The Meaningful Money Personal Finance Podcast

In this Meaningful Money Q&A episode, Pete Matthew and Roger Weeks answer six listener questions on UK personal finance, pensions and investing. We cover inheritance tax (IHT) and who actually pays it, a defined benefit pension "state pension deduction" before State Pension age, and whether salary sacrifice affects higher-rate tax relief. We also discuss whether global tracker funds are too concentrated in the US, how offshore investment bonds compare to a general investment account (GIA), and how IHT taper relief works for gifts and the nil-rate band. Shownotes: https://meaningfulmoney.tv/QA44 03:40 Question 1 Hi Pete and Roger, I have been really enjoying your podcast and have learned so much about finance, tax and investments that I did not know before. I enjoyed your episode on inheritance tax. I have a question regarding inheritance tax and what happens if beneficiaries are unable to afford to pay it. My parents are wealthy with three properties (mortgages all paid off) and a large private pension, my parents also had a limited company which they used to maximise their earnings by minimising tax. However, me and my brother are average in the financial sense, where we have "normal salaried jobs", as my father would say. We earn far less than him and hence have much less assets. I own a house but have most of the mortgage left to pay because I only bought it last year. I am also single and live alone on my single income. My brother rents a flat and spends most of what he earns and has no concept of saving/future plans or investments, he does not even have a pension. I am under the assumption that the IHT has to paid first before the inherence is released, rather than IHT simply being deducted from the actual inherence itself before distribution? When I look at the total of my parents assets, me and my brother have no where near enough money to be able to pay it, due to the large gap in wealth between us and my parents. I tried to discuss this with them a few times but was fobbed off. They don't have any plan in place, all they have is life insurance to cover each other should one party die, and a simple one page will including just each other and us, no extended family. My brother and mum have no clue about money, and my dad who is in charge of the finances has multiple health problems of late. I am anxious of the day when I will be asked to pay tons of IHT which I might not be able to able to afford, especially because I am single and have my own bills and mortgage, I can't afford another loan. Is there a way to get around this or reduce the burden? If I cannot afford to pay the tax, can I simple "run away" from the situation and decline being a beneficiary, hence shoving the responsibility of IHT onto other family members? I don't really understand the process of probate, and whether my parents life insurance would pay it, but it seems to be that it pays out to the spouse should the other die, so I assume this would be added to the total assets and hence increase the tax burden should the other die? My parents don't seem to be bothered and are reluctant to discuss this so I am unsure what to do. How do "average/mediocre" kids like me and my brother usually deal with the tax from being born into a wealthy family? Sorry if this is a silly question, but I would appreciate any words of financial wisdom. Many thanks, Lava 13:08 Question 2 Hi Pete and Roger, I hope this message finds you well. As an avid listener of your podcast for the past couple of years, I want to express my gratitude for the way you break down financial and pension topics that can often seem overwhelming. Your insights have been invaluable to me. I wanted to share a personal experience and seek your views on it. After dedicating 42 years working at M&S, I am now approaching 60 and preparing to take my pension later this year. While I am proud of my long service, I've encountered an unexpected surprise in my pension arrangement. I have a Defined Benefit (DB) pension valued at around £9,000. Per year. However, upon receiving my pension quotation, I discovered that the scheme is structured to pay me this amount only until I reach 65 years of age, after which it reduces by approximately £2,200, a 24% reduction. This reduction is based on the assumption that the State Pension will compensate for the difference. However, with the State Pension age being pushed back, I will experience a reduction in my income before the State Pension begins when I turn 67. This situation feels particularly unfair, especially given that at M&S, there are a significant number of women who are lower-paid workers. The unfairness is further accentuated by the fact that the reduction is a fixed sum, irrespective of one's earnings. This fixed sum reduction impacts lower-paid and part-time workers disproportionately. I would greatly appreciate any insights or advice you might have on how to navigate this issue. Thank you once again for the fantastic work you do. Your

If you're a UK beginner and you're not sure where to start investing in 2026, Pete and Roger talk you through a calm, step-by-step investing order to follow. They cover when to build a buffer, tackle expensive debt and use employer pension matching, plus how to choose between a Stocks and Shares ISA and a pension. You'll also hear the key beginner mistakes to avoid so you can invest with confidence and stay the course. Shownotes: https://meaningfulmoney.tv/QA43 02:00 Question 1 Hi Pete and Roger I'm late to investing but thanks to your informative and entertaining podcasts and books - I feel on track to at least a decent retirement. I'm on a £60K salary and currently manage to contribute around £25K annually via salary sacrifice - which keeps me happily and comfortably within the 20% Income Tax bracket. However, with the Salary Sacrifice Cap coming in April 2029, I will end up in the higher-rate tax bracket. I was thinking about using my employer's Car Benefit Salary Sacrifice Scheme to help bring down my taxable income – whilst still maintaining the maximum salary sacrifice and utilising Relief at Source my AVC. I'm fully aware of the saying "don't let the tax tail wag the investment dog" but I was planning on getting a car in 2029 – when my mortgage is completed – so this might be a good alignment. My question's are: Can you confirm whether the Salary Sacrifice Cap applies to pensions only — and does using the car salary sacrifice scheme seem like a sensible idea in this context? Is there anyway that paying into my AVC via Relief at Source and claiming the higher-rate relief via Self-Assessment would result in HMRC issuing me a new tax code for the following tax year. Keep up the good work – and all the best to you and your families for the festive season. Thanks, Cris 06:43 Question 2 Hi, I recently came across your podcast and have not stopped listening to all the older episodes, and look forward to the new ones each week. Keep up the great work! I'm a 53 year old business owner looking to exit my business within the next 3 years via a sale and hope to receive around £1.5 - £1.8m from my share of the proceeds after tax. My wife is 8 yrs younger than me and will probably still be working doing some consultancy work. She has her own pension and savings in ISA's (currently a combined pot of around £250k which will hopefully grow over the next 10+ years) but we wouldn't need to access that till much later as required. My 2 questions are: 1. What would be the best way to invest the lump sum from the sale of my business to provide an income to support my retirement without having to necessarily eat into the capital or touch too much of my savings / pension early on as it will need to provide for my wife and I for quite a few years if we retire / semi retire in our mid 50's. Having looked at our living costs we would need around £60k p.a - albeit to live comfortably. Any holidays / large purchases etc could be funded through savings. 2. How would you prioritise what pot of funds you use first to make it the most tax efficient, enable growth and ensure that the pots do not run out. Given the new IHT rules on pensions is it now wise to use those first including the 25% tax free lump sum or use the ISA's / savings first leaving the pensions to continue growing in their tax wrapper. Thanks, Jeremy Meaningful Academy Retirement Planning: https://meaningfulacademy.com/retirementplanning 14:53 Question 3 Hello Peter and Roger You answered a previous question for me on the podcast so thank you for that, and I hope you don't mind me asking another one! We're in the very fortunate position of being able to pay the full £60,000 annual allowance into my pension scheme this tax year and are considering making additional contributions using unused allowance from previous years. I understand that the total contribution we could make would still be limited by my annual salary this tax year - my question relates to how that is defined. The contributions are made using a combination of salary sacrifice into my work scheme and lump sum contributions to my SIPP which is separate from the work scheme. So, would my "salary" that would be the limit for total contributions be the salary before salary sacrifice or after? And is the "salary" further reduced by the contributions to the SIPP, as I believe my adjusted net income for calculating tax bands is? Perhaps some hypothetical numbers would help. Let's say my gross salary before salary sacrifice is £125,000 and I salary sacrifice £25,000, and my employers' contribution is £5,000. Let's say I also pay £24,000 by bank transfer into my SIPP, so I'd receive £6,000 of tax relief into the SIPP. If I've understood it correctly, my adjusted net income for tax purposes would be £70,000 (which is £100,00 salary after salary sacrifice minus £30,000 gross contribution to SIPP). In total, £60,000 has been paid into my pensions which is the full annual allowance for this year. If I had £120,000

Pete Matthew and Roger Weeks cover self-employed saving rates, inheritance tax and estate planning, and how dividends are treated inside pension drawdown (including SIPPs). They also discuss salary sacrifice and contribution limits, the pros and cons of recycling tax-free cash, and whether to overpay your mortgage or invest via a Stocks & Shares ISA. Shownotes: https://meaningfulmoney.tv/QA42 01:07 Question 1 Hi Pete and Roger, Thank you for your amazing podcast! My question is about budgeting & savings percentages: Should you aim for a % of your gross pay or your net pay when it comes to aiming for a savings percentage? e.g. Invest 20% of gross or net? I'm self employed and work contract to contract. From each contract payment I have to give 25% to agents and lawyers. Then I get paid the rest and have to put aside some of the money ready for the Tax man. When planning for how much I should save / invest from each contract payment should I be putting aside: 20% of the original contract amount? (which would be prior to the agents taking their cut and prior to the tax man taking his cut?) 20% of the amount left after the agents but prior to the tax man? Or 20% after both the agent cut and tax man cut? Thank you! Isabel 05:50 Question 2 I am a 70 year old widow with no children. My current net worth is about £2 million. This is made of of a house (£500,000), savings and investments (£1,150,000) and a drawdown pension pot of £350,000 which I inherited from my husband. My husband died aged 68 so the pension pot is currently tax free. I plan to leave our inheritance tax free allowances of £650,000 to family, mostly nephews and nieces and the reminder to charities. The drawdown pension will also go to named family members until the rules change in 2027 after which this will also go to charity. I understand that this would mean my estate wouldn't be subject to inheritance tax. Am I right about this? Is there anything I might not have thought about or any flaws in my thinking? Thank you for your very informative podcast, Susan 08:24 Question 3 Hi Pete and Roger, I'm still catching up on the back catalogue and am still loving the show, the listener questions are a great alternative, absolutely brilliant :) My mind has been wandering as it usually does, and this time thinking about my retirement plan and what dividends will look like at retirement. I have some queries I would love you to clarify please if possible. As it stands I have a combination of SIPP and stocks & shares ISAs all globally diversified with various stocks and ETFs etc and also a NHS DB pension. I'm about to turn 49 and planning on a retirement at around 60. I'm trying to plan in the most tax efficient way (obviously this may change with future governments). For now though I am trying to max out my ISAs regularly for the tax free benefits and in particular focussing on a goal of using global ETF high yield dividends as income annually at retirement. I have a Vanguard SIPP with 3 ETFs. I plan to take the 25% tax free amount from this when I retire. The rest (75%) I plan to leave as is, in the same ETFs and as they will hopefully still be paying dividends, I am a little confused as to how these will be regarded, such as for tax purposes? My assumption is the dividends will be added as cash to my now 75% remaining pot and then if I start to drawdown on this then I guess I will be taxed as normal depending on my tax status at the time only on what I drawdown as income. However when the dividends are added to my drawdown (75%) portfolio will this be part of my annual tax free (currently £500) dividend allowance OR will they not count as they are in my "pension pot" (and not classed as income) as is the case currently pre-retirement? At the present should I actually be adding the dividends that I currently receive in my pension pot to my annual tax free allowance (£500 for me)? (I assumed dividends in a SIPP don't need declaring/adding up towards your annual tax free dividend allowance). I hope that all makes sense? Thanks for all your work with the podcasts and Listener Questions too, you guys are awesome! Cheers lads, Jon 13:22 Question 4 Dear Pete and Roger, I've just turned off lifestyling on my pension thanks to your excellent podcast and videos. You may have saved me thousands so many thanks! I now have a cunning plan! I work for a university and have a hybrid pension with the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS). Payments for my regular defined benefit (DB) pension are made via salary sacrifice. I'm also making additional voluntary contributions to the defined contribution (DC) part of USS, also by salary sacrifice. I've increased these DC payments to a level where my reduced effective pay is just above the level of the National Living Wage. As all my USS contributions, DB and DC, are made by salary sacrifice, they count as employer contributions. As I understand it, I am also allowed to make employee pension contributions to an entirely separa

In this Meaningful Money Q&A, Pete Matthew and Roger Weeks answer listener questions on UK personal finance, focusing on pensions, tax, and planning ahead. Topics include SIPP vs Lifetime ISA, retirement drawdown and which accounts to spend from first, Junior SIPPs, gifting company shares (IHT and CGT), and UFPLS vs drawdown. Shownotes: https://meaningfulmoney.tv/QA41 01:47 Question 1 Hello Pete, Roger and team. I'd first like to say thank you for all the wonderful information you provide, it has been a great aid for increasing my financial intelligence and helping me secure my family's financial future. My question is regarding the benefits of a SIPP vs a LISA in terms of retirement. My understanding is they both benefit loosely from the same boost. 25% Boost for LISA and in effect 25% boost to a SIPP due to the 20% tax relief as a basic rate tax payer? They are both locked away for a long period and are both released early if I was to suffer from any serious ill health or death? Due to this is there any benefit I am overlooking in terms of a SIPP over a LISA invested in a world wide fund? Other than age of access? I am currently 36 and due to the increasing demands of public finances it would be logical to assume a possibility of the state pension age being raised above 70 (above 60 if taken early) or becoming restricted to who can collect (means tested) before I am to reach pension age. Whereas I would be able to claim a LISA at 60 regardless with the added benefit of it not being subject to tax? I have a generous company pension of 6% personal and 13.7% company contributions with an additional 1% matched salary sacrifice. I also put in an additional unmatched personal 3% contribution. As well as a small military pension. so I would not be without a pension at retirement. Due to this is it worth hedging my bets by maxing my LISA contributions rather than a SIPP to cover potential future scenarios? Apologies for the long winded question and I hope it makes sense. Thank you, Adam 08:42 Question 2 Hello Pete and Roger! Thank you for your wonderful podcast, I started listening several years ago and have found your advice incredibly useful. I am here to ask a question about planning a future for a disabled child. My husband and I are in are late 30s and we have a 5 year old daughter who is autistic and has profound learning difficulties. The challenge we have is how to plan for her future care and our future careers with so much unknown. We both work full time and are currently both basic rate taxpayers (although we are both getting close to that boundary). We receive child benefit and some DLA for our daughter. When our daughter was born we started saving small amounts regularly into a JISA for her, but as her disabilities became clear we switched and started saving money for her within our own S&S ISAs. We still put money into her JISA when she gets gifts from grandparents etc as it seems disingenuous to keep that money under our names. We have an emergency fund, workplace pensions and are saving regularly into S&S ISAs, as well as mortgage that will last until we are about 60. Is there anything we should be thinking about or trying to plan for our daughter's future. At this stage, it is difficult to determine how much she will understand about money and investing or whether she would have the capability to work or live independently. It may be that she will be under our care for the rest of our lives. It is also possible that one of us may need to reduce working hours or stop working when she turns 18 and needs care after she leaves school. Is there anything you think we should consider or advice on how to navigate the unknown? We are in the process of putting together a will and in the event of something happening to both of us, the care of our daughter would be covered by my husband's sister, but unsure how to navigate the financials. I appreciate that there are several questions within this question but any advice or areas that we can research on ourselves would be appreciated. Thank you so much, Laura Centurion (specialist IFA for people with children with special needs) https://centurioncfp.co.uk/special-needs/ Scope https://www.scope.org.uk/advice-and-support 16:34 Question 3 Hello First of all, thank you both for your wonderful podcast. I have learned so much. I have a question about the order in which to spend in retirement and how to hold our various investments. We have worked out a cashflow ladder using cash, short-term money markets funds, a defensive mixed asset fund, a 60:40 mixed asset fund and a 100% equity fund. But we also need to think about our various wrappers- about half of our investments are in DC pensions (mine and my husband's), a quarter in ISAs and a quarter unwrapped (which we can gradually move into ISAs). Is there a rule of thumb for how much of each investment should be in each wrapper? I'm also not sure about what we should be spending first- assuming no disasters we are ho

Pete is joined by Andy Hart to cut through the noise and talk about Andy's new book No Bullsh*t Money Advice, sharing straight-talking, practical personal finance insights for UK savers and investors. Shownotes: https://meaningfulmoney.tv/session611 Book: No Bullsh*t Money Advice Ebook: No Bullsh*t Money Advice - Kindle Podcast: The Ten Financial Commandments Website: TRAP - The Real Adviser Podcast

In this episode we answer listener questions covering emergency funds for higher and additional rate taxpayers, and inheritance tax considerations around beneficiary SIPPs. We also discuss whether couples should rebalance pension contributions, the key steps to take before retiring abroad, and what to know about DB pension transfers. Finally, we look at cross-border pension taxation using the UK–Denmark double taxation treaty as an example. Shownotes: https://meaningfulmoney.tv/QA40 01:20 Question 1 Hi Pete & Roger, Thanks for all your helpful and easy to understand information. I have only been on my financial wellbeing journey for a year. I work in the NHS and am in a higher tax bracket. I am fully enrolled in the NHS pension, more out of previous disinterest than any actual action on my part. I am single and currently saving up for a down payment on a house in about 4/5yrs. I maxed out my ISA last year and expect to do the same this year; this includes money for the down payment. I also took out a SIPP which I only recalled last year; I took it out 20+ years ago. However I am still waiting for a statement from the pension office before my accountant can work out how much more I can add to the SIPP. In the interim I have my emergency fund in a premium bond (20k) but am worried it's being eroded by inflation. I expect to be an additional tax payer in the next few years. Where should I keep my excess cash? More in premium bonds with no tax but erosion by inflation; or open GIA or more in high interest savings account and pay the tax? Or is there another option you would recommend? Btw I have £600 in crypto (Coinbase and Etherium) but don't plan to put more than £400 more in then plan to forget about it. It's a tiny fraction of what I put in my ISA. Thanks, Joy 04:46 Question 2 Dear Pete and Roger. Love the podcast. I think it is essential listening for those wanting to elevate their knowledge of the incredibly important subject of financial planning and it also highlights the value add that financial professionals can provide. My mother is 79 and has a comfortable guaranteed inflation linked income via state and civil service pension, which is supplemented by savings (maxed premium bonds & healthy cash savings) and investments held in ISAs and a beneficiary SIPP from my late father who passed before 75yrs old (therefore the assets are income and CGT free). My mother is keen to minimise the IHT on the estate both her and my father worked so hard to create. Despite her comfortable situation, I still have to encourage her to spend and use your very helpful '40% off sticker' analogy on a regular basis. It is my understanding that SIPPs will be subject to IHT and income tax from 2027. As my sister and I are both additional rate taxpayers, we will potentially be subject to 67% tax on any assets remaining in the SIPP if the estate is above £1m IHT threshold. While the '67% off sticker' analogy is even more helpful to encourage her spending, it has triggered some planning. We are drawing down the beneficiary SIPP to fund ISA each year for my mum – keeping the income and CGT tax benefits for my mum while removing it from the double income and IHT tax on death. As part of the IHT planning we are now considering regular gifts from surplus income. When combined with her guaranteed income, the assets in the beneficiary SIPP are more than sufficient so sustain her lifestyle until her age would be well into three figures. Based on my reading, it appears any drawdown from SIPPs are considered 'income' for gifting purposes, regardless of if they come from capital or income. Therefore she could start to draw more 'income' from the SIPP and gift this surplus which could be considered IHT free. Are there any limits to how much or how quickly she could reasonably drawdown from a SIPP so that it would no longer be considered 'income' by HMRC for IHT purposes? i.e could she empty the SIPP over a 5 yr period, gift that as excess income, then reduce the gifts to reflect a different income and or expenditure? While all the drawdown from SIPPs is considered 'income' for IHT purposes, the treatment of withdrawals from ISAs or other investments are distinguished between whether they are actually capital or income. Therefore, we have the added complication of needing to balance the 'income' drawdown from the beneficiary SIPP to make sure she doesn't eat into 'capital' of the ISAs and savings which would then mean the gifts from regular surplus income would then be considered part of the estate again. Our circumstances mean my mum feels slightly trapped between keeping the SIPP (so it is considered income for gifts from regular income but gets IHT taxed at 67%), continuing to use the beneficiary SIPP to fund ISAs (reduce IHT liability but lose flexibility to gift it as income), maybe change the investment engine of the ISAs from a lower yielding balanced solution to something with a higher natural yield, or do something else altogether (

Pete and Roger reveal how to spot a good financial adviser from a bad one. Learn the red and green flags—from transparent fees to pressure tactics—and the key questions to ask before committing. Essential listening for anyone considering financial advice. Shownotes: https://meaningfulmoney.tv/session609 Everything You Need To Know 04:00 - life vs product 05:18 - listens vs talks 06:40 - behaviour vs numbers 08:25 - clear vs vague 09:38 - plain English vs jargon 11:21 - transparent fees vs evasive costs 13:12 - probabilities vs certainties 14:48 - evidence based vs secret 'sauce' 16:15 - calm vs urgent 17:46 - facts first vs opinions first 19:50 - "I don't know" vs blagging 20:44 - written rationale vs 'trust me' 21:41 - respects advisers vs criticises advisers 23:40 - growth & protections vs chasing returns 25:31 - professional vs sloppy Cheatsheet: https://meaningfulmoney.tv/adviser-checklist Everything You Need To Do 29:18 - ignore unsolicited approaches 31:58 - verify they're legit 33:48 - get fees and scope in writing before committing 36:36 - first meeting questions 43:40 - pressure test

Pete and Roger answer six listener questions covering Coast FIRE strategies with GIAs, US 401(k) tax implications in the UK, record keeping for IHT-exempt gifts, Australian pension taxation for UK residents, pension contributions to avoid the £100k tax trap, and managing a £2M portfolio as Power of Attorney. Shownotes: https://meaningfulmoney.tv/QA39 01:17 Question 1 Hi Pete and Roger, I'm 29 and working towards Coast FIRE within the next 2–3 years so I can begin a digital nomad lifestyle — working remotely while knowing my long-term retirement is taken care of. Right now, I've got: - £45k in a Stocks & Shares ISA - £25k in a workplace pension (via salary sacrifice) - A Lifetime ISA for a future house deposit (or later retirement) - A fully funded emergency fund I've already maxed out my ISA for this tax year and plan to continue doing that every year. But I have more money to invest now, and I know that to reach Coast FIRE on my timeline, I need to start using a General Investment Account (GIA). Here's where I'm stuck: I want to keep things simple and tax-efficient, but I feel a bit nervous about GIAs. I keep hearing about the "bed and ISA" strategy but don't really understand how it works in practice or how to implement it over time. Could you explain: - How best to use a GIA alongside an ISA when working towards FIRE? - How to manage capital gains and dividend tax efficiently? - And how the bed and ISA approach actually works — especially for someone trying to keep things simple? Thank you both so much — your podcast has been an incredible resource and a big part of why I've been able to take control of my finances. Warmly, Pauline 12:22 Question 2 Hello Pete & Roger I am very late convert to the podcast but have been ploughing through the Q&A for a few days now. I think I only have another 592 episodes to get through so should be up to date by the end of the week !! I am not sure whether this has been covered or not. I have a 401K plan that has been hibernating in the USA for 20 years. I have only recently started looking at it and now need to understand the tax implications. I have tried to read HMRC guidelines on tax treaties etc but get even more confused than before. My current belief is that the provider will pay this money out by means of US issued cheque (not a problem) but withhold 30% tax (a problem). How will HMRC treat this? The usual sources http://unbiased.co.uk for one run for the hills on finding information about this, is this an area you can provide guidance, but obviously not advice as I know you cannot through the podcast. Regards, Stephen 16:10 Question 3 Hi Pete & Roger, Like so many people I am really impressed, not just with your knowledge and great communication skills, but that you put out such life changing content. You're providing us with the means to help ourselves in this financial world as well as letting us know when to seek professional help. On to my question: we're (wife and I) retired (late-60s) and are lucky enough to have more than enough to comfortably live on, thanks to DB & state pensions, house price inflation etc. Not really through any financial planning but just having been born at the right time! So we do now have an IHT liability. We have a joint second death Whole Of Life policy (in trust) in place for potential IHT and have given help with house deposits for our children. We also are gifting to the kids out of our excess income and would like your thoughts on the type of record keeping needed for this. We have letters stating the intention to give the gifts, recording who to etc. We keep completed IHT403 forms which we update annually. We also have a monthly/annual spreadsheet of income/expenses which demonstrates our surplus and keep track of expenses with the MeMo transaction tracker (thanks for that). These are all in our 'WID' file (again thanks to you for that). What we're not sure about is any documentation that might be needed to evidence the figures. Income is straightforward with P60s, statements of interest/dividends. However, what is required for expenses? Can't really keep all supermarket receipts etc and even bank/credit card statements would be quite bulky over several years. Not sure if we're overthinking but don't want to leave a difficult task for our kids when we're gone. Thank you both again for all the good you are doing Simon 20:33 Question 4 Brian (in Australia) Thank you for all your podcasts and videos but I think I may have to sign up to the academy to fully get my head around all the UK rules. We are looking to move to the UK from Australia - we have no UK govt pension entitlements but are retired with personal Australian private superannuation account pensions. The pension income payments and withdrawals are all tax free in Australia but will the UK government apply a tax on these pension payments once we are UK residents? Thanks again for all your useful information. Regards, Brian 22:55 Question 5 Hi Roger (and Pete), I had a

This week we finish off our two-parter on how to become a financial adviser. In this session, we cover the 'softer' part of the job, the human side which is arguably MUCH more important than the hard numbers… Shownotes: https://meaningfulmoney.tv/session607 02:18 - Why Financial Planning Is Not About Money 05:30 - Planning vs Product 14:38 - The Core Human Skills of Great Advisers 25:50 - Behavioural Coaching (The Real Job) 33:15 - Judgement, Responsibility, and Pressure 38:31 - Ethics and Integrity in the Real World 47:57 - Who Thrives on the SOFT Side 50:05 - Bringing the Hard and Soft Together

This week, Roger and I discuss the answer to a frequently-asked question - how does one become a financial adviser? Clearly Roger and I make it look like a sexy profession, but as you can imagine, we have lots to say on the subject… Shownotes: https://meaningfulmoney.tv/session606 01:47 - What People Think Financial Advisers Do (and Why That's Incomplete) 07:25 - The Structure of a Modern Advice Firm 17:29 - Career Progression 22:31 - Qualifications and Regulation (The Reality, Not the Myth) 29:14 - Routes Into the Profession 37:20 - The Economics of Advice (High-Level) 46:39 - Who the HARD Side Will Appeal To

It's another Meaningful Money Q&A, taking in the £100k tax trap, splitting pensions on divorce, safely switching investment platforms and much more! Shownotes: https://meaningfulmoney.tv/QA38 01:59 Question 1 Hi Roger and Pete, Long time listener, first time questioner. My wife and I have both earned in excess of £100k for a few years now, meaning I am acquiring a peculiar set of skills on the various ways to use pension contributions, rollover allowances, gift aids, etc to keep us both below the (entirely bananas) £100k cliff-edge each year. My question is on the £60k pension annual allowance. Does it only apply to the amount of pension savings in a given year which can be made without paying a tax charge, or does it also count as the maximum amount of pension deduction which can be taken to calculate net adjusted income as part of completing our tax returns? The (slightly over-simplified) situation in my mind is that if I earned £160,500 in a given year, I would prefer to pay £61k into a pension, thereby reducing my net adjusted income to £99,500 to stay below the cliff-edge, even if I had to pay 40% tax on the extra £1000 above the pension annual allowance. As a fun aside, I asked this to my preferred AI - and I leave a link to see if you agree with it's answer or not - https://g.co/gemini/share/8c23e91cb658 Stephen 07:58 Question 2 Hello Pete & Roger Listen and enjoy all your podcasts regularly but every now and again you get one that addresses specific points to the individual listener. For me it was Podcast QA18. A really great podcast. 1. The 2015 changes to pensions made significant differences to pensions and most financial experts have rightly advised using your pension as one of the best places to put savings. It does seem unfair that you plan your savings and pensions well in advance for retirement based on government rules. and then you you find you are likely to have a sizeable IHT bill. At 78 it is difficult to turn the ship around quickly. Many more people will be affected by this over the next decade. The main reason however for my question relates to ways to reducing the effects of this IHT change. The general allowances and the 7 year rule are all clear. However the main exemption that could help is the little used Gifts form Excess Income. I have read up as much as I can and the whole system seems rather vague and many things open to interpretation, even by financial experts. There is no clear and precise set of rules whereby you can be certain something is capital or income. Your executor will have to understand all this and have all the back up documentation to convince HMRC that the gifts are justified. I do have excess income and spent significant time over the past weeks analysing all our expenditure and income sources ending up totally confused and with a severe migraine. Any advice on how best to handle this can of worms would be appreciated. 2) So many of us these days have children living in different countries with their families. All with different citizenship and residency situations in different countries. There seems to be very little information about IHT and general tax issues in relation to gifts and inheritance of money and pensions for children and grandchildren in this situation. Best regards, Peter 16:52 Question 3 Hello Roger and Pete, Thanks for a great series of podcasts. Some of them confirm what I already know and some give me insights, ideas and an understanding I didn't have. You provide a great service. My wife and I are 54 and 55. We are getting divorced. The divorce is amicable and we want to share everything evenly. I take home £5k/month and she takes home £2.3k. We will split this evenly as long as we both work. Our pension funds are not of equal value. I have DCs and SIPPs worth £800k and ISAs worth £100k. I also have a small DB pension that will pay out about £3k/year in today's money at age 67. My wife has a DC pension worth £210k and ISAs worth £220k. She has a DC pension that will pay about £2.5k/year in today's money at age 67. As you can see, the majority is in my name. This makes sense as I have worked whereas she has taken time off to raise our children. We have equal claim to the money in my mind. I think the ISAs are straight forward. We can balance the value by selling some of hers and investing more in my name. The DC pensions are more difficult. By right I should give her £295k to make them of equal value but how do we do this? We want to avoid expensive solicitors and accountants but are not sure if we can DIY this. Please share any advice you can give. Regards, Jay 25:43 Question 4 Hi Pete and Roger, Thanks so much for what you do with the podcast. It's completely changed my approach to my finances, especially over the last year which has felt even more important after the birth of my son. I have a question about investment platforms. I currently have about £70,000 invested in passive world index trackers via a platform. I estimate my tota

This is an important episode. Here, Roger and Pete dive deep into one of the most important subjects for anyone looking to improve their finances to understand - RISK. It's misunderstood and it's misrepresented, but risk can be your friend if you treat it right. Shownotes: https://meaningfulmoney.tv/session604 Get the PDF emailed to you - Risk Lens Guide: https://meaningfulmoney.tv/risklens 02:18 Everything you need to KNOW 04:17 - Market & investment risks (the ones everyone worries about) 08:37 - Inflation & purchasing power risk (the silent wealth killer) 13:35 - Behavioural risk (where most damage is actually done) 18:31 - Planning risks – when the structure is wrong 23:31 - Life risks that derail even the best plans 26:06 - The risk nobody talks about: building the wrong life 29:35 Everything you need to DO 29:42 - Get clear what the money is for 32:28 - Match risk to time, not emotion 33:43 - Build shock absorbers before chasing returns 35:56 - Diversify like you mean it 38:03 - Design for behaviour, not brilliance 40:27 - Protect the foundations 42:32 - Review — don't react 44:49 - Spend intentionally — now and later 47:25 The Meaningful Money Risk Lens 51:15 Summary 52:42 This week's reviews

Welcome to the first podcast of 2026 where Roger and Pete answer more of your varied and interesting questions, covering everything from what to do when you've maxed out your pension and ISA, to whether you should borrow on your mortgage to invest! Shownotes: https://meaningfulmoney.tv/QA37 01:30 Question 1 Hello to Roger and his trusty sidekick Pete, Only kidding Pete, but it will make Roger feel good briefly. I must credit the pair of you for your continued dedication and commitment to educating the wider population on all things financial. I have gone from strength to strength in planning my retirement with the guidance and abundance of free information you have provided, the books you have written Pete, as well as signing up to the Meaningful Academy Retirement Planning and now planning to retire several years earlier than originally intended. Using the information provided and learnt, I have got my finances in order but more importantly, that decision is to align my future life (and that of my wife) to the finances we need and when our needs are likely to be met, hence the realisation retirement is not as far away as we had originally perceived, so I really appreciate what you have done for me and my family. My question maybe very simple, but it was sparked during a previous Q&A session Listener Question – episode 20 - 30th July – Question 2 – The question surrounded company Shares. I am employed by BAE and I purchase company shares each month, partially as a sensible Tax saving being a higher rate tax payer (purchase them pre Tax) but also for the first £75 worth each month I buy each month, the company will match, so effectively £150 worth of shares which technically costs less than £50 in real money each month. Now whilst I do sell some shares along the way (after the 5-year maturity to avoid tax payment), I continue to have a reasonable amount invested (£35k subject to tax relief period on some). A statement you made during the above session was "as a sideline issue we tend to say to people that investing in shares for the company you work for is a bad idea at any scale, thus to avoid backing one horse and it's not a good idea to hold onto shares for a company you work for." Now I thought I was onto a winner and being tax efficient and building an amount of money which I tap into on an occasional basis as well as additional source of income once retired, but are you implying, as you did to that listener, I might consider cashing some in and transferring the money else where? Perhaps in this instance it is suffice leaving it there, as the examples you gave were for smaller companies (in comparison) that folded, whereas BAE one of the larger Defence industry companies, doesn't appear to be going anywhere soon? I do have a Royal Naval DB pension already paying out, as well as a part DB and part DC pension with BAE (continuing to build), so I'm not reliant upon the money, which is another factor why I've not considered moving them away or am I doing myself a bad deal, id value your opinions (not advice ha ha)? Thank you for your time Regards, John 08:02 Question 2 I'm 39, a basic rate taxpayer and I have a Lifetime ISA and a SIPP with HL. Can I save for retirement in my Lifetime ISA and invest in the same funds as my Pension after receiving the 25% bonus to achieve similar growth. Then at age 60, withdraw all that money tax free and pay it into my pension (up to my allowances and possibly using previous years) to gain the 20% tax relief just before I draw the pension? I would also save some money on platform fees as the LISA is 0.25% vs the SIPP at 0.45%. I know I can get cheaper platforms elsewhere but I find HL easy, intuitive, and feel like I can trust them with my money, which really encourages me to save in the first place. Thanks, Robert 13:40 Question 3 Hi Pete and Roger, Longtime fan and listener, thanks for all the great work you do! I'm 40 years old and a member of the LGPS DB pension scheme, which I've been paying into since my early 20s. My partner is also in a DB scheme (Central Government). We have no debt other than our mortgage. We currently live in a modest home we bought for £89k, but are thinking about upgrading to a bigger property for more space and comfort (no plans to have children). That said, we've enjoyed the low cost of living here. We've built up around £160k in savings, split roughly 40% in a Stocks & Shares ISA and 60% in Premium Bonds and cash. I've tried to keep the ISA intact as a form of flexibility/security around retirement, potentially to retire early or reduce hours in the future. The dilemma is: 1. Do we spend most of the savings on a better house and accept working longer? 2. Or do we stay where we are, keep our financial flexibility, and potentially one of us works less or retires earlier? 3. Or is there a sensible middle ground, spending some of the cash to improve our living situation while still preserving part of our financial cushion for future flexibility?

Join Roger and Pete for a 2025 retrospective where we look into the kind of year it's been and a little bit ahead to 2026. MERRY CHRISTMAS! Shownotes: https://meaningfulmoney.tv/session602 02:04 Meaningful Money - Podcast, YouTube, Academy 12:05 Antidote to the noise. 16:40 Bank of Dad 22:39 Jacksons 31:18 Personal Reflection 45:18 Thanks To... Meaningful Money Podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@MeaningfulMoneyPodcast Meaningful Money Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@meaningfulmoney Meaningful Academy: https://meaningfulacademy.com Jacksons: https://jacksons.life