Mouthy Money: Building wealth with long term investing and saving strategies

Hosted by Mouthy Money | UK finance podcast on building wealth

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157

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Nov 2026

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About the show

Edmund Greaves and Chris Tuite host Mouthy Money - a UK finance podcast on building wealth with long term investing and saving strategies. From the stock market for beginners, to mortgage rates, fears of economic recession, whether to invest in gold and silver or what the consumer price index is, we look at complicated financial topics through a personal lens. With regular financial expert guests to unpick knotty issues, we've got you covered with weekly episodes.

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November 2, 202615 min

HMRC Owes You Money: Claim Your Higher Rate Pension Tax Relief Now

Higher-rate taxpayers left between £450 million and £1.3 billion of pension tax relief unclaimed in 2023-24, according to figures HMRC gave the pensions consultancy LCP. If your pension comes out of your pay after tax, your provider adds 20% tax relief automatically. If you pay 40% tax, the other 20% has to be claimed from HMRC yourself, and HMRC won’t pay it unless you ask. Edmund Greaves checks LCP’s figures and works out what’s owed at seven salaries, from £55,000 to £150,000. He explains the payslip test that shows which kind of pension you have, the quick “divide by four” rule and why the claim is worth more in Scotland, for parents and for anyone earning over £100,000. He also sets out how he claimed his own relief back, why you never need a claims company and why the oldest year you can claim for runs out on 5 April 2027. Claim tax relief on pension contributions on GOV.UK: https://www.gov.uk/tax-on-your-private-pension/pension-tax-relief The full breakdown, with every salary band, is on the Mouthy Money Substack: https://mouthymoney.substack.com/ 00:00 Are You Missing Pension Tax Relief? 01:45 How Pension Tax Relief Works 04:11 Why HMRC Doesn't Pay Automatically 06:02 How Much Tax Relief Goes Unclaimed? 08:23 How to Calculate What You're Owed 10:13 Pension Tax Relief by Salary 11:13 How to Claim Your Money Back 13:16 Claim Deadlines and Common Mistakes 13:47 Why the Pension Tax Relief System Needs Reform

October 26, 202616 min

UK Tax System Explained: Where £1.36 Trillion Goes

The UK government spent £130 billion on debt interest last year, according to the Treasury. That’s more than defence and the police, courts, prisons and fire service put together. Every year HMRC sends you an annual tax summary showing where your income tax and National Insurance went. Debt interest sits fourth on the list, but it buys nothing new. It only pays for borrowing that has already happened. Ahead of the budget on 28 October, Edmund Greaves goes through the Treasury’s spending accounts and rebuilds the tax summary at six salaries, from £25,000 to £150,000. He explains how much of your tax goes on pensions, health and debt interest in pounds, and what the summary leaves out, including VAT, employer National Insurance and borrowing. He also sets out what he’d look at before budget day, from frozen thresholds to the £100,000 personal allowance trap. Find your annual tax summary on GOV.UK: https://www.gov.uk/annual-tax-summary The full breakdown, with every salary band, is on the Mouthy Money Substack: https://mouthymoney.substack.com/ 00:00 Where Does Your Tax Money Go? 01:35 How the UK Government Spends Your Taxes 04:35 The Hidden Cost of National Debt 06:41 Breaking Down Taxes by Salary 09:01 What Your Tax Summary Leaves Out 10:10 How Much Tax You Pay at Different Salaries 12:24 What to Check Before the Budget 13:38 Why Government Spending Is Hard to Cut

October 21, 202625 min

Why we swapped holidays abroad for a camper van

Ed and his family spent the best part of £6,000 to £7,000 on two holidays abroad this year. Their old VW Polo then needed £700 for a service and about £1,000 more in repairs, which is more than the car is worth. The loan on their other car was ending at the same time, freeing up £300 a month. Ed explains how the family weighed those three pressures and decided on a converted VW Transporter camper van. Chris Tuite puts the money questions to him. They cover diesel at close to £2 a litre, insurance at £33 a month and a £400-a-month loan in place of PCP. Ed also explains how he checked a used van's MOT history before buying, and how the van doubles as somewhere to sleep after late trains home from London. 00:00 The big decision 02:03 What our holidays cost 07:33 The Polo's repair bill 08:36 Three things at once 10:54 The van we bought 11:52 The super commuter 15:52 Fuel and insurance 19:04 Checking a used van's MOT history 22:13 How we're paying for it 24:15 Holidays with small kids

October 15, 202615 min

How to find your lost Child Trust Fund, with HMRC's Ged Killen

Around 827,000 young adults in the UK have a Child Trust Fund they have never claimed. The average unclaimed pot is worth £2,310, according to HMRC. The government opened one of these accounts for every child born between 1 September 2002 and 2 January 2011. Each started with at least £250, and many families never knew where the money went. Edmund Greaves speaks to Ged Killen of HMRC about how to track down a lost account. He explains what details you need, how long the search takes and what your options are once the account matures at 18. He also says why you should never pay a tracing agent, or hand over your bank details, to find it. Search "Find a Child Trust Fund" on GOV.UK: https://www.gov.uk/child-trust-funds The full breakdown is on the Mouthy Money Substack: https://mouthymoney.substack.com/

October 7, 202623 min

Time's up for the triple lock? What we learned from Labour conference

Andy Burnham has announced the end of the pensions triple lock, but the change doesn't start until 2030 and your state pension still rises in full next April. Edmund Greaves and Chris Tuite unpack the three big money announcements from Labour's conference. These are the new state pension formula, the Your First Home scheme for first-time buyers and new council powers over empty homes. They finish with the changes already locked in for April 2027, covering the state pension, cash ISAs and inheritance tax on pensions. 0:00 Intro 2:01 The end of the triple lock 7:52 Your First Home scheme 16:33 Councils taking over empty homes 20:28 What's coming in April 2027 This episode is for information only and is not financial advice.

September 16, 202624 min

The hidden pay rise in your workplace pension, with Which?'s Paul Davies

Nearly half of people paying into a workplace pension can't say how much their employer puts in, and one in five don't know whether their employer would pay more if they did. Paul Davies, pensions expert at Which?, joins Edmund Greaves and Chris Tuite to work through new Which? research: what the law says your employer must pay, why the percentages are not taken from your whole salary, how matching works and what to check on your own payslip this week. Edmund and Chris test themselves on air first. The episode also covers how often the legal minimum is all an employer pays, how public sector schemes differ and what the Pensions Commission could change when it reports. Paul's Which? guide to public sector pensions: https://www.which.co.uk/money/pensions-and-retirement/saving-for-retirement/what-is-a-public-sector-pension-aobOd3f81QK1 Our earlier episode on the £100,000 pension tipping point: https://youtu.be/bjEh2c-4R9I Get the Mouthy Money newsletter: https://mouthymoney.substack.com Research: Deltapoll surveyed 1,294 UK working adults for Which? between 14 and 17 August 2026. General information rather than financial advice. Pension values can fall as well as rise.

September 9, 202621 min

Pension Salary Sacrifice Changes Explained

From 6 April 2029 the government will cap the National Insurance saving on salary sacrifice pension contributions. The first £2,000 a year stays free of National Insurance, and everything above that will be taxed like ordinary pay. The CIPP puts 3.3 million workers in scope. Edmund Greaves and Chris Tuite explain what salary sacrifice is, why middle earners gain more from it than high earners do, and what the cap actually changes. National Insurance falls from 8% to 2% above the higher-rate threshold, which is why someone earning £28,000 saves proportionally more than someone on £80,000. They also work through the drawbacks of carrying a lower gross salary, from mortgage affordability and maternity pay to income protection and redundancy, and answer whether any of it affects your state pension. Nothing changes until April 2029. Check your payslip to find out whether you are already on salary sacrifice, and talk to HR or payroll if you are not sure. Chapters 00:00 The perk in your payslip that's about to be taxed 00:48 What we cover in this episode 01:28 The law has already passed 02:33 Why the £100,000 threshold matters so much 04:24 Fiscal drag is pulling more people in 05:26 How salary sacrifice actually works 07:02 Why the highest earners gain the least 08:06 The numbers at £28,000, £50,000 and £80,000 10:14 The catches: mortgages, maternity pay and cover 14:08 What changes in April 2029 15:19 The cliff edges at £60,000 and £100,000 17:15 What to do before 2029 19:44 Chris's verdict and the name problem 20:56 Over to you

September 2, 202622 min

Why do some people not trust pensions?

Sean Standerwick is a chartered financial planner, and a fair part of his job is talking people out of distrusting their own pension. This episode is what he tells them. You come away with a number to measure your own pot against. The Retirement Living Standards put a single person's minimum retirement at £13,900 a year, a moderate one at £32,700 and a comfortable one at £45,400, against a full state pension of £12,547.60. You also get the tax case in three parts — relief going in, no tax while the money is invested, and 25% available tax free on the way out — along with the three routes to paying in: salary sacrifice through work, your own limited company, or personally. The second half is the more useful part if you are the sceptic yourself. Sean argues that people seldom object to the pension itself and mostly resist being sold to, and he works through two clients who talked themselves round once the conversation changed shape. Figures are current for the 2026/27 tax year. This episode is information rather than financial advice.

August 25, 202625 min

You Opened a Stocks & Shares ISA — Now What?

From April 2027 the cash ISA allowance for under-65s drops from £20,000 to £12,000. The overall allowance doesn't move, so £8,000 a year has to go somewhere that isn't cash. For a lot of people that turns investing from a someday decision into a this-year one. Edmund Greaves is joined by Andy Prosser, Head of Investments at the ETF platform InvestEngine, on how to pick what you invest in — time horizon, risk tolerance, the difference between an ETF and a traditional fund — and on what InvestEngine's own investors have been buying this year. Ed also explains what he got wrong when he started. InvestEngine investing data: https://blog.investengine.com/most-bought-etfs-july-2026/ https://blog.investengine.com/most-popular-etfs-uk-2026/ Nothing here is financial advice. Investing involves risk and you can lose money. ISA and tax rules can change.

August 13, 202628 min

Investing Stakes: The AI sell off has wiped out Ed's gains

AI stocks retreated through July, and Ed’s portfolio went with them. Chris Tuite's didn't. So does Ed scrap his strategy and copy Chris T’s? That question sits at the centre of this month's Investing Stakes, in partnership with Stratiphy. If you want to explore Stratiphy or build your own rules-based portfolio, you can use our referral link:🔗 https://www.stratiphy.io/referrals?code=INVESTINGSTAKESDisclosure: This is a referral link. We may receive a benefit if you sign up using it. Ed’s tech-heavy Black Elephant strategy peaked in June and has handed back a chunk of it since, with Corning alone falling close to half its value and accounting for roughly half the decline. Chris kept out of the direct AI names and has carried on climbing. He is now behind every strategy and benchmark we track. Chris Ling, Chief Investment Officer at Stratiphy, walks through why AI stocks pulled back, why the drawdown stayed concentrated in that corner of the market, and what happens to your returns when you abandon a strategy mid-run to chase whoever led last month. We put six months of our own numbers into a matrix and follow what would have happened to an investor who switched into the winner every time. The answer is not flattering. We also cover the difference between our two quantitative models, why a faster-trading strategy is not the same thing as a more volatile one, and the case for doing nothing when the market goes against you. Chapters and full data tables are on the Substack, where we publish the monthly performance figures in more detail.👉 Stratiphy: https://www.stratiphy.io/referrals?code=INVESTINGSTAKES 👉 Substack: https://mouthymoney.substack.com👉 Subscribe for a new episode every monthYour capital is at risk. Past performance does not guarantee future returns. Nothing here is personal financial advice.