensions. Plus, with the Budget on the way and speculation at fever pitch, Steve, Simon and Georgie debate what might happen - and share their views on what should happen. Don't miss this essential podcast that could set you up for a richer retirement.

House prices will continue to fall, says an influential poll of estate agents. The latest survey by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors found that buyer demand is declining and fewer homes are coming to the market. Meanwhile, Halifax’s latest house price figures show a £14,000 drop compared to the recent peak in August 2022 and 4.7% fall in the year to the end of September, the largest since 2009. So, how much further could they fall and are buyers in danger of trying to time the market? Will there be a big pause before a general election next year? Georgie Frost, Simon Lambert and Lee Boyce discuss the age old favourite of house prices. Last week has also seen the Bank of England sound the alarm over 35 year mortgages – should we be concerned? Skipton Building Society launches a headline mortgage rate of 3.35%. What’s the catch? It comes as its rival Nationwide has new best buy home loan rates. Could mortgage deals continue to fall? And we look at the top up-and-coming areas for first-time buyers: Does your area make the cut? Spoiler: it features Hull, Middlesbrough and Ipswich. DIY investors went on a gilt-buying spree in September - shunning the stock market and savings accounts. The UK government bonds were paying as little as 0.125% last month – so why were they getting involved? Hargreaves Lansdown is launching a basic, no-frills pension for those who want an easy way to invest for retirement but aren’t quite sure how to get started. They are the first SIPP provider to give details after regulators said they had to offer customers a 'default' option by the start of December. Will it make SIPPs sexy enough to the self-employed? Shrinkflation, bogus loyalty card savings and variable prices in supermarkets... we’re fed up with the lot of them. Are you?

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt is looking for more risk to be taken in pensions - is this right? And should they not first sort out the estimated ten million errors in state pension records? Meanwhile one million people will be paying an additional £5,000 per annum on mortgage payments: could the Bank of England have done more? And finally - would Britain be safer if only women were allowed to drive?

Jeremy Hunt had a spring in his step this week as he delivered his Budget. It was a considerably different air to the gloomy warning of trouble ahead in his November Autumn Statement. The headline act was a major shake-up of pension saving rules, removing restrictions that limit the amount that can go in without tax penalties. The lifetime allowance was abolished rather than raised, the annual allowance got a big bump, and rules to stop pension recycling were eased. Was this a bung for the rich shovelling cash into their pension - and doctors - or a move that will help many more young professional savers aspiring to a decent retirement, who may not realise the lifetime limit could be hit? Georgie Frost, Helen Crane and Simon Lambert delve into the Budget and joining them to explain the pensions element is a special guest, This is Money's retirement columnist and ex-pensions minister Steve Webb. Also in the Budget was news on the economy, a ray of hope on energy bills, and a big expansion of free childcare... but it won't come in for some time. The team look at all those elements and more. And finally, as the Budget claimed the headlines something else was rumbling on: a mini-banking crisis sparked by the Sillicon Valley Bank collapse. What is going on there and should we be worried?

Are you trying to save for retirement, make the most of your income in old age, navigate the state pension maze, or just feel baffled by some bit of pension jargon? In the This is Money podcast this week, former Pensions Minister and our regular columnist, Steve Webb, is on hand to help you out. Editor Simon Lambert and host Georgie Frost are also joined by The Pensions Advisory Service boss Michelle Cracknell to answer reader questions about retirement savings.

Planning on relying on the state pension to keep you afloat in retirement? After listening to this week’s podcast, you might want to have a rethink. On this episode, presenter Georgie Frost, consumer affairs editor Lee Boyce and personal finance editor Rachel Rickard Straus discuss what’s in store for the state pension. Will it still be around when they come to retire? A report this week suggests something will have to change to make sure it is, whether that be everyone paying more in National Insurance, the retirement age rising again or a means-tested state pension. The team also discuss getting hold of our state pension forecasts – and if they’re at all reliable. And what about those who are already retired? The trio then discuss a growing trend of retirees extracting money from the value of their homes to pay off credit card debts.

Welcome to the This is Money and Share Radio podcast, brought to you in partnership with NS&I. After a year of doom and gloom stories this week we’re looking at the positives. Despite the Michael Fish style forecasting of the post-Brexit economy the FTSE is surging to unprecedented levels, could this be the time to start investing? For those less keen on the cut and thrust of the stock market a glimmer of hope for savings rates does seem to be on the horizon in 2017 as we look through some of the accounts paying up to 5%. Georgie Frost is joined by Editor Simon Lambert who gives his wish list of headlines for the next year whilst Consumer Affairs Editor Lee Boyce takes centre stage on everything coin related. But just how well will their financial knowledge stack up in our Podcast Quiz of the Year? This is Money is presented by Georgie Frost in partnership with NS&I.

Once again, it's time for the This is Money podcast. Every week, in partnership with NS&I, Financial Broadcaster of the Year Georgie Frost and Financial Website of the Year This is Money team up to go through all the finance stories you need to know this week. Georgie is joined in the studio by Editor Simon Lambert and Personal Finance Editor Rachel Rickard-Strauss. We’re going to be talking about the latest CMA report- could we be seeing a range of new apps to make choosing and switching bank accounts easier? And on top of that, the Bank of England cut in interest rates has caused a number of impacts since last week with some good news for first time house buyers but more worrying for savers, we’ll be looking at the effects on mortgages and pensions. Meanwhile the Bank of England has said it wants to encourage investors to take 'more risk'. So how can you make money in this post-Brexit Britain without gambling your nest egg away? And finally we’ll be tackling the perennial topic of inheritance tax. This is Money is presented by George Frost, in partnership with NS&I.