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Just how does the mythical and bizarre world of credit ratings really work? How can you improve your score and what does the figure even mean? On this week's podcast, personal finance editor Rachel Rickard Straus and consumer affairs editor Lee Boyce join presenter Georgie Frost to discuss this and how one unknown fraud marker on a Cifas file left a reader with a 'do not employ' status when looking for job. Whisper it: but there could be a cash Isa season this year. For years, banks and building societies scrambled to offer attractive rates – and 2018 could see the tax-free accounts finally en vogue once more.

Interest rates are going to rise in May, if you believe economists, but will things get better or worse for you if they do? Rising rates are often painted as bad news but for many a world in which they go up will look more enjoyable. What would be even more pleasurable is being paid more, so is Britain really finally about to break out of its low wage growth trap and get a pay rise? On this week’s podcast, Simon Lambert, Rachel Rickard Straus discuss why we don’t get paid enough, what we can do about it and how to look on the bright side of rising interest rates. Contrasting news on the struggles of first-time buyers, at the same time as they are at their highest level for a decade, is also on the agenda.

Buy, sell, or hold? When stock markets take a tumble, it's decision time. Investors got a shock this week, when the prolonged period without a stock market correction – dubbed the Big Calm – came to an abrupt end. In the UK, shares fell but not by as much, although some with more high-octane portfolios will be nursing bigger losses. So, is this just a healthy correction, or is it the start of something bigger? On this week’s podcast, Simon Lambert, Alex Sebastian and Georgie Frost look at why shares fell, what investors should do when markets correct, and whether there is any way to dodge a crash. We look at when that next rate rise is likely, and why the Bank has changed its tune. There's also a warning on debt from former Bank boss Mervyn King.

The Chancellor asked for ideas for inheritance tax to be simplified this week, but should we even have a death tax at all? On this week’s podcast Simon Lambert, Lee Boyce and Georgie Frost look at how it works, why it is unpopular, and how you can avoid it. Simon suggests his plan to simplify it and get more people paying by removing those fiddly reliefs and slashing the rate to 20%. But we also consider the argument for taxing inheritance (and unearned property wealth) more heavily. Later on the podcast, we discuss the problem of interest-only timebomb mortgages and whether homeowners are burying their heads in the sand. Also on the agenda is what’s wrong with M&S and investing in emerging markets and why they could still be a good long-term bet, even after funds rose almost 30% last year.

Could you get duped into sending a fraudster thousands of pounds? Many people think of course they wouldn’t, but then it happens to them. In this week’s podcast Simon Lambert, Lee Boyce and Georgie Frost look into the disturbing rise in fraudsters targeting ordinary people’s finances and how you can protect yourself – we also ask if the banks do enough to help. On the other side of the table from those looking to take your money, are the people who promise to make it for you – fund managers. And there has been one name that keeps cropping up in This is Money’s reader comments as someone who doesn’t get his fair dues, Terry Smith. We dive into his Fundsmith fund, why it has been so successful and having had it explained to him first hand by Mr Smith himself, Simon outlines the Fundsmith investing philosophy. Also up on this week’s podcast is the best car of the year as named by What Car? – and it’s a diesel – and Lee’s once in a lifetime trip to the home of Ikea in Sweden, where he learnt some very interest facts about the flatpack furniture store you either love or hate.

The collapse of Carillion brought how Britain runs itself into the spotlight, but it also left many workers wondering about their money. And it's not just their wages that are a concern, the safety of people's final salary pensions is a major worry when a company collapses. In this week's podcast, Simon Lambert, Rachel Rickard Straus and Georgie Frost look at how safe your pension is and what backs it up. They also discuss whether it is wise handing over so much of the UK’s public service and projects to private companies looking to turn a profit for shareholders - and what happens to people's finances when that goes wrong? Alongside that we discuss the continuing madness of the cryptocurrency boom, including the alternatives to bitcoin and how ripple rose 84% in 24 hours. We also reveal the savings rate postcode lottery and ask that all important question, should you spend your money now and enjoy it or save it for the kids' inheritance?

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.

From savings rates, to property prices and the prospects for the UK economy, this week we take a look at what will (might) happen to our finances in 2018. Predictions – as we all know – are a mug’s game, but as it is the start of a new year, it’s time to have a look at what could happen in 2018 in the world of money. Inflation is forecast to subside, while interest rates are only tipped to rise very gently. That would be a boost to people’s finances if wage inflation can get back up above the rising cost of living. A further boon could come from savings rates, which it is suggested could continue to rise. In the property market, house prices are predicted to be flat across the UK, but that will mask a continuing divergence in fortunes between regional cities, where sales are buoyant, and London and the commuter belt, where the market has suffered. Elsewhere in the economy, car sales are falling, consumer borrowing is rising but at a slower pace, and there will continue to be worries we aren’t saving enough for retirement. That’s what’s meant to happen. But will it? Simon Lambert, Sarah Davidson and Georgie Frost gaze into their crystal balls.

Facts are either right or wrong, right?...wrong? In this special episode of the This is Money podcast Tim Harford, presenter of the BBC series More or Less and all-round Undercover Economist makes a second guest appearance. We talk about facts and stats - checking them, debunking them, reporting them, baffling with them, battling over them. Tim argues that we think of facts as being either the truth or lies, but that actually factual claims can form part of our identity. We also discuss the impact of social media on the way in which we consume news and facts. And whether we're too dependent on numbers altogether. Don't believe us? You'll have to listen and see.

Have you ever really thought about what it is that creates the modern economy? These are the things that surround us and we interact with, or depend on, everyday but rarely think about. From credit cards, to shipping containers, batteries and double-entry book-keeping, there are a lot of things that are more interesting than you may think. And for this special Christmas edition of the This is Money podcast we have a treat for you. Tim Harford, author of Fifty Things that Made the Modern Economy, presenter of the podcast of the same name, and Undercover Economist makes a guest appearance. He joins Simon Lambert, Rachel Rickard Straus and Georgie Frost in the studio to talk about what it is that shapes the world around us, why it matters, and how what are commonplace things now were dreamed up and then completely changed the way we live.