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Are you walking a personal finance tightrope without a safety net?! Is your safety net as strong as it should be? Or is it full of holes? In this episode we take a look at insurance - what it is and why we have it. Most importantly we discuss how it can protect you and your loved ones from disaster and financial ruin. We also delve a bit deeper into the State Welfare system and how it provides a bit of a weak but very important safety net. Check out the show notes to record what insurance and State Benefits you already have and to identify any gaps in your safety net. Maybe you want to figure out what State Benefits you are entitled to? You can use these State Benefit calculators. Don't miss Craig's festive cheese on toast recipe and find out why he is actually Paddington's Dad!

We wrap up our quick foray into pensions by delving into what the State Pension is and why it is important to your future. We also look at how the State Pension has been decreasing in value and how you may not end up with as much as you think, or at the point you want to retire. So to really take control of our financial futures, we need to build up our private pensions. It's really important to know where we are now - how much State Pension we have built up. And how we can build up more. That way we can take control of our financial futures and get to where we want to be. Why not check out how much State Pension you have built up and what you may get for yourself? When will you get your State Pension? When could you afford to retire? In other news, Craig reveals his latest podcast venture - Middle Child Syndrome. Be sure to check it out!

On this episode of Penny Radio we take a look at all the comings and goings of our bank accounts. We discuss how tracking your spending can help build your financial framework and helps you see if you are heading in the right direction. Most importantly we tell you how to do it as well. Make sure you check out the Comings & Goings show notes to help you do this for yourself. Craig tells us how craft beer is never too far away; the best place to buy coffee in Horsham; and how to waste time at work and get away with it. All whilst celebrating a rare win for Newcastle!

We kick off a deeper dive into our current position - something we will be exploring over the next few episodes. This will help us figure out our own starting point when it comes to planning for our financial futures. This really is step 1 of our financial framework. If you know where you currently are and you know where you want to get to, then you can start figuring out how to get there. Find out how this can help stop you from getting lost in Marks & Spencer's when looking for biscuits. You know, those lovely round chocolatey ones! Whenever we do look at our current situation we need to remember it really is only a snapshot or photograph of this current moment in time. Our situation is going to change over time and our financial framework will help us adapt to those changes. Craig also regales us with memories of the 1998 World Cup, an interesting fact about Hartlepool diplomacy and makes some audacious claims about his gardening abilities! Other biscuits at other retailers are also available, but Marks & Spencer's ones are not just any biscuits...

Welcome to the second season of Penny Radio - Knowing Me, Knowing You!  This season we will be focusing on where we are now and where we ultimately want to be. In this first episode, Going For Goals, we'll be taking a first look at what we want to achieve. The sooner we start thinking about this, the more we can develop and refine this into achievable goals.  This is because setting goals can really be an ongoing process.  So as we go through this season and figure out our current position, we can do so with our aims in mind.  Figuring out where we currently are will really help us to think where we ultimately want to be.

What a shocking few months it has been! The World is in chaos, we are all in lockdown and the memes and Netflix have almost run out...  Whilst we are all sitting around, stuffing our faces with Easter eggs, saving the NHS and waiting to emerge into A Brave New World - we should probably take a few minutes to think about what all of this means for our personal finances. Join my new co-host Craig and I as we dazzle you with our French; take a look at what being on lockdown means for our jobs and income; what we can benefit from; how to cope with paying debt and other bills; and whether now is the right time to invest or not.

Have you ever made a financial decision and then looked back and thought WTF was I thinking? Why did I do that?! Well if so, join the club! The way we act can really impact our financial wellbeing, now and in the future. And the way we behave is often because of the way we think and feel at the time and the way we feel about finance more generally. Tune in today to find out the common behavioural pitfalls and biases we face when it comes to making financial decisions and how these can damage our financial wellbeing; how this can in turn impact our mental wellbeing; and how this can go on to impact our decisions and behaviour again in a vicious cycle. If we know how our thoughts and feelings can impact our behaviour, then we can develop healthier financial behaviours. This will help us secure our financial wellebing and ultimately our overall wellbeing. So. Behave Yourself!!!

Tune in to Penny Radio today to discover what debt is and what types of debt there are out there. Now I'm sure you know this already and you may have debt of your own. Debt can be a big drain on our finances and a big risk to our financial health. So we'll also be looking at the difference between bad debt and useful debt. And what to do if you are struggling to repay your debt. But most importantly we will be taking a look at how you feel about debt and why. I like to call this your Debtitude. If you know what your Debtitude is and why you feel this way about debt, then it can be easier to control how you use debt. Have you noticed how no one talks about debt? Unless of course it is to judge people for getting into debt? Why is this, when debt can really affect our mental health as well as our financial health? Well now is the time to challenge this and to smash the stigma around debt! Start talking about debt to your friends and family today!

You've probably heard of wrappers and platforms before and wondered what they are.  This is more financial jargon that we need to bust and understand.  So tune in today to find out what wrappers and platforms are and how they work.  Discover how wrappers are like a big bag of tasty sweets.  Find out how they can be one of your best friends and help you make the most of compound interest.  We'll also look at how platforms are the shelves that you can keep your big bag of sweets on!  But beware of the those sweet-pinching baddies - fees...  And if you've ever wondered what the difference between savings and investments are - well this is your episode!

Do you find tax tricky to get your head round?  Do you look at your payslip and wonder where a big chunk of it has gone?  And why?!  Or do you just accept that you have to pay taxes but you don't really know how it's all worked out?  HMRC says that tax doesn't have to be taxing - but just how trues is that?  How taxing is tax? Tune in to today's episode to find out!  We'll look at what tax is.  And what the different types of tax that you might have to pay.  We also take a look at how tax is worked out and what it can mean for us. Remember to check out the show notes and the links to the calculators at https://pennyradio.co.uk/penny-radio-resources.  You'll be able to find the examples that we talk about in the show.  Use these to see how much tax you will have to pay.  And find out just how taxing tax is!

Tune in to this week's episode of Penny Radio.  In this second of two episodes on inflation, we take a look at how damaging inflation can be on our financial wealth and health.  We go through some real world examples to help you understand what inflation means for you.  And we take a look at what we can do about it!  Remember to check out the show notes at https://pennyradio.co.uk to see the examples we talk about, for yourself.  You can change the numbers to suit your own personal financial situation to see how inflation really impacts you!

Tune in to this week's episode of Penny Radio and join us as we bust the jargon of inflation.  In this first of two episodes we look at what inflation actually is and the different types.  Find out how governments calculate them and why they want inflation.  Even if it means our money is worth less today than it was yesterday!

Tune in to Penny Radio for the second part of our exploration of interest.  In this episode we look at some real world examples of when you'll come across interest.  We'll find out what the Annual Equivalent Rate on savings accounts and the Annual Percentage Rate of Charge on loans are.  We'll also look at whether using our savings to pay off expensive debt is a good idea.  Remember to check out the show notes on the website to see these examples and try putting in your own numbers for your own personal situation.

In this week's episode we tackle one of the most fundamental of the Fundamental Finance season's topics - interest.  We go through what interest is; why it is important in helping us to build wealth and financial health; where we might come across it; and the difference between simple and compound interest.  Most importantly we look at how to calculate interest for ourselves.  Make sure to check out the examples in the show notes at Penny Radio.

Join me for this episode where we take a look at banks accounts - what they are and why they are one of the first steps to mastering your money.  We also take a look at what debit and credit mean and how we use them in everyday life.

Listen now as we kick-off Fundamental Finance - the first season of Penny Radio, by taking a look at what money actually is.  We delve into whether money really exists and touch upon what types of money there are, how we get it and how we use it.

Happy New Year! Welcome to the first ever episode of Penny Radio. Listen to find out how this podcast can help you finally take control of your financial future! Start the New Year and decade off on the right foot and make a New Year's resolution that you can stick to and that future you will be extremely glad you did!

Exciting news! Penny Radio is launching on 1st January 2020!! Subscribe now and tune in on New Year's Day to find out how to finally take control of your financial future. If you can't wait, head over to pennyradio.co.uk to find out more!