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Financial independence and retiring early sounds great, but could you sacrifice enough of your spending to get there? The so-called FIRE movement ('Financial Independence Retire Early') involves living a frugal live, saving as much of your income as possible – 50% or more – and investing to build a pot to retire early on. Ideally, this needs to be 25 times your annual spending requirements, so that you can follow the 4% rule on how much of your pot you spend each year. Advocates of financial independence will tell you that this requires giving up much of our modern-day consumer lifestyle but that it’s worth it in the end, as they can then live their lives on their own terms. Could you do this and would Georgie Frost, Lee Boyce and Simon Lambert be able to stomach the hardcore budgeting and saving it requires? The team discuss financial independence, its attractions and the drawbacks of getting there. And don't miss our second special bonus podcast this week, where Simon speaks Barney Whiter, of The Escape Artist blog, who helps others to try to achieve the same financial independence he has. Also, inheritance tax is catching more people in its net; what can you do about that and is it time for the tax to change? Plus, why inflation is causing problems for the national debt (now £2.4 trillion) and should a reader use a £60,000 sum sitting in a low rate cash Isa to pay off some of their mortgage?

Tesla's profits surprise Wall Street, and Amazon buys 1Life Healthcare for $3.9 billion. Bill Mann discusses Tesla's margins being compressed and STILL being the envy of rival automakers, how Tesla is (and isn't) comparable to Netflix, and Amazon using "pocket change" to make its 3rd-largest acquisition. Also, Jason Hall and Matt Frankel engage in a "Bull vs. Bear" debate over Lemonade, and both wish the AI-drive insurance company would hurry up and close its acquisition of micro-cap auto insurance company Metromile. Stocks mentioned: TSLA, F, NFLX AMZN, ONEM, LMND, MILE. Host - Chris Hill; Guests - Bill Mann, Jason Hall, Matt Frankel

Turns out Netflix did NOT lose 2 million subscribers as previously predicted (Only 970,000). Tim Beyers discusses the market's relief that 2nd-quarter results for Netflix were "less bad", why Microsoft shareholders have a stake in Netflix's success, and Twitter winning the first round in its legal battle with Elon Musk. Also, Ricky Mulvey and Catie Peiper discuss how entertainment companies have dealt with rough economic situations in the past (and how they could respond in the current environment), and preview this year's San Diego Comic-Con! Stocks mentioned: NFLX, MSFT, TWTR, DIS, WBD, AMZN. Host - Chris Hill; Guests - Tim Beyers, Catie Peiper

For those who have smoked for years, it can join many of other daily actions in becoming almost automatic in certain situations or circumstances. If you're resolved to give it up, it's therefore a good idea to try to break these neural pathways so that the subconscious no longer reaches for a cigarette without thinking. Adam Cox uses a technique called 'staged disassociation' to interrupt these pathways and help to remove those historical triggers.

Russ Mould of A J Bell talks to Simon Rose about the ECB rate hike, bigger than expected in an effort to tackle inflation. He points out that there are 19 different inflation rates to consider and wonders how one interest rate can satisfy the requirements of so many countries. Are they, and other central banks, increasing rates into a possible recession? He also looks at the cost-of-living indicators for the UK and the latest capital raising exercise from cruise ship operator Carnival, a company, he feels, which may suffer if discretionary spending is cut back.

James Cameron-Wilson looks at the UK box office, wilting 52% in the heat. The Railway Children Return only managed #6 with £365,000 but James found the moving story overcame an unduly modern presentation. At #16 is Spanish Goya award triumph The Good Boss with Javier Bardem in arthouse cinemas and on Curzon Home Video. On Netflix, Persuasion is a funny and moving modern take on Austen.

Share Radio's technology guru Steve Caplin laments the demise of the SLR camera after over 60 years. He discusses the world's longest drone highway, printing your face on Hasbro figures, hacking fruit-fly brains, a more efficient kettle, a crowdfunded levitating firestone and the Swiss developing a network of underground autonomous freight tunnels.

Political commentator Mike Indian analyses the Conservative Party contest to determine the leadership of the party and who will be Prime Minister. What are the positive and negative aspects of Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss? Will the views of the party membership and the MPs coincide and what will each mean for the Labour party? Mike also looks at Boris Johnson's final Prime Minister Questions and the cost-of-living crisis.

Publication of the Austin Report by HM Treasury should herald a new era for a vibrant UK stock market and much greater profile for personal investors. However there needs to be significant improvements for the latter, including strengthened rights to share owner communication and voting for those whose holdings are in nominees, normalising the threshold levels for partaking in circularisations and resolutions, and the ability for personal investors to take part in the 'rump' sell-off of nil-paid rights so that personal investors as a genre are not diluted. It's a time for change .. Background Music: Hopeful Freedom by Asher Fulero

Ten money rules from Simon on how to have a richer life — When will the big banks start paying interest? — Re-assuring words for first time buyers — Recovering costs of travel disruption. Listen in to Georgie, Simon and Lee