The Meaningful Money Personal Finance Podcast

Hosted by Pete Matthew

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Jun 2026

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Pete Matthew discusses and explains all aspects of your personal finances in simple, everyday language. Personal finance, investing, insurance, pensions and getting financial advice can all seem daunting, but with the right knowledge and easy-to-follow action steps, Pete will help you to get your money matters in order. Each show is in two segments: Firstly, everything you need to KNOW, and secondly, everything you need to DO to move forward on the subject of that episode. This podcast will appeal to listeners of MoneyBox Live, Wake Up To Money, Listen to Lucy, Which? Money and The Property Podcast. To leave feedback or ask a question, go to http://meaningfulmoney.tv/askpete Archived episodes can be found at http://meaningfulmoney.tv/mmpodcast

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June 10, 2026Episode 62541 min

QA51 - Listener Questions, Episode 51

In this Meaningful Money Q&A episode, Pete and Roger answer six listener questions on pensions, retirement planning and tax for a UK audience. We cover whether to put life insurance into trust, how to reduce the 60% marginal tax trap around £100k income, and whether taking a defined benefit pension early can make sense when health is a factor. Plus, we explain the Royal Mail Collective Defined Contribution (CDC) pension, share practical guidance on dealing with overseas pensions, and discuss when to take 25% tax-free cash for the best outcome. Shownotes: https://meaningfulmoney.tv/QA51 01:36 Question 1 Hi both, I have a question relating to discretionary trusts for life insurance policies. I'm from Scotland, 37, married with 2 young children and have a life assurance policy with Vitality which is currently not in trust. I was considering putting into a trust for the benefits associated to inheritance tax but was looking to get your opinion on whether it was necessary or not, and what the pros/cons are. Thanks, Marc 05:46 Question 2 Hi Pete and Roger I am a relatively latecomer to the podcast - its been a year or so now but your work makes the complications of planning for retirement so much more understandable so thank you for bringing clarity to a very difficult subject. I have two first world questions if I may. Neither are time critical. I am in a fortunate position. DB pensions will kick in over the next 2 years (I am 63) totalling circa £75K pa and with the state pension at 67 it won't be very long - if tax thresholds and rates don't change - before I will be hitting the 60% effective rate. So to delay the inevitable, I am thinking I will need to contribute to a DC pension! As I understand it, if I have a DC scheme for three tax years and presumably contribute to such a scheme each year (say £100?) in the year I hit the £100K income, I will be able to contribute gross £3600 x 4 (so £2160 pa or £8640 in total, less any annual contributions along the way) in the first year or with care spreading that amount over 2-3 years to ease the tax burden. I realise when the money is withdrawn it will still be taxed at my marginal rate, but maybe the 60% marginal rate will have been removed by then - I can hope! Is that right? Have I missed anything or are there any other techniques generally available? I am also in a position that when my wife and I both die, unless carehome fees have eaten into the estate, there will be inheritance tax to pay as our combined wealth is well over £1m and we have already given away what we reasonably can to our children. As I understand it, inheritance tax is payable 6 months after death but all being well probate will be granted well before that so our bank accounts can be used to pay the tax (our children have financial and health powers of attorney but they are irrelevant on death). Apart from incredibly expensive life assurance or a lifetime gift of cash for this purpose, is there anything else we can do to facilitate payment (the nature of our affairs means there's not much more we can do to mitigate the liability itself, ie the vast majority of the value is in the family home!) Many thanks, David 11:46 Question 3 Hi Roger and Pete, First of all thank you for all the content you provide, it has been incredibly useful as I start to really take the idea of early retirement seriously. I am 49 and looking to retire as early as financially possible as I have medical issues that mean my life expectancy is somewhat curtailed - though I plan on defying the inevitable for as long as possible. I have a DC pension which I plan to access as soon as I stop working in hopefully 10 years' time. I also have an index-linked deferred DB pension which provides a 50% widows pension as one of the benefits. I am torn between accessing this 6 years early (with a 25% reduction) as I start drawing from my DC pension, or delaying so that my wife is better taken care of later in life. Whatever I choose, all the projections seem to stack up that my DC pension should last into my 90s, but I'm acutely aware that I will probably want to go a bit overboard when I first retire and try to maximise travel and experiences. My question is, am I missing something in the DB trade off? Assuming I live a while after retiring, accessing the pension early will take a decent amount of time before we're financially worse off than we would have been if we'd waited (~13 years). However the combined loss of my state pension and the smaller DB income could leave my wife short of funds. I would really appreciate your perspective on this scenario and anything else you think I might want to consider, many thanks again for all of your words of wisdom, Dan Meaningful Academy Retirement Planning: https://meaningfulacademy.com/retirementplanning 19:40 Question 4 Hi Pete and Roger! My partner works for Royal Mail, she is under the new starters contract and started in 2022, at which point the pension scheme was a typical defined contribution scheme with very generous contribution levels from the employer of 10% with a 6% contribution from the employee. This was 'easy' to make assumptions on for compound calculations to plan for our very far away retirement as we are both currently 27 years of age. Now this brings me to today's pension scheme, which is known as a Collective Defined Contribution plan. I'm struggling to find any information on this type of scheme as it seems to be the first of its kind in the UK, and seems to have been used for a while in the Netherlands. Now the wording of the scheme seems to be worded as if it's a Defined Benefit scheme with a lump sum being paid at retirement age and a 'Guaranteed income for life' amount being paid each month, however it has the caveat that the payout per month may decrease if investments do not perform as expected for better or for worse, so this is not a guaranteed amount at all in reality. The issue I have with this is that with a standard DC scheme like my own, if I was to die either before or during retirement, the remaining money in the pot would be inherited by my surviving spouse or if she was to pass away before I do, it would go to the next nominated beneficiary. With the Collective DC scheme, it's worded that if my partner was to die before she claimed it then I would receive the 'income for life' portion at a reduced rate of 50% and lose out on the lump sum entirely or if she was to pass away after claiming it then she would clearly receive the lump sum and I would remain to collect 50% income for life for as long as I remain alive. This seems to be very unfavourable for anyone receiving the benefit of this scheme on the whole. Now with some calculations, not using exact figures but somewhere close, I've just done some comparisons as the new Collective DC plan was sold as far and away a better option than the old DC Plan, but I cannot find a way for it to make sense. It's hard to see how this new scheme is better in any way compared to the old scheme, even if the contributions from the employer look more generous on paper. Is there something I am completely missing or misunderstanding with this new type of pension scheme? I have not seen much content online about it at all and would love for this to be featured in a podcast episode or video or even just for a chat on this matter as I feel very underwater with this. I can't seem to find a good way to factor this pension into our plan as we do plan to retire before the age of 67, this is just the age stated on the CDC scheme for payout so this is the assumption I am working with. There is an option to opt out of the CDC plan and join a regular NEST DC plan instead but this only has 4% employer contributions on top of the 5% employee giving a yearly contribution of x per year. I suppose my main gripe would be how much you would lose out on if the worst was to happen as traditionally this would remain as a pot for next of kin to inherit, however if my partner and I both passed away at age 70 (I certainly hope not!) and didn't have kids under the age of 18, the entire amount of money would be lost. This is the part I'm struggling to wrestle and the NEST pot even looks appealing with this in mind. I know the future is uncertain and we could live to 100, but the chances are relatively low. Apologies this got a bit long and ranty, I would appreciate any feedback. Keep up the amazing work and I have learned loads from your content over the years. Many Thanks, Joe 29:56 Question 5 Hi Pete and Rodger, Like many people these days, I spent part of my career working overseas. I'm now 52 and have been thinking about how best to deal with personal pensions I accrued while working abroad, in my case, in Japan and the United States (both broadly equivalent to 401(k)-type schemes). While working overseas, I didn't accrue sufficient qualifying years to receive any state pension benefits, but I did build up some company personal pension entitlements. The amounts are relatively small (less than £100k in total), which makes me question whether it's worth the time and cost of seeking formal financial advice. My UK-based pensions and ISAs are relatively straightforward and well organised, but these overseas pots feel more cumbersome by comparison. I imagine there must be many people in a similar position, holding small overseas pension pots and unsure what the most sensible approach is. From an administrative perspective, it feels as though the simplest option may be to access these pensions as soon as I reach the relevant retirement ages, rather than continuing to manage them long term. That said, I'd welcome any general thoughts or guidance on typical approaches people take in this situation, and any obvious pitfalls to be aware of. Many thanks, Lawrence Perceptive Planning - https://www.perceptiveplanning.co.uk 34:20 Question 6 58 now and both thinking of retiring at 61 with no mortgage and kids self sufficient. At age 61 we will have around £300k in savings (inc stocks n shares ISAs, cash ISAs, Premium Bonds and Bank Accounts) and between us will have around £450k in Pensions at age 67 and the wife will get a £7k a year NHS DB pension. Our idea is to live off the cash first from age 61 till age 67 to let the pension pot grow to its absolute max and then draw down the 25% tax free to add to state pension at age 67 then live off the rest at about 4% per year BUT others say take the tax free 25% before 67 because if do it at 67 it will add to the state pension taking you over the personal allowance! We want to let the pot grow more for actual retirement age of 67 onwards and leave more for the kids inheritance long term if we don't use it all so unsure what to do. For clarity, it's our intention to lump sum some money in to our pensions and ISAs in April with some of our 'available cash' and may also lump sum in to my Stocks n Shares ISA to leave it growing for say between 8 to 15 years until we need it. Any advice welcome, Steven. James Shack video on Withdrawal Strategy https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4MDvcEcHXI

June 3, 2026Episode 62432 min

Can you oversimplify your pensions? Part 2

Part 2 of our UK pensions series, this episode covers everything you need to DO if you want to simplify your pensions without making expensive mistakes. You'll learn how to take stock of every pot, spot safeguarded benefits you should never move casually (like DB pensions and protected tax-free cash), and compare charges and platforms properly. We also break down transfer mechanics and the big decision: how simple you actually want your setup to be, while keeping your investment strategy and beneficiaries up to date. If you want a calmer, practical guide to pension consolidation in the UK, this is for you. Shownotes: https://meaningfulmoney.tv/session624 01:16 Summary of KNOW 06:26 DO - Take stock 08:18 DO - Identify what should NEVER be moved casually 13:21 DO - Compare charges properly 15:30 DO - Assess the quality of each existing provider or platform 18:55 DO - Decide what level of simplicity you actually want 19:44 DO - Understand transfer mechanics 24:13 DO - Be deliberate about investment strategy AFTER consolidation 25:45 DO - Update beneficiaries and records 27:20 DO - Decide YOUR threshold for "tidy enough" 29:40 Summary of DO Pension Consolidation Checklist - https://meaningfulmoney.tv/consolidationchecklist

May 27, 2026Episode 62352 min

Can you oversimplify your pensions? Part 1

In this episode (Part 1 of 2), Pete and Roger unpack the big question: should you consolidate your pensions and investments, or can you oversimplify and accidentally make things worse? We break down what pension consolidation really means in the UK, the strongest arguments for and against it, and the key benefits and risks to watch for (including charges, safeguarded benefits, and 'all eggs in one basket' concerns). If you are approaching retirement planning and want more clarity, confidence, and fewer moving parts, this is a practical guide to help you think it through properly. Part 2 will focus on what to actually do next, step by step, if you decide consolidation might be right for you. Shownotes: https://meaningfulmoney.tv/session623 02:42 KNOW - The emotional pull of consolidation 08:16 KNOW - What consolidation actually means 10:56 KNOW - The strongest arguments FOR consolidation 25:00 KNOW - The strongest arguments AGAINST consolidation 44:35 KNOW - When consolidation is usually a very good idea 47:16 KNOW - When caution is essential 48:36 KNOW - The "good enough" middle ground 50:10 Summary

May 20, 2026Episode 62240 min

QA50 - Listener Questions, Episode 50

In this UK personal finance Q&A episode, Pete Matthew and Roger Weeks answer six listener questions covering pensions, retirement planning, investing, and mortgages. You will hear practical guidance on topics like using UFPLS and ISAs for gifting, whether dividend income is a sensible retirement strategy, and what to consider before consolidating multiple pensions into one provider. The episode also tackles planning priorities, including how to sense-check your annual financial review, when it is worth switching to a higher-equity pension fund, and how to balance pension contributions versus ISA funding and mortgage overpayments. If you are looking for clear, jargon-free retirement and wealth-building advice in a UK context, this one is packed with real-world considerations and next-step thinking. Shownotes: https://meaningfulmoney.tv/QA50 02:24 Question 1 Hello gents, My wife and I are hopefully about 5 years off retirement starting at 60, and thinking about options for gifting. We are both planning to stay within the basic band, but if plans go well we hope to support our kids while we're still alive with help towards a house deposit or similar. Am wary that a large withdrawal from a DC pot would likely take us into high rate tax. This would be mainly on me as we'd plan to spend my wifes smaller DC pot down during 60-67 to max personal allowance before state pension kicks in. Is there any downside if I immediately draw UFPLS from my DC up to the top of the basic rate threshold, and putting excess into a cash or S&S ISA? That would then build up tax free and be used to fund family gifts (or perhaps replacing a car). my thinking is - the portion we move to ISA is still effectively part of the retirement portfolio - just held in a different wrapper. thanks for your priceless information (for education and information only not guidance!) over the years. long may it continue! cheers, Richard 07:15 Question 2 Hello Pete and Rog, Loving the Podcast having only found it recently. You're doing great work. I've bought and read your retirement book, signed-up for an intro call with Pete and am thinking about doing your course. In the meantime, and I know this is greedy, I have three questions. I think they'll be interesting to your listeners, though, so here we go... First, what are your thoughts on funding retirement income completely or mostly from dividends / coupon payments, rather than capital withdrawal? For me it seems very attractive because I can draw-down the income on a quarterly basis while not touching the capital. That makes me feel safer from having to sell in a down-market. I can also expect the capital to grow a bit over time, at least the equity generating dividend element. That said, I've seen one of the other retirement finance podcasters say that technically it doesn't matter whether you take income or capital. Second, if I adopt an UFPLS approach to my pension and, rather than take a large tax free sum one-off, I take the 25% of each withdrawal as tax free, how does that work in the future in two respects. First, can the government later change the rules and say that I can no longer take 25% as tax free? I assume they can, which would be worrying. Second, does the lifetime £268k limit for tax free cash still apply cumulatively over-time i.e. can I only continue to take 25% of my withdrawals as tax free up until they cumulatively sum to £268k? Or, am I allowed to take 25% of each withdrawal, even as the fund might grow in value and then the total of these 25%s over say 10-15 years eventually exceeds £268k? Third, I'm aware the age at which you can take your pension is changing from 55 to 57. I will be 55 in March 2027, so can access my pension under current rules. But I will not be 57 when the change kicks-in in April 2028, so am I going to then lose access to my pension for a number of months until I then turn 57 in Mar 2029? I've heard someone say that there might be an exception for people who have already accessed their pension. I've also heard it depends on whether there are certain protections/terms around the individual pension fund. Any advice on whether this would be true would be very helpful. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on any or all of the above. Best of luck with the pod. cheers, Steve 14:52 Question 3 Hi Pete & Roger, Thanks for the advice (go on, name that film) over 2025 and the podcasts. There is a ton of material on you tube covering why pension consolidation is a good thing. How it simplifies the admin. How it makes it easier to track what you have and how it is performing etc. Why wouldn't I want to consolidate all my pensions and what could be the disadvantages of consolidation? Recently I've met with my IFA and for a year now I have been investing heavily into my SIPP. As the IFA he charges for the service he provides and I am happy with that (for now). The charges are low with this provider (Quilter) and it performs well as a medium risk opportunity. My IFA, rightly in my opinion, suggests avoiding keeping my Octopus (previously Virgin) pension as this doesn't offer flexi drawdown and is higher risk than my Quilter SIPP but with only slightly better performance. I have four pensions (SIPP) in total. Now my IFA would of course benefit from me moving all funds to Quilter as he receives a percentage fee on a larger chunk of funds. So that is a warning sign for me as he cannot really be impartial. At the moment I can track my pensions online and I do this almost daily, they all have the relatively same performance and together average about 9.6% over the past 12 months. They are all broadly within a single percentage point of each other. I can see the following arguments to avoid consolidation altogether. 1. Tracking multiple pension funds is not actually hard to do. 2. Maybe when it comes to flexi access draw down it gets a bit more complex to get the tax free elements right to be as tax efficient over the long term but the pension companies track the percentages taken so I cannot see this as a big problem either. 3. Having multiple SIPPS allows me see how they perform against each other. Sometimes one is a little more volatile than the others but in actual fact I'd like to see more volatility on one over the other. Makes things more interesting. Of course that might change in later life so I may choose to draw more heavily on the well performing fund with more risk as I reach later life years. 4. Multiple SIPPS allow me to have funds with different levels of risk associated with the investments, so I might choose one fund to have medium risk and another quite high. 5. The big one for me though. Why, why, why would anyone trust a single SIPP provider with all their future wealth? No matter how well it is managed today and the regulations which are in place and the FSCS protection etc, I just cannot stomach the risk in a single point of failure. Why? So the IT platform could collapse making the funds inaccessible either for a short time or for months. Rogue actors inside or outside the company could arguably sabotage the platform. Yes this is highly unlikely but it can happen. Spreading the risk mitigates this. There is a very real concern. Poor management of the funds could lead to a serious downturn in the investments whether that be short term or longer term. Now the underlying funds might underperform but if that is your key worry then you'd simply change the SIPP investments. When I research reviews on the web for anything I look for the pros and cons and decide which opinions seem most sensible to reach a balanced view. However in the case of pension consolidation everyone seems to recommending consolidation, not one article about keeping them separate. Yippee cay aye (same film) and best regards, Andrew 25:05 Question 4 Hi Pete and Roger, Love the podcast. I have just completed my annual review (thanks for the checklist from earlier seasons) and was wondering if you can suggest if there is anything else I should consider or am missing to help position me better financially. For context I am 37 and married with two children under 5. Pension - I contribute to my workplace pension which is 4% and the company contributes 8% (their max). S&S ISA - I invest 5% of take home pay into two vanguard funds monthly. Children S&S ISA - I invest a small sum monthly into each child's S&S ISA, both vanguard target retirement funds for when they turn 21. Emergency Fund - I have 4 months expenses in a cash isa. Life cover - I have a private policy and 8x salary death in service benefit. Critical illness cover - I have both a private and work policy. Income protection cover - Again I have both a private and work policy, work policy is limited to 36months and private policy is to age 65. Mortgage over payments - I overpay the mortgage monthly with aim of reducing LTV and length of term when current fixed rate ends Debt - I have no major debt I think I am in a good position, but wanted to sense check in case I am missing something. Thanks and keep up the good work. Marc Annual Review: https://meaningfulmoney.tv/2023/03/01/simplify-your-annual-review/ 28:22 Question 5 Hello to you both, I just wanted to say I really enjoy your podcast and your YouTube channel. My question relates to my Workplace pension. I want to move from the default lifestyled fund into a 100% global equity fund. I also have a SIPP and an ISA that are fully invested in the same global equity fund and I wanted to bring them all into line. I have a salary sacrifice scheme with a 5% employer match and I wanted to take full advantage of that by paying into a better fund. I can't fully transfer without losing the match so I have left it for too long. I am debt free including the mortgage and I have redirected my mortgage payment into my SIPP. My question is, at 47 3/4, is it too late to switch from the default fund? I'd welcome your take on that. Keep up the good work Kind regards, Matt 31:02 Question 6 Hello Pete and Roger, Really enjoy your podcast and find your advice really insightful, many thanks for what you do. My question is about pension planning and specifically about getting the balance right between pension contributions, ISAs and reducing my mortgage. I'm 46 and have saved from an early working age to build up a total pension pot amount of £510k as of today. I have prioritised my pension over other kinds of investments given the tax related attractiveness of pensions and use salary sacrifice as a way of keeping under £100k income - something important for us as a family in terms of qualifying for child nursery support, plus of course in maintaining my personal allowance. I find my job quite stressful and would like to be able to retire in 10 years at 57, or at least take on a lower paid (maybe even minimum wage) or part time role at that time for a few years until retiring fully. My assumption is that to be able to make this a reality it would be wise to build up my ISA, (which as of today totals only £15k), as a tax efficient bridge until nearer state pension age, and to minimise the need to drawdown excessively on my private pension in the early years. Assuming you concur, my question is would I be best to reduce my pension contributions to enable me to put more in my ISA? Of course this would mean potentially losing/ reducing my personal allowance. The other factor in play here is my mortgage which is higher than I'd like at £380k. Ideally I'd like to increase my level of mortgage overpayments significantly in order to try to reduce the balance as much as possible over the next decade whilst working full time but again this will see me going over the £100k income level in order to do so. I know I could probably clear whatever mortgage is remaining in 10 years from my tax-free pension amount but I'd like to minimise taking the tax free money in order to help the pot compound as much as possible to take me through to old age but also help support our two girls who are currently just 8 and 3 in their early lives. Your thoughts and advice would be gratefully received. Many thanks in advance and please do keep up the great work you do! Kind regards, Lee

May 13, 2026Episode 62239 min

QA49 - Listener Questions, Episode 49

In this episode of the Meaningful Money Podcast Q&A, Pete Matthew and Roger Weeks answer six real listener questions on UK personal finance - from inheriting a SIPP (and the under-75 vs over-75 rules), to how inheritance tax could hit a property-heavy estate. They also discuss what to do with a large Employee Stock Purchase Plan (ESPP) holding, whether a longer 35-year mortgage can be a safer option, and the realities of financial planning for UK expats. Finally, they tackle a growing concern for many UK investors - how to protect wealth from increasingly sophisticated scams and impersonation fraud. Shownotes: https://meaningfulmoney.tv/QA49 02:04 Question 1 Hello Pete & Rog. Thanks for the wonderful podcast I will keep it as brief as possible as it means hopefully you can squeeze more content for your listeners. I am a 35 yr old renting in London with a salary of approximately 35k and would consider buying my own place if I could build up enough of a deposit. My mum died a long time ago but my dad has just been informed that he has a medical condition which will probably end his life in the next 5 years or so. He is currently 73. I don't have any siblings and my dad has shared with me the details of his assets which primarily comprise of a SIPP of around 200k (he has taken and spent his 25% tax free amount). My question may sound a bit morbid but it reflects the reality of life unfortunately. It's about the rules of inheriting this SIPP. I'm not sure I fully understand the 'rules' about if my dad passes away before 75 or after he is 75. My understanding is that if less than 75 I can just 'cash in' the 200k tax-free and for example use it as a deposit for a house. That seems straightforward. But hopefully he will get well past his 75th, so if that's the case I understand the 200k would be taxed as income, so I would be crazy to take it all out in that way. So what would be my options in that case? - Is there any way to take it out of the pension wrapper without having to pay tax to give a bit more flexibility? - could I just inherit it as a pension and if so, would I still be able to take 25% tax free? - can I draw down from before I reach pension age e.g. to pay the mortgage or rent (mindful not to go up into the next tax bracket)? Have I got the rules right and are there any other options I could consider? Regards, Steve 07:08 Question 2 Hi Pete & Roger Love the content and just discovered your YouTube podcast! I'm concerned about my wife parents (Mid 70s) inheritance tax liability and was wondering if you had any advice on how to structure the portfolio to reduce it or if it was worth considering a gifting strategy. Primarily I'm concerned as the recent inclusion of pensions into IHT from 2027 and I'm pretty sure their estate is over 2m and therefore a reduced residence nil rate. Rough figures are below: Current house - 1.1m (according to Rightmove - jointly owned) Own another house 800k (according to Rightmove - jointly owned) Own a holiday letting business (retirement business) which has three properties circa 1.1m (according to Rightmove - jointly owned) With this in mind I put their IHT liability at 2m+ without factoring their pensions Questions What do you consider the ball park IHT bill to be? How do you suggest my wife (mid 30s) approach this issue? Or should she just deal with the cards as they lie in the future? Tony 14:05 Question 3 Hi Pete & Roger, I wanted to start with a thank you for your podcast - specially for acting as the friendly, inclusive and relatable voices of finance. The podcast is a welcome change to the scarier world of finance which many of us sometimes run and hide from! My question for you is regarding my ESPP. I was employed by a US-based company around 10 years ago. During my time there I was able to sacrifice a percentage of my salary which was put towards the purchase of company shares at a discounted rate. It's a very effective scheme, and although my salary there was modest, I've been able to leave the shares alone which are now worth around £230k. The predicament I now have is what to do with these shares. I've been happy to let the shares sit and grow, which they have been doing extremely well, though the value of them now has me wondering what my future strategy should be. For reference, the 10 year growth on these shares is around 850%. As far as I'm aware, I'll need to pay tax on these shares when it comes to selling them as there's no way to transfer them into my stocks & shares ISA or similar. So it's either leave them where they are, or sell some/all of them now and transfer the cash (after tax) into my stocks & shares ISA, SIPP or elsewhere. I'm 40 and looking to purchase a house next year with my partner - though we don't need these funds for that purchase. I have a stocks & shares ISA, a cash ISA and a SIPP, as well as a modest amount in a LISA and cash savings. Whilst I don't feel like I have all of my eggs in one basket, I do feel increasingly nervous about the value of the shares which are entirely dependant on the success of one company. That said, the returns to date have been incredible and I wouldn't want to miss out on future growth. I'd love to know if you have any guidance on this, and if there's any factors that I haven't considered yet. Thanks again, Ian 20:36 Question 4 Hi Guys, Love your podcasts. You've helped me a lot with understanding my finances and I'd love to ask a question. My wife and I are 36 and have been back in the UK for 3 years. We are hoping to buy our first property in 2026. Due to our age, is it okay and safer to do a 35 year mortgage and pay more off monthly to pay the mortgage off quicker? We aren't high earners but hoping to put any extra onto the mortgage principle. Hope to hear from you. Kind Regards, Dhiren 23:49 Question 5 Dear Pete and Roger Thanks a lot for all the education and sensible insights you are providing to all I am an avid listener of your podcasts and watch your videos regularly. Now I can see Roger as well. Both very handsome and knowledgeable. Your discussions are lively and interesting. I am also a member of the academy from the beginning. Also on Facebook community. Currently working my way through retirement guide. I am working abroad for nearly 8 years. I was told by a financial planner that he can't advise non UK tax payers as per regulations. Since then you have been my main source of information and guidance. I am an Ex NHS consultant and now receiving pension. I have a very small SIPP and substantial Investment ISA which I can not contribute to. So my main investment is through GIA. All via Vanguard. Apart from this I have stocks and shares account with a couple of providers which helps me to keep thinking about investment opportunities. I am not a big risk taker and currently doing well with my stocks. I read and listen to a variety of educational materials to help with this I have 2 questions. Is it possible to get financial planner help for UK citizens while working abroad? What should I do with my investments before coming back to UK to live, for tax planning and reduce risk of huge tax for selling investments after coming back? Currently I am in Middle East with zero percent income tax. My pension is also at zero percent under DTAA arrangements. Sorry for long question. Thanks a lot again for your suuuuuuuuuper work. Continue great job Kind regards, Sudhakar Link: Perceptive Planning https://www.perceptiveplanning.co.uk/world-citizens 28:37 Question 6 Hi Roger and Pete, Love the podcast. Thank you for everything. This is about to be a long question, for which I'm not at all sorry. I've seen articles and videos about the increased sophistication of hacks and scams. Things like stealthily getting access to accounts and for years collecting information that can then be used to impersonate you to socially engineer access to bank accounts. AI plays a part in letting people change how they sound to make impersonating on calls easier than ever. Going forward, I'm worried that one of the biggest threats to my wealth is not a market crash, but someone getting access to my investments through fraudulently calling support lines and impersonating me, or alternatively getting access to my money through 'traditional' password leaks and viruses. To this end, I've been overpaying my mortgage as a way of having money locked away in an asset that cannot be liquidated without a solicitor (and hopefully more stringent checks of identity), but I'm going to be mortgage-free in less than 5 years at this rate. My question is: Am I overblowing the risk here, and what are my options if I want to reduce the my risk from this perspective? I have considered: - Having multiple S&S ISAs with different providers should mean that only a fragment of my portfolio can be lost through any one hack. - Buying 'real' estate as an investment seems appealing from a security standpoint, regardless of expected returns, and although recent changes have made BtL less attractive, the old Rothschild saying of "Buy when there's blood in the streets" could mean that now might be a good time to buy. Is there an advantage in having overseas property as a wealth storage mechanism? - Putting money in my DC pension pot will lock the money away until retirement, but suddenly becomes fair game to foul play once I do. - Buying an annuity is not as fiscally efficient as drawdown, but is an attractive way of mitigating risk of losing it all to a scam caller. Especially if I'm old and doddery and more likely to fall for a scam. - Buying physical gold (and a safe or a Swiss safety deposit box) doesn't appeal to me, but I have considered it. Please assume that I'm being sensible with passwords and 2FA. My question isn't about basic IT security practices, but which of these decisions you think might be a good/bad decision and whether there's anything I haven't considered. Thank you, Alex Link: Cal Newport - https://calnewport.com/

May 6, 2026Episode 62032 min

QA48 - Listener Questions, Episode 48

It's another Q&A show where Roger and Pete answer YOUR questions about such mighty subjects as bridging the gap from retirement to state pension, CGT for non-taxpayers and much more besides! Shownotes: https://meaningfulmoney.tv/QA48 02:18 Question 1 Hello Pete and Roger, wonderful podcast and I'll try and acceed to your short question desire. And I'll try not to use the word should. I am 52 and my wife and I would like to retire at 60. I have a DB pension that should pay me £20k per year from 65. I would like to live off £50k per year and currently have £220k in a DC pension. That will hopefully get to £500k by age of 60. Equally I am hoping to have £100k in a S&S ISA and hoping to have the first year of retirement spending in cash. My question is around my bridging requirements before my DB pension and state pensions kick in (my wife is 46). Am I better off pulling 25% of DC tax free at the age of 60 and putting that into ISA's or is it better to just pull pension money per year with and ongoing 25% tax free Allowance and using the smaller ISA amount to minimise tax. Just interested in your thoughts :-) Thanks and please keep up the great work. Kind regards, Adrian 06:38 Question 2 Hi Pete & Roger A few months ago a friend recommended your podcast and I've been devouring it ever since! Having worked in Compensation & Benefits for the past 15 years, and spending much of my time these days in the design and operation of pension plans, I thought I had a pretty good grasp on such things. But I've already learned a few tips and tricks to help as I plan my retirement, so huge thanks to you both! My question for you is about CGT liabilities when one is a non-tax payer. My son is in the fortunate position of having a healthy savings pot in a GIA, thanks to gifts/inheritances from grandparents over the years, which each year he sweeps into his LISA and stocks and shares ISA up to the £20k limit. The return has been really good this year and he is likely to realise a gain in excess of the £3k limit next April when doing the sweep. As he is still at university and only earning a few pounds here and there as a freelance musician, his earnings are well below the Personal Allowance. My Googling suggests that he would therefore not have to pay any CGT if the gain was above £3k next April. Is that correct? Many thanks in advance and keep up the good work! Kind regards, Marion 10:03 Question 3 Hi Pete and Roger, I am 56 and have been paying closer attention to my Pensions for the last 12 months. This is with a view to making an informed decision about my retirement plans at 60. Pete's videos and the podcast have been a great help. I am aiming for the Retirement Living Standards 'comfortable' figure for a single person because a) why not?, b) I am pretty sure I will be able to afford it, and c) I have estimated my needs and that more than covers it. I have a spreadsheet which models everything for me. I have 2 questions. A quarter of my pension will come from a DB which starts at 65. A quarter from the state from 67. The rest from my DC pot which I expect to be at least £600,000 by 60. The bridge from 60-65 comes from other assets. Any thoughts on the equity/bond split for my DC pot given that 50% of my pension is secure? 60:40 feels too bond heavy to me, I was thinking 80:20. And, following your 'not advice' I have modelled what I know now, inflation at 3.6%. I experimented by dropping inflation by 1.0%. I was amazed to see that at 3.6% my pot runs down but not out at age 100. At 2.6% it keeps accumulating and never turns down. I have used 8.25% for growth but made no allowance for tax free cash, UFPLS etc. It just shows the pernicious impact of inflation. Does that feel about right to you. Thanks, Mike 18:31 Question 4 Hi Chaps A thought just occurred to me and I wondered whether you've covered this already.... Will v Pension Expression of Wishes - which one wins in that battle if there's a conflict (from April 2027)? I've just noticed that my wife's EOW for her pension is different to that in her will, and would therefore be a problem from April 2027? Cheers, John 21:34 Question 5 Hi Gentlemen (Pension Gurus) My 18 year old children are setting out in the wonderful world of work and (with my "encouragement") are squirrelling away 10-12.5% of their salary into pensions (with their employers contributing 4 and 12.5% respectively). So one ok and one really good. Q: Their workplace pensions are with Aviva and L&G respectively and at the moment they are in the "default" scheme. As default pensions are a "one size fits all" I don't think that it's necessarily the best for my children with at least 35 years of investing left. Plus I don't like the idea of 10% being gambled on start ups. I'd like to come out of the default scheme but am not sure what to invest in i.e. if I DIY what % global index? global bonds what %? multi asset and if so what %? Or something simple like life strategy etc? What would your guidance be to an 18 year old on what to invest in their pension? Many thanks, London Mum 27:48 Question 6 Hi both, I am wondering how to approach retirement. I am 32 years of age and I have a DB pension with work. I am single with 18 years left on my mortgage. No kids. I have been splitting my saving contributions between workplace pension which goes out before I get my pay, cash ISA, S&S ISA and Lifetime ISA. With the latest budget I am conscious of the constant messing of the pensions and ISA's, mainly the lifetime ISA as they are potentially getting rid of it. Do I just carry on with the contributions as is? Will the lifetime ISA still be ok to contribute to for retirement planning? Thanks, Lisa

April 29, 2026Episode 61942 min

QA47 - Listener Questions, Episode 47

Time for another Q&A episode where Roger & Pete answer questions on retirement planning, passing assets to children. SIPP vs ISA and much more! Shownotes: https://meaningfulmoney.tv/QA47 01:42 Question 1 Hi Pete, Roger, and Nick, Thank you for the podcast - I've been listening for a while but fell behind and just binged about 15 Q&A episodes over the last fortnight! There's nothing like listening to the podcast to get me fired up about my finances! I have a question about the upcoming change to minimum retirement age, and a question about how to use my SIPP versus S&S ISA post-55/57. I was born in February 1972 and so by my reckoning should be ok to access my SIPP at 55. However, I heard somewhere that access could be removed at the date the law changes, because I wouldn't be 57 by that date. Can you shed any light please? It doesn't make sense to me to grant access then take it away. The reason I'm asking is because I'm thinking that in the next year I should favour putting money into my SIPP for the tax relief instead of into my S&S ISA, since I can access it within a short time anyway if I really needed to. Once I'm 55, does it still make sense to put money in the ISA at all, given the SIPP will continue to have tax relief so long as I'm working? All the best and looking forward to the videos coming out! Chris 07:04 Question 2 Hi Pete & Rodger, My wife & I are both aged 55 & I plan to retire aged 60 possibly a little earlier my wife isn't sure exactly when she will stop at the moment. I currently have a work place Scottish Widows default pension lifestyle turned off £225,000 I pay in 31%, company pays in 4%, salary sacrifice I then occasionally move funds to my 100% equities SIPP low cost global index fund £442000. My wife has a small DB pension and 45,000 in a SIPP again all in equities. My plan is to retire at 60ish on the SW pension to bridge the gap to state pension age 67. Leaving the SIPPS invested in equities both in low cost global index funds. Possibly adding some bonds a few years out from state pension age. Currently 20k emergency fund cash isa and my liquid assets whisky collection. Do you feel I could improve my plan or is it reasonably sound? Kind regards, Lee. 12:48 Question 3 Hi Pete & Roger, I have a deferred DB pension which in 2018 (when it closed) I was told my annual pension at age 62 would be £18270. The pension is capped at CPI or 2.5% annually, whichever is lower. As such it is getting deflated by high inflation. As of today it's £21840. (With CPI it would be £23830 or even £26050 with RPI). I have a decent DC scheme to top it up but what can I do mitigate this decline with transfer out values currently quite low? Thanks for your advice. Richard 18:08 Question 4 Hello Pete and Roger, Firstly, thank you for your brilliant podcast - it really is absolutely fantastic. Since discovering it early in 2024, I've listened to almost every show! I love the way you both make complicated concepts easy to understand and often have me chuckling along at the same time! I have a question to you both about inheritance tax and a potential way to reduce, or even eliminate, its effects. I don't believe you have covered this particular strategy, so I'm very interested to hear your thoughts. Here's what I am thinking. My wife and I are both 43 and have two lovely children aged 7 and 9. We both work full-time in well-paid jobs and save a good amount into our pensions and ISAs, whilst also ensuring we 'live for today' by going on regular holidays and spending as much time as possible with the children (whilst they still like spending time with us!). Our rough combined financial position is as follows: - £1m in company DC pensions, contributing at a rate of about £85k gross per year - £350k in stocks & shares ISAs, contributing at a rate of £40k per year - For each child – £40k in Junior SIPP contributing at a rate of £3600 gross per year, and £10k in Junior ISA with no significant annual contributions - A house that is worth about £700k with £400k still to pay on the mortgage (remaining term 15 years) I am aware that it's very early to think about inheritance tax, and I know that rules in the future will very likely change. However, it's very conceivable to me that our children will incur a very significant IHT bill when we both shuffle off (to use Pete's phrase!). My "solution" to this is as follows. When our children reach the age of 18, rather than paying £40k per year in our ISAs, we will pay it directly into their ISAs. We will fund this either through earnings (I still love my job and envisage working well into my 60s), and/or from one or both of our pensions. When we are retired, we plan to take regular payments from our pensions up to point where we would start paying higher rate tax; this will hopefully allow us to live comfortably whilst also contributing to our children's ISAs. Any shortfall will be covered by our own ISAs. We will give this money to our children on the basis that it is still our money if we ever need it (e.g., care homes, massive holiday, Lamborghinis, etc). In other words, we will tell them that we will continue paying them £20k a year each provided that they do not touch it and have it available for us if we ever need it. With a bit of luck, we will never need it, and both our children will ultimately receive a substantial sum of 'inheritance' without paying any IHT. I appreciate there are some risks associated with this strategy. The two that I can think of are as follows. Firstly, there's a risk that we fall out with our children and lose control of the money. Secondly, if one our children marries, then divorces, then half of the money we've given them may disappear to someone else. This is definitely a concern. However, provided we are both comfortable with these risks, do you think this is a sensible method of transferring wealth to our children, and can you think of anything other considerations we need to think about? I'm probably missing something really important so it'd be great to hear your thoughts! Thanks again for your amazing podcast – I really do love tuning in every week! Thanks, Martin 28:19 Question 5 Hello gents, My question is this : if someone is looking to retire pre-state pension, and bridging that gap, what are the primary options available? I've been looking at for example - fixed term annuity if rates are good; bond ladder (feel a bit overwhelmed on this); money market fund; bung it in a cash savings account. I'm assuming I want minimum volatility - is that the right approach to take? Richard. 32:18 Question 6 Hi Pete, Roger and Nick I have become an avid listener in the last three months, having just taken Voluntary Redundancy at age 63. I have benefitted hugely from your expertise and listenable style. Many thanks. I'm imagining that if you include this question in your podcast you might mention a tax tail wagging the dog. However, I don't want my dog to miss out on performing tax tricks. My question concerns whether I can take taxable income from my SIPP whilst leaving my tax-free lump sum untouched. I would then like to take the tax free lump sum at a future date to fund a home relocation. Is this possible? The background is as follows: My DB (£40k) pension will kick-in at 65 (18 months to go) when I will also take a lump sum which I will place into my and my wife's ISAs. I have to do this at 65 due to scheme rules. So in the meantime we're living on my £100k redundancy pay which is sizeable enough to also fill our ISA allowances for 25/26 financial year. I will avoid higher rate income tax on this VR payment via a SIPP contribution. This means that our current and future 2 financial years ISA contributions will be full and I will also have a SIPP bumped up to £250k. However, it will also mean most of my VR pay will then be in SIPP and ISAs leaving us short on spendable income next year! But next financial year, being un-salaried, I will have the opportunity to take £50270 from my SIPP whilst limiting my income tax to 20%. This will then fill next years income gap. (Once I start receiving my DB pension I will find it harder to get the remaining SIPP funds out without paying 40% income tax as the state pension plus DB will then take me over £50270). I don't want the tax-free lump sum next year as I don't have a need for it until age 65 when we plan to relocate and I can't put it in ISAs because I've already filled them. So can I start taking taxable income but leave the tax-free lump sum in the SIPP where it currently performs the function of an ISA (ie tax-free growth). Alternatively, am I just being a bit silly and making life overly complicated? Your wise observations will be eagerly received. I have done my own cash-flow modelling in detail and this is just a simplified summary of the main facts. Once I am in the new routine post-65 then it'll become a lot easier, but these few steps in the dance over the next couple of years require a great deal of thought. Kind regards, Tom

April 22, 2026Episode 61845 min

QA46 - Listener Questions, Episode 46

In this Meaningful Money Q&A episode (QA46), Pete Matthew and Roger Weeks answer six listener questions on the financial decisions many UK households are wrestling with right now. We cover bridging the gap to the State Pension with fixed-term annuities, strategies for staying under £100,000 adjusted net income (and avoiding the 60% tax trap), and how LGPS "CARE" pensions work including whether salary sacrifice can reduce student loan repayments. There's also practical guidance for self-employed listeners facing a tough year and needing to cut costs, plus how to think about funding private school fees without derailing long-term plans. Finally, we discuss how to decide whether to take the maximum tax-free lump sum from a defined benefit pension, including the trade-offs and how to model the impact. Shownotes: https://meaningfulmoney.tv/QA46 02:18 Question 1 Hi Pete & Roger, I am a long-time fan of your podcasts, and I often sneak off during the day for some peaceful R&R and listen to your latest release or even go back on old shows. My wife and I are in the fortunate position that we have both retired but still have a number of years before the state pension will commence (6 years / 2 years). Our long-term plan was to build up our private pensions so that we would have a comfortable retirement but also be able to leave our two children a reasonable inheritance which has meant we have been reluctant to dip into our DC pensions too early. With the proposed changes to IHT bringing in the unused pension pots on 2nd death into the estate and on current projection we have in excess of £1m in DC pensions which unfortunately are heavily weighted in my favour to 80/20 and we both have a DB scheme each (circa 5K) which have been activated. My questions relate to fixed term annuity. To bridge the gap between retirement and receiving the state pension for my wife circa 6 years, I was considering looking at one of these to cover sufficient income to take her up to the personal tax allowance limit bearing in mind the annual DB income. My dilemma is where or how best to fund this. Can we or do we use our personal savings? Do we use my wife's DC pension in part? Can I use my own DC pension, but any withdrawal would be subject to 20% tax rate so not a preference even if allowed? As part of my look into these fixed term annuities, there also seems to be an option to have guaranteed cash return at the end of term. Is there any sense in considering this as it would require a bigger investment or withdrawal? Would this cash also be tax free or would it be income and added to your existing income stream? It would seem to me that if I wanted to reduce the pension pot differential but ensuring the tax payable was only 20%, then I could either max my withdrawal requirement annually or consider the annuity route but this could be complicated with my state pension commencing 2027? Should I be hung up on the pension pot differential values between us and does the IHT rule of the couple's tax-free limit being £650,000 nil rate ignore where the money originates. This pension pot differential must be quite common, do you have any other comment or suggestions that would be helpful. I, like many of your listeners enjoy your banter and how you impart knowledge to the wider audience for their better good – a big thank you for this. Best Regards Brett. Meaningful Academy Retirement Planning 11:04 Question 2 Hi Pete & Roger, I'm a big fan of the podcast — thanks for all the clear and practical advice you share each week. My base salary is about £76k, but with shift allowance and a car allowance my total package is closer to £90k. On top of that, I can earn overtime (which is unpredictable) and I also get a discretionary bonus of up to 20% of base salary. The challenge is that we don't find out the actual bonus figure until the end of March, but if we want to waive it into pension we have to decide in advance — so it's guesswork. Without any planning, the bonus can push my adjusted net income over £100k, which means I start to lose my personal allowance and fall into the so‑called "60% tax trap" between £100k and £125k. At the moment, I already have several salary sacrifices in place: – Pension, Holiday purchase, Share Incentive Plan (SIP). I'm now considering adding an electric vehicle through salary sacrifice, which would reduce my taxable pay by about £10.5k a year. That would keep my adjusted net income below £100k, but it obviously reduces my monthly take‑home. I'm 29, so I don't mind putting a bit extra into my pension for the long term, but I don't want to over‑commit too early and lose too much cash flow now. In the next year or so, my wife and I are also planning to have children — which adds another layer, because if my income goes over £100k we'd also lose access to childcare perks. I know there are worse problems to have, but I'd really like to maximise my take‑home pay without losing benefits and while staying as tax‑efficient as possible. So my question is: how should someone in my position — with variable overtime, an uncertain bonus, existing salary sacrifices, and family planning on the horizon — think about the £100k threshold, the 60% tax trap, and the personal allowance taper? And more broadly, how should PAYE employees balance lower monthly net pay against the tax efficiency, taper protection, and childcare benefit eligibility that salary sacrifice schemes can provide? Many thanks. Lewis. 19:48 Question 3 Hi Pete and Rog I'm 28 and my fiancé is 26 so we're at the early stages of building our empire. The knowledge and insight I've picked up from listening to you over the past 12 months has been a massive help, so thank you! My financial situation is fairly run of the mill: a Salary Sacrifice DB pension with a 6% employer match, early days Stocks & Shares ISA, emergency fund etc. However my Fiancé works for our local council and has a DC pension titled "CARE". From what I can understand, this means every year she works, she builds up an amount, that yearly amount tracks inflation up to retirement, then at retirement all those revalued yearly amounts are added together to give her a guaranteed annual income for life. To my question! Firstly, is my understanding correct, or is there anything I'm missing? And secondly, is there a way of playing with her percentage pension contribution to lower the amount of student loan she has to pay back? Bonus question: I've just finished Q&A Ep31 and caught wind Pete had a beer - what's your tipple of choice? Always thankful for each episode and video you provide! Thanks, Tom 24:23 Question 4 Hi Pete and Rog Long time Facebook group, podcast and you tube fan, asking a question that I haven't heard answered yet. I am self employed, and have been for 12 years now. 2025 has been an unexpectedly difficult one in my industry with corporate customers cancelling projects and budget cuts, and individual clients feeling uncertainty. How can I make hard decisions about cutting back on my business and personal expenses, whilst also staying as positive as possible about the future? My turnover is down about 30%, with a knock on effect on my income. I've stopped investing in my pension as the business isn't making enough profit to do so, and am now looking at cutting back on business expenses like the subcontractors I book to work with me and marketing (which I've held off doing hoping income will recover). Meanwhile I took on many personal expenses that feel very hard to cancel like private health cover for my family, income protection insurance, gym membership, kids sports clubs and their orthodontist treatments - all totalling £6-800 pounds per month. I'm not sure where to start! Thanks for considering my question. Best Wishes, Lara 31:40 Question 5 Dear Pete and Roger, Loving your podcast. I can honestly say listening to it has transformed my relationship with money and investing. My husband used to do all the money management alone and seems thrilled I've finally shown an interest... Short version: - She 39, he 44 - Her - late starter due to Uni and maternity - now profits of £60pa self emp - He has £50k pa accrued in DB scheme plus AVCs - maxing contributions - He sacrifices to stay below £100k - ISAs - they don't say how much As the children are approaching secondary age and with some SEND issues in the mix we are looking at all the options including fee-paying independent schools. Luckily with the age gaps we have we will only be paying for two kids at any one time and grandparents are stepping in for eldest. This is costly, but I think doable for us as we're quite frugal people anyway. I'm now working out how best to fund this. If we reduce our pension contributions we will lose huge amounts to tax and student loan deductions (in my case) - 62%/47% (him) and 51% (me) will be deducted and we'll lose the childcare funding for our toddler which will be a massive blow. Would it be mad/bad to release some equity from the house, enjoy this money now and pay this off with a pension lump sum when we can access it? I feel that it would be absolutely mad to retire with far more than we need, whilst our children missed out but also mad to miss out on the tax relief. I'm really interested in your thoughts and if there are other ideas? We have just a few years to prepare and ideally I'd like some flex or contingency in any plan. Could an offset mortgage be useful here? I could go full time but I don't want to miss out on raising the kids so this would be the last resort. It just feels like a cash flow issue that needs some planning for. HELP! Thank you for reading, fingers crossed I've got all the vernacular right and haven't caused any confusion. Take care and best wishes, Annie 36:58 Question 6 Hi Nick…Roger…and the other guy! I'm an avid new listener having read and loved Pete's retirement book and binged on your podcasts. I'm loving what you do and how you do it, and have recommended you widely. My question relates to how I judge the amount of tax free lump sum to take from a DB scheme. It feels wrong to convert inflation-protected DB pension into a lump sum, but I'm thinking of taking the maximum and wonder if I'm being foolish. I could take my £40k DB in 18 months or could reduce this to £26k for £190k lump sum with a commutation factor of 14. The spouses pension is maintained at 50% of the unreduced pension (ie £20k) even if I take a lump sum. Nice! My wife will also have a £6k DB at same retirement date. We will both receive max state pensions 2 years later. We also have SIPPS and some ISAs and I am confident that these non-DB funds will see us through to state pension age with good margin. My budget shows we will need up to £60k PA spend for very comfortable retirement. £40k PA to cover basics. If I didn't take a lump sum then we have £40k (DB) + £6k (wife DB) + £24k (SP) = £70k income. This works. But as I say, I actually think I should take a max £190k lump sum… This would mean £26k (DB) + £6k (wife DB) + £24k (SP) = £56k total index linked, which works out at £49k after tax. The additional £11k PA will be easy to provide from the invested lump sum. But the real reason to take the max lump sum is to manage the risk of me being first death. If/when that happens then my wife has £20k (spouse DB)+ £6k (her DB) + £12k (SP) = £38k index-linked income, or £33k after tax. I think she'll need to find £15-£20k PA from the invested lump sum to stay comfortable. This feels more borderline, especially as she has little natural affinity for investing and may be better buying an annuity. It seems to me that I would be wise to take the full lump sum to best provide for my wife should I die first (statistically the most likely). This matters a lot to me. Is this reasonable thinking? Or is there a way of judging an in-between lump sum? With kind regards, Tim

April 15, 2026Episode 61744 min

QA45 - Listener Questions, Episode 45

In this episode of the MeaningfulMoney Q&A, Pete and Roger answer six listener questions covering a wide range of personal finance topics. We tackle a tricky inheritance tax situation involving a property bought in children's names, look at pension and ISA options for a daughter likely to spend her career working outside the UK, and offer some perspective on balancing financial sensibility with life's genuine passions. We also cover whether a minimal LISA contribution strategy actually works, how to manage the transition from 100% equities to a retirement asset allocation in the years before you stop work, and what income protection options exist for a young professional wanting to guard against long-term illness or injury. Shownotes: https://meaningfulmoney.tv/QA45 02:20 Question 1 Hello Peter and Roger (without a D) I am so pleased I discovered your podcast a few months ago, since then your words of wisdom accompany me on my daily dog walks and I have become the annoying older colleague in the office telling the younger colleagues about the power of compounding and contributing to the pension scheme. I have a rather unusual query I would really appreciate your view on and maybe the potential pitfalls we are experiencing would be of interest to other listeners as I have read lots of questions on-line about potential benefits of putting property in children's names. My parents retired to Spain 25 years ago, they cash-purchased a UK flat for when they come back 10 years ago. In a bid to avoid inheritance tax they bought this in mine and 3 siblings names (all in our late 40/early 50s). They did not seek professional advice, just assuming it was the right thing to do, which could be the morale of the story. Sadly my Dad recently died and as executor of his will I have been looking into the UK assets. I realise now that this cunning plan does not work, as they regularly stay in the flat without paying rent. Therefore, it is classed as gift with reserved benefits and still included in the estate. However this is not an issue as they are well below the IHT threshold. The question I have relates to the future financial position that I think they have inadvertently created. My mum wants to sell up in Spain buy a house in the UK and then either rent the flat for some more income or potential sell it. But how does this work if the property is in our names? Can she legitimately take rent (with our permission) without it having income tax implications on us (I am higher rate so do not want this!). If she wants to sell it I assume it will be sales to us siblings so we will pay capital gains (but what rate? we are a mix of tax brackets and one of my sisters doesn't own another house.) She says she might be best just transferring into her name, but I don't think it will be that easy and we will still be liable for capital gains as it will effectively be a sale to her. Is there something we have missed here and is it something we should be concerned about? Or is it OK to leave as is and let her keep to draw down income. Could it be the right thing to do and having the property in our names be simpler to resolve when she dies? I am hoping your soothing Yorkshire/Cornish tones can reassure me all will be OK. Vicky a faithful listener. 11:24 Question 2 Hi Pete and Rog I only discovered the podcast fairly recently, but have been following your web-based lessons on Meaningful Money for a while (and have read the books). I am really loving the podcast - so many back episodes to listen to! Super-informative, and your dulcet tones are also very soothing! My question is to do with advice for an adult child who is likely to spend her career working outside the UK. My husband and I are both late 50s and technically have reached FIRE (years of finance-nerdery despite relatively low incomes) but I am still doing consultancy because I quite enjoy it. Our older three children are all getting established in their careers, and I've brainwashed/ educated them in the ways of financial sensibleness, so they're all set up with emergency funds/S&S ISAs/employer pensions/SIPPS. Our youngest daughter is studying at university in Poland (the kids and I all have dual Polish/UK citizenship, as my mum was Polish). This means my daughter can work anywhere in the EU, and although she will always have strong ties to the UK, it's looking as if she is more likely to work outside the UK once she graduates in summer 2026. This opens up a whole new world of options in terms of setting her on a path to financial security, and there's quite a lot of conflicting information - I would really appreciate some input on what are likely to be the best options for someone in this situation. At the moment she's 'ordinarily resident' in the UK, on the electoral roll etc., but doesn't have any UK income. Can she make pension contributions in the UK even if she's working elsewhere? I assume she still has an ISA allowance if she's a UK citizen working abroad, but a LISA would make less sense if she's not likely to buy a UK property? I am self-employed via a limited company and she has occasionally done bits of tech support for me, so she could register as self-employed in the UK and bill me for that - would that count as UK employment? My accountant is super-scrupulous, so I'm not interested in anything that might be sailing even vaguely close to the wind in HMRC terms. I would appreciate any thoughts on this perhaps slightly non-standard situation, although I assume there must be quite a few other people out there with dual UK/EU citizenship who might be facing similar questions? Many thanks, Felicia 19:06 Question 3 Dear Pete and Roger. I listen to your podcast all the time and it keeps me right. It has really helped me navigate my financial literacy or lack thereof. I am now in a situation where I have much better understanding of what I need to be doing with my money, and have made sense of all financial decisions such as paying into my workplace pension, owning my own home, and I have a recently paid job and some side projects which earn me a little. My question is, I think, a search for a validation of my life choices! Basically, despite having a good job and owning my own home outright, I am still struggling to budget every month. This is because I have made a terrible financial decision of owning two horses. These horses are my pride and joy, but the financial strain of it does make me feel guilty in terms of the distribution of spending between me and my husband. I spent about 600 a month on the horses, give or take a bit each month. Do you have any words of wisdom about how to balance being sensible with money Vs 'investing' in my life passions? I don't think I'll ever give up the horses, so it's more about whether I continue to stress about it or not. Many thanks for your wisdom as always Josie 25:20 Question 4 Thank you for all the great content! I have a LISA question for the podcast in relation to my 25 year old son? He currently lives with me in SW London and is saving to buy his own place. I love having him stay and I am in no rush for him to move out. He/we decided not to go with a LISA because he is likely to buy a property in or around London and we are concerned about the £450K cap which I believe has remained fixed since 2017. He is very motivated, ambitious and hard working and has already had several promotions with an opportunity to work in the US next year. He has already saved £50K for a deposit and I intend helping him too. He is not in a rush to buy as it feels like the property market is no longer running away from him. He told me he thinks it makes more sense to enter the property market on the second rung of the ladder rather than the first as it costs so much to move with stamp duty, fees etc. So perhaps a 2 bed in a nice(ish) area rather than a starter home (and renting the second bedroom to a friend). I think I agree with him, especially if he ends up working in the US for an unknown period of time. A 2 bed in a nice(ish) area where he actually wants to live would cost more than the £450K cap which is why we are reluctant to use the LISA for saving for his first home (I understand it can also be a pension investment but he is already contributing to his workplace pension). However, I have in my head a bug that says he can put minimal contributions into a LISA each year (say £5) which he could top up retrospectively if he changes his mind and does find somewhere to buy for under £450K. Am I correct? Your thoughts would be much appreciated. Michelle 29:04 Question 5 Hi Pete and Roger Thanks so much for all the work you do, I've only found the podcast recently but already enjoying learning more and thinking about things differently. My question relates to saving for retirement and specifically the period leading up to retiring. Nearly all of our (mine and my husband's) pensions are in SIPPs where we have been happy to be 100% equity, in global index funds. We are now maybe 7-10 years from the point where we could retire, and I've been able to research withdrawal strategies to the point where I'm confident managing that when we get there. We have determined our target asset allocation split between equities / bond funds / individual gilts and money market funds for the start point of retirement. I haven't been able to find much information about the period of transition from 100% equity to the asset allocation we want in place for the start of retirement. Obviously it's a balance between reducing exposure to volatility as we approach retirement and accepting a drag on the portfolio caused by the increasing allocation to cash and bonds and my instinctive (but not evidence-based!) approach would be to gradually move from one to the other over a number of years. So my question is this - is there a better approach than just a straightline shift from one to the other? How far out from retirement is it appropriate to start making the transition? The best advice I can find online is just to pick whatever makes you feel comfortable and do that but surely there must be some more robust guidance out there? I appreciate it might not be a one size fits all answer but would appreciate your thoughts on how to approach this. The one piece of advice I do seem to have found is that however we decide to do it, to stick to a predetermined schedule to avoid temptation to try to time the market - does that sound sensible or have I missed the mark on that? Thanks so much for any help you can give. Fran 35:26 Question 6 Hey Pete & Roger, Thank you for the great podcast! I have a question about income protection insurance. I'm quite young (25 - probably among your youngest listeners!), no dependents, renting with my partner, and am fortunate enough to have a well paid job and a promising future career. I recognise that my biggest asset is my future earning potential and would like to protect that in case of the worst. I have a 6 month emergency fund, healthy amounts (for my age) invested across ISAs and pensions, and my work offers 50% loss of income protection for accident or illness for 3 years, which is all great. My question is - to what extent should I think about trying to protect against the tail risk of not being able to work for >3 years, possibly till pension age? This is of course quite unlikely, but would be very detrimental if it were to occur - the exact sort of place where insurance would make sense. However I can't seem to find any insurance policies with such a long deferral period and I can't "double up" by having a shorter referral period. So, do such products exist, and if not are there any alternatives other than just accepting that risk and re-evaluating if and when my circumstances change? Is this even a reasonable risk to be thinking about, or is it overkill? Is there anything I should think about that I may be missing? Many thanks, Sarah *Affiliate - https://meaningfulmoney.tv/lifesearch

April 8, 2026Episode 61633 min

Planning for Pensions and IHT

From April 2027, many unused pension funds are set to be brought into the IHT net, changing how pensions work for legacy planning. Pete and Roger explain what's changing, what still remains exempt, where "double tax" can arise, and the practical steps to consider now — without rushing into knee-jerk decisions. 01:55 KNOW - Pensions no longer outside of estate 09:49 KNOW - Some important exemptions still remain 10:32 KNOW - In some cases there could be TWO taxes 14:15 KNOW - The administration will also change 16:58 KNOW Summary 17:15 DO - Rethink the old "leave the pension last" strategy 22:40 DO - Review who your beneficiaries actually are 24:56 DO - Consider using surplus pension income while you're alive 26:35 DO - Don't rush into drastic decisions 30:39 Podcast Review Shownotes: https://meaningfulmoney.tv/session616