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Where do you stand on smart meters? This seemingly common sense technological advance in how we are billed for energy has proved hugely divisive. From concerns over security and surveillance, to a mistrust of energy companies, and a botched and sometimes accused of bullying rollout, smart meters have not proved the popular success it was hoped they would be. Now things have stepped up a gear, as an Ofgem change will lead to smart meters being able to send half hour updates to energy providers - opening the door for electricity pricing to change at different times of day. The idea is that this will help smooth usage and make the transition to green energy easier and cheaper, while saving customers money. That makes sense: why not charge your electric car or run the tumble drier when demand is low and so are prices? But it also creates the potential for a troubling scenario for many, where energy pricing is used to change our behaviour. Meanwhile, people also question whether private companies that sell us power are likely to give up profits and allow our energy bills to get cheaper overall. Georgie Frost, Lee Boyce and Simon Lambert look at the latest smart meter controversy and whether we are overthinking this. Also, there’s some number crunching on what people need to do to combat inflation’s effect on their spending, income and wealth. The team discuss the weird world of rising second hand car prices and used cars worth more than new ones. And finally, friend of This is Money, Dave Fishwick – of Bank of Dave fame – is going to be the subject of a movie. Lee updates on what Dave briefed him about earlier.

Thursday marked a big day for the pound in our pocket. First of all, it was announced the energy price cap was to rise 54 per cent. Georgie Frost, Lee Boyce and Helen Crane take a look at what that means, what support has been made available and what happens next. Hot on the heels of that bombshell we had another rate rise from the Bank of England - piling pressure on borrowers. What will it mean for mortgages and will we finally seeing savings rates begin to head higher? With rates on the rise, would you fix your mortgage for a decade? Halifax and Lloyds unveil 10 year deals. And Helen launches her Crane on the Case consumer column – the first saw a remortgage mix-up land our reader with a bill of nearly £4,000.

It’s almost crunch time for our energy bills, with the new price cap that will kick in from 1 April due to be announced in just over a week. At that point those on variable rate price cap-linked tariffs will know how much their bills will rise by – a figure that’s widely expected to be 50%. But the worst of the bill shock pain will be felt by others, those with fixed rate deals cheaper than the current price cap but that are soon due to end. So, can people on either variable or fixed deals do anything to stop their bills soaring? Is there any merit in trying to fix? And what should we do to help the households for whom this will be not just another blow from the cost of living crunch, but a shove into fuel poverty? On this week’s podcast, Georgie Frost, Lee Boyce and Simon Lambert talk through the options for Britons facing soaring energy bills and the government and industry in trying to deal with them. Plus, with Simon one of those people whose fix is imminently ending – in the middle of March – what are the options that his energy supplier Octopus has presented him with, and which one is he going to take? He talks us through that. Also on this week’s podcast, the team talk through the stock market wobble, the US growth vs rising rates conundrum, and the suggestions that it might be UK shares time to shine. And finally, Nationwide has at last raised savings rates – only a week before the Bank of England is forecast to deliver another rate rise – but will savers be cheered or disappointed?

Steven Bartlett is the latest star of Dragons’ Den – and we recently caught up with him for a special bonus This is Money podcast episode. In this frank interview with This is Money’s Simon Lambert, Steven tells us his story, the challenges he’s faced in his business life, how he got ahead and his tips for anyone else wanting to start a business. At just 29, Steven may be the youngest Dragon the programme has seen but he has already built up a successful business career. He launched a social media marketing agency Social Chain – at a time when the medium was considered to have little value - and grew its revenues to hundreds of millions of pounds. He also presents the Diary of a CEO podcast, on which he has interviewed everyone from business leaders, such as Starling Bank’s Anne Boden and Deliveroo founder Will Shu, to Rio Ferdinand and Jimmy Carr. Steven isn’t afraid to share his strong opinions – including how school and higher education is failing young British hopeful entrepreneurs – and has become an author and been a guest on shows including Question Time. Recently, Steven has launched another new business Flight Story – as well as finding time to be in the Dragons’ Den. That’s not bad for someone who says that at 21 he was a broke, university drop-out in a Manchester bedroom. A short part of this interview was already featured in This is Money’s end of 2021 podcast but we wanted to bring you the full discussion as a special bonus episode.

Turning 40 is a milestone birthday – and perhaps the one that gets people thinking most about where they are at in life. It’s an age that involves a lot of looking back and looking forwards and a fair amount of comparing yourself to where others are at. But what do you need to think about in terms of your finances, from pensions, to property, investing and saving? On this podcast – as a certain Georgie Frost turns 40 – Simon Lambert and her take the opportunity to have a look at the financial side of hitting the big 4-0. It’s not just for those who are 40, it looks at people’s financial life in the decade around this age – and includes plenty of tips relevant to those who are much younger or older. Plus, Simon takes us back in time to what Britain’s economy and finances were like 40 years ago in 1982. How much did a house cost? What did people earn? How high were interest rates? And was it better, worse or incomparable?

Interest rates went up last month and banks and building societies have been busy upping mortgage rates, with Nationwide revealing a raft of rises this week. But while Britain’s biggest society has got off the mark with mortgage rate rises – reflecting December’s Bank of England hike and money market expectations of another move up potentially as early as February – its savings rates remain on the floor. The best easy access savings deal open to all from Nationwide pays just 0.01 per cent and the top no-strings easy access deal offered as a reward to the building society’s own members pays 0.35 per cent. Nationwide isn’t alone, almost all its big building society and banking rivals have also been failing savers for years – and although they blame the low interest rate environment that doesn’t stop them making bumper profits and paying out blockbuster wages to top executives. So, are they diddling savers or do they have any defence? On this week’s podcast, Georgie Frost, Lee Boyce and Simon Lambert look at how and why banks and building societies have failed to meaningfully help savers ever since the financial crisis – and whether there is any hope that things will change? They also discuss what savers can do about it and why an investment expert recommends savers think in three pots to help them cautiously invest for better returns. Also on this week’s podcast, why buy-to-let investors don’t want to be called landlords any more, how to maximise Avios as we enter a potential sweet spot for picking them up, and how to get a pay rise this year. And finally, what does the Fiesta being knocked out of the list of the best-selling cars tell us about the topsy-turvy pandemic inflation economy? A lot more than you might think, Simon explains.

It's safe to say 2021 has been an eventful one for the economy and personal finance – and This Is Money has covered it all. Georgie Frost takes a look back at some of the best bits of the show starring Simon Lambert, Lee Boyce, Tanya Jefferies and Helen Crane. We talk about investing mistakes and what you can learn from them. How much a lifetime will cost? And what is behind the inflation surge that emerged in the last few months of the year? There is a bit about house prices – naturally – and we chat over our £1bn underpaid state pension victory. And we have a Dragon in the house. Simon catches up with new Dragons' Den star Steven Bartlett, who has a hugely successful podcast of his own. He talks through his views on the traditional route to success and why it is outdated. Happy New Year!

Join Georgie Frost, Simon Lambert and Lee Boyce to help you cope with the trials and tribulations of a Christmas where little is certain. What happens to your money if your show bookings are cancelled? Plus, they discuss fine wines and what kind of Christmas spread your pension pot might buy. Also - is there a role for wealth taxes?

They finally did it! The Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee raised the base rate from its emergency 0.1% level to 0.25%. That came the day after inflation rocketed to 5.1 per cent - and is forecast to keep rising - and in the week that the International Monetary Fund warned the Bank of England against 'inaction bias'. Markets were cheered by the rate rise and economists were broadly welcoming too, yet the general consensus is that it will make little difference to the inflation Britain is suffering. So, why raise interest rates and was this the right move as the nation stares down the barrel of yet more (potentially overcooked) Covid disruption? On this week’s podcast, Georgie Frost, Tanya Jefferies and Simon Lambert delve into the rate rise, ask whether it was the right move but maybe for the wrong reason, and look at why inflation is soaring and when it may abate. The team also discuss how this will affect ordinary people and whether it will add to the cost of living squeeze hitting everywhere from the petrol pump, to your heating and the supermarket aisles. Tanya gives an update on delayed state pension cases and her investigations into this and whether the generation in their late 40s will have to wait longer to retire. And finally, it’s nearly Christmas and frantic present buying is the order of the day, but if you were going to give a financial gift to a child would you give Premium Bonds, shares or bitcoin?

The greatest hurdle first-time buyers face after years of house prices rocketing far faster than wages is saving for a deposit. A 10 per cent deposit on the average £273,000 home, according to Halifax’s index, would be £27,300 – roughly an entire year’s average salary. That’s a tough gig to save while paying rent, bills, commuting costs, living expenses and trying to at least enjoy your 20s or 30s a little bit. So what can prospective homeowners do to get that money? How long would it take to save and can the often-maligned Lifetime Isa be a real no-brainer of a booster here. On this week’s podcast, Georgie Frost, Helen Crane and Simon Lambert talk about trying to buy your first home, saving for a deposit, and whether new Bank of England rules designed to make mortgages easier to get could end up backfiring and sending prices even higher. Those potential rule changes come about because problematically, if a first-time buyer could save that £27,300, they would then need to borrow £245,700 on a mortgage to buy the average home. Even if they were able to find a bank or building society that would offer to lend them five times their salary, an individual first-time buyer would need to earn about £50,000 per year to qualify. A shift to enabling first-time buyers to borrow more would bridge that gap, at the expense of huge mortgages, but could it just drive house price inflation. Also on this week’s podcast, could a savings platform boost your rate, what a damning report into Ofgem’s role in energy supplier collapse said and in the year that is a gift that keeps on giving, Christmas present inflation.