The Meaningful Money Personal Finance Podcast
Education
Business
Pete Matthew
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
Insure or self-insure?
Today we want to cover a topic that is very subjective to each individual’s circumstances - whether you should take out insurance for a given risk, or whether you should use some of your own money in case that risk occurs.
44:4904/05/2022
Retire or Semi-Retire?
The idea for this session came from a brilliant post in the Meaningful Money Facebook group by none other than Nick Mitchell, one of the brilliant moderators and part of the team here at MeMo. Nick felt like he was coming to a transition point in his career and was concerned that he was losing his identity somewhat, which, like for most of us, is very tied up in his work. This got us thinking about retirement - the biggest transition most of us face, work-wise - and whether its best to go out with a bang or fade out slowly.
45:2127/04/2022
Income, Growth or both?
Today we’re talking about investing for income, for growth or both - so it’s more of a this or that or the other conversation really. But this is actually something that we come across quite a bit talking to clients, particularly those in retirement.
38:2720/04/2022
Seek Financial Advice or DIY?
Today we’re going to be discussing a this or that choice which, on the surface at least, might present something of a conflict for us, but we’re not ones to shy away from challenging subjects! Should you seek advice from a professional adviser like us or whether you should go it alone.
55:1013/04/2022
Active or Passive Investing?
Today, Roger and I talk about investing, and specifically another THIS OR THAT question, and this one is hotly debated amongst investors and advisers and of course, by the fund management industry. Should you invest passively, or actively? And what does that even mean?!
37:4806/04/2022
Invest or pay off bad debt?
Today we’re covering similar ground to episode 1 of this season where we asked whether you should overpay your mortgage or invest. This time though, we’re trying to solve the dilemma of whether you should invest while you’re still paying off bad debt.
30:2630/03/2022
Pension or ISA?
Today we’re answering one of the questions we get answered most on email, in YouTube or Facebook comments, pretty much anywhere - which is best, Pension or ISA?
30:5123/03/2022
Overpay your mortgage or invest?
This season is called This or That, and in each episode we’ll be looking at a particular this or that scenario. This week’s This or That question is whether to overpay your mortgage or invest? You have some spare money each month - should you pay down your mortgage more quickly or should you invest it in your pension or ISA?
36:4716/03/2022
Manage Your Financial Expectations
Now and again, something comes across my desk which makes me sit up and take notice, and that’s exactly what happened when a book called Manage Your Financial Expectations landed in my in-tray. The book - one of three, eventually - and the whole project is the brainchild of Mark Hamilton, retired businessman and father of three. I’ve invited him on to tell his story and the why behind the books.
39:0916/02/2022
Mortgage-Free Faster, with Sprive
I’m joined today by Jinesh Vohra from a company called Sprive, and their tagline is Mortgage Free, faster - which immediately piqued my interest.
33:3709/02/2022
A Financial Journey with David Calder
I’m excited to bring you a real-life success story from a listener called David Calder. David reached out to me, basically to say thanks for the content, and told me the story of his journey over the past year or so. He suggested that he’d be happy to come on to the show and tell his story to inspire others, and hopefully, it’ll do just that.
41:2302/02/2022
Lessons from a Lifetime in Finance with Roger Weeks
This week, as an inbetweenisode, I thought we’d spend some time getting to know my good buddy Roger - he of the dulcet Cornish tones who has joined me for the past ten weeks or so on the podcast.
54:5526/01/2022
Quick Wins with Financial Behaviour
Roger and I have been advisers for nearly 50 years between us and we’ve long since learned that when it comes to advising clients, it really isn’t the money that’s important, but the way that clients behave towards their money. Today we’re going to give you some quick wins to help yourselves make good decisions with your money.
49:2819/01/2022
Quick Wins with Costs and Tax
Every penny paid in costs is a penny which isn't growing for your future, so it stands to reason that we need to minimise the costs we pay. And tax is one of the biggest costs we can incur.
53:4812/01/2022
Quick Wins with Estate Planning
Here we are with another session of Quick Wins, this time to do with your estate planning. We want to help you make progress quickly, if this is something you've been wanting to get your head around. But even if you're thinking that you're WAY too young to be even thinking about that, there should be some stuff in here for anyone...
41:2205/01/2022
Quick Wins with Life Insurance
It's no exaggeration to say that having a decent protection programme in place is FOUNDATIONAL to everything else we do with our money. It truly is the thing that everything else is built upon. If it's a shaky foundation, then all our plans might come to nothing. That said, insurance is something that most people need, but no-one really wants to pay for, so we need to get the balance right, making sure that we have enough insurance, but don't overdo it.
48:2015/12/2021
Quick Wins with your Savings Rate
Your savings rate isn't the interest rate you're getting on savings in your bank, despite how it sounds. Rather, it is the amount of your income that you're saving each month or each week, and it's one of the most powerful levers in your control, when it comes to building wealth.
32:1308/12/2021
It's Not About The Money, with Catherine Morgan
I'm throwing in a little inbetweenisode here in the middle of Season 21 because a good friend of mine Catherine Morgan is releasing her new book this week. The book is called It's Not About The Money - Three Steps To Become A Wealthy Woman. While that might seem to alienate a reasonable proportion of this audience, it ought not to as there's meat in the book for anyone, regardless of sex.
37:0606/12/2021
Quick Wins with your Investments
Many of us have amassed investments over the years. They might be old workplace pensions, or funds we chose because we saw a nice advert in the Sunday papers. But are these disparate pots of money really serving us as we build wealth for our future? Is there anything we can do to optimise them?
54:2301/12/2021
Quick Wins Before Retirement
It's fair to say that retiring is a big deal for lots of reasons, but not least because there can be a lot to sort out. Today we want to look at the practical elements of preparing for retirement and also the less tangible stuff, like working out what you're actually going to do with your time!
48:2624/11/2021
Quick Wins With Your Budget
Good budget control is the cornerstone of building wealth. If you always spend every penny that comes in, you'll never have anything left to save and invest for the future. Say like that, and it sounds obvious - and it IS! But we all know that this is harder to do than it is to say. So let's get into some quick wins to make the process as painless as possible.
50:0717/11/2021
Quick Wins With Your Workplace Pension
Today Pete and Roger are going to be talking about how you can make some quick wins with your workplace pension, which is a hugely neglected area of most people's financial planning, but also super-important.
43:2610/11/2021
Quick Wins with Platforms, Wrappers and Investments
There's a real lack of understanding about the roles of platforms, accounts and investments in your wealth-building. Our goal today is to make sure you know what all these moving parts do, and how best to optimise them for your future success.
43:1203/11/2021
You Don't Need An Adviser
Time to round off Season 20 of the Meaningful Money Podcast and this time, my guest is me! As I can’t really interview myself, I’ve called in my best mate Roger Weeks to guide the episode. My One Big Thing - the title of this season - is that most of us don’t need to instruct an adviser to make serious headway with our finances.
45:1213/10/2021
The Gender Pension Gap with ThisGirlInvests
This week I’m chatting to another Personal Finance creator, Prerna Khemlani of ThisGirlInvests. Her One Big Thing is bridging the Gender Pension Gap, and she has some good things to say about an important subject.
28:1906/10/2021
Money and Faith, with Shabbar Kassam
Today’s show is a little bit different, and might be a bit polarising, and it’s certainly longer than usual! I’m chatting with my friend and fellow financial planner Shabbar Kassam of Lumos Financial about Money and Faith.
56:0029/09/2021
Trauma and Money Beliefs
The longer I do my job, the more I understand that it is a people business and not really about money at all. Our behaviours, our responses to influences, our decision-making - all these are what really counts towards our financial success or otherwise, and my guest this week, Catherine Morgan, is here to talk about how trauma can impact our money beliefs and behaviours.
41:3422/09/2021
Making Money Equal, with Anne Boden
Anne Boden is an extraordinary lady. Not many of us wake up one morning and think to ourselves ‘I’m going to start a bank’. She did that and founded Starling Bank whose results speak for themselves. She is now turning her considerable talents to the mission of making money equal between the sexes.
29:5115/09/2021
The NHS Pension Scheme with Rachael Hall
I get an email or a message at least once a week asking for clarity on the NHS pensions scheme. It is a complex beast with different tiers, different attributes and lots to get your head around. Fortunately, when it comes to the NHS scheme, my guest today is one of the country’s leading experts…
45:5708/09/2021
The Alpha Cult, with Ramin Nakisa of Pensioncraft
Today I’m joined by Ramin Nakisa of Pensioncraft who is doing amazing things on YouTube and beyond. This season of the podcast is called One Big Thing, and Ramin’s One Big Thing is what he calls the Alpha Cult - he’ll explain that and why it’s important as we get into the conversation.
37:1701/09/2021
Time Freedom with MamaFurFur
Jen Kempson, AKA MamaFurFur is a deeply inspiring person to me - I’m really excited to have her on the show. She’s making huge waves on YouTube and Instagram and her messaging about money is solid, but it’s her messaging about what money can do for you that stands out for me. She calls it Time Freedom...
40:3125/08/2021
Teaching Kids About Money with Blue Tree Savings
Will Rainey of Blue Tree Savings is an interesting guy with a fascinating story. He’s gone from advising global insurance companies and governments on how to invest billions, to helping parents teach their kids about money. He now has a blog and company dedicating to reaching as many people on this vital subject as possible.
30:2018/08/2021
RISK - What you need to know
This season is called One Big Thing, and the idea is that I have a guest on each week and we discuss something that they’re passionate about, annoyed about, or that is their specialism. I have some great guests lined up for you, starting this week with my good buddy Andy Hart from the Maven Money podcast. Andy and I are going to talk about risk. It’s an important subject to say the least and it’s fair to say that Andy has some strong views on the subject, as do I.
45:3211/08/2021
MeaningfulMoney - The State Of The Nation
Today I want to look at where Meaningful Money has come, what’s going on right now and where I want to take it. Call it a state of the nation speech for your favourite financial education channel.
24:5321/07/2021
Positioning The Pieces
Today’s show is from February last year, 2020 - back when there were only rumours of something big about to go down. It was part of the Home Straight season, Season 16. The thinking is to get your ducks in a row as you approach retirement, but to be honest, it’s ALWAYS good to have your ducks in a row, so even if you’re in your 30s and retirement seems like miles away, there’ll be something here for you.
18:0714/07/2021
Planning To Invest? WAIT!
Today’s show is from May 2019 and was part of the New Accumulators season, Season 14. It’s a plea to take planning seriously before diving into an investment regime which, without planning, would be just done in the abstract. Investing without purpose is crazy, aimless and will never succeed because there are no goals to measure its success against.
23:2107/07/2021
Enjoying the Empty Nest
This week’s encore episode is from September 2017 and comes from Season 7 - Life Stages. This episode focuses on the Empty Nest, a stage I’m heading towards in the next few years! This stage very often coincides with our peak earning years, so it’s important both to enjoy the extra cash in the present and also to store up some serious wealth for the future.
25:3330/06/2021
Playing Catchup - Retirement planning for late starters
This week’s oldie-but-a-goodie is from way back in 2016 where I covered some tips on how folks who are coming to the party somewhat late can still make a big difference to their eventual retirement outcomes.
23:4023/06/2021
Simplifying Pensions
The podcast is currently on hiatus while I plan for Season 20 and also get things in place for the final launch of Meaningful Academy Retirement Planning. More on that in just a sec, but for the next few weeks I will be reviving some older episodes on various topics. This week’s old show is about simplifying pensions. The episode should stand alone, but the shownotes have been updated to meaningfulmoney.tv/session425
24:2316/06/2021
Securing an Income in Retirement
The podcast is currently on hiatus so for the next few weeks I will be reviving some older episodes on various topics. This week’s old show is about securing an income in retirement, something which has fallen out of favour a little bit since the pension freedoms of 2015. The episode should stand alone, but the shownotes have been updated to meaningfulmoney.tv/session424
28:1009/06/2021
Young Family Challenges, with Joe Okaly
Young families have lots of things to deal with. Even though my kids are 18 and 21, I still remember juggling childcare with work, making ends meet, wondering whether to move house and take on the extra mortgage. My guest today is an expert in this field, Joe Okaly of New Horizons Wealth Management in New Jersey. If you have a young family yourself or if you’re a grandparent to a young family today’s session will be both interesting and instructive.
30:5002/06/2021
Do Something Great For Your Family, with Once I've Gone
In my 20-odd year career as a financial planner, I have worked with many bereaved clients who have lost spouses, partners, parents and other loved ones. Obviously, the emotional impact is profound, but this is often compounded by the additional pressure of having to go through someone’s financial and other affairs to get things straight. This process is always made so much easier if the person who has died was organised beforehand. And essentially, that is what the company Once I’ve Gone are helping people to prepare, but I’ll let Ian Dibb, Founder and CEO of the company explain more.
25:4126/05/2021
The Financial Success Checklist
When I wrote the MeaningfulMoney Handbook in 2018, I wanted it to be the one book that most people would need to go from zero to hero with their personal finances. It was designed for anyone to be able to work through and to begin taking control. Today’s checklist aims to condense the message of the book into less than 30 minutes - wish me luck!
29:2219/05/2021
The Financial Decisions Checklist
Today I want to give you a framework for decision-making. Obviously the context will be financial decisions, but today’s checklist will also serve in pretty much any area of life where you have big decisions to make.
24:0312/05/2021
The Financial Advice Checklist
As you know, I’m a big proponent of equipping people to make their own financial decisions, believing that anyone, with a bit of encouragement and know-how, can do most of their own financial planning. But there are occasions when seeking professional advice makes sense. Today, I’m going to give you a checklist for what to do BEFORE you seek advice, so that you’re prepared.
30:4105/05/2021
The Beginner Investing Checklist
We don't teach kids how money works, so when you're thinking of getting started with investing, how do you know where to start? Today I want to give you a beginner investment checklist to do just that.
21:2428/04/2021
The Portfolio Review Checklist
Your investments, if left unchecked, can quickly get out of step with your original intentions for them, so they need to be reviewed regularly. But what does an investment review really entail? Let’s find out!
22:5721/04/2021
A Checklist For Financial BALANCE
Easily the number one question I get asked here at MeaningfulMoney is about finding balance in finances. It’s a BIG question, but hopefully this week’s checklist will help us to find that elusive financial balance.
23:3114/04/2021
The Annual Financial Review Checklist
Over the past couple of weeks we’ve looked at organising your paperwork and your financial life in general. That’s all well and good, but now we’re in good shape, we need to keep it that way and for that, we’ll need an annual review checklist.
19:3507/04/2021
The Financial Life Checklist
Staying on top of your personal finances can seem like a really hard work - there’s just so much to do! There is always a new piece of paper or email coming in, insurance to renew, utilities to switch - it never ends! As ever though, it helps to work systematically and get things set up so that they are easy to stay on top of. Today we're going to talk about organising your financial life!
22:3931/03/2021