Dragons' Den investor and entrepreneur Deborah Meaden joins Felicity Hannah to look at the money wisdom and advice you wish you'd known when you were starting out.They hear from listeners who say they wish they'd known more about everything, from how to budget to asking for a pay rise. Others regret not understanding the power of compound interest or what to do with a workplace pension after changing jobs.Dave Fishwick, founder of Burnley Savings and Loans, sets out his top tips and explains his biggest money mistake. And maths teacher and broadcaster Bobby Seagull stresses the importance of financial education. They're also joined by financial planner Kirsty Stone from the financial advice firm The Private Office.Presenter: Felicity Hannah
Producers: Sarah Rogers and James Graham
Editor: Jess Quayle(This programme was first broadcast at 3pm on BBC Radio 4 on Wednesday 30th of July 2025)
-------- Â
28:34
--------
28:34
Pensions, On-Call Firefighters, Childcare
When will you retire? And will you have enough money to live comfortably? Big questions and this week the government announced two major reviews to study them after concerns that today's workers will be poorer in retirement than their parents. The first is a revived Pension Commission with a wide remit. The second is a review into the state pension age. We'll speak to Pensions UK, which represents pension schemes that together provide a retirement income to more than 30 million people. From September working parents of children aged 9 months to school age will get 30 hours of childcare funded by the Government. It simplifies the present system which has different rules at different ages and means working parents of children under three will potentially save thousands of pounds on the cost of childcare. Who is eligible and how does it work?Thousands of people who were retained firefighters are being urged to claim pension payments worth thousands or tens of thousands of pounds. Retained or on-call firefighters generally work part-time. Sixteen thousand of their colleagues have already claimed but a further 10,000 could be eligible to buy back pensions after two legal changes in the past few years.And some money saving tips for anyone going abroad for their summer holiday.Presenter: Paul Lewis
Reporters: Dan Whitworth and Jo Krasner
Researchers: Eimear Devlin and Catherine Lund
Editor: Jess Quayle(First broadcast 12pm Saturday 26th July 2025)
-------- Â
24:34
--------
24:34
Money Box Live: How to Improve Your Credit Score
Every adult has a credit score but you've been telling us the factors affecting it can be mystifying and frustrating. So in this edition of Money Box Live we've been digging into the inbox to answer your questions on credit scores. Whether you’re trying to get a mortgage or loan or just the best rate on a credit card, the information on your file can have a big impact at any stage of life, so what does it all mean and if you want to improve yours, how can you do it?We'll hear from someone battling to rectify his score after fraudsters took over his credit card and we hear from a man with an excellent credit rating who is struggling to get any credit at all.Felicity Hannah is joined by John Webb, a credit expert at the credit reference agency Experian, and Lisa Webb, a senior lawyer and consumer champion at Which?Presenter: Felicity Hannah
Producer: Sarah Rogers
Editor: Jess Quayle(This programme was first aired on BBC Radio 4 on Wednesday 23rd of July 2025)
-------- Â
28:42
--------
28:42
Money Box Live: Why Are Women Retiring with Less?
For every ÂŁ1 a man has in his private pension pot a woman has just 42p according to research from pension company Royal London.When it comes to the State Pension, the gap has closed considerably for people retiring today. But women in their 80s are still getting up to 25% less than men.This week on Money Box Live, we're looking at the reasons behind is as well as what can be done to boost savings.Find out more about a little known pot of money the government has set aside mainly for women, who didn't work because they were looking after children, between 1978 and 2010 - which is largely going unclaimed. We also hear the struggle of a woman who struggled after the state pension age for women was raised from 60 to 66 and what might happen next with the campaign against it.With Felicity Hannah is Sir Steve Webb, former pensions minister and and now partner at pensions consultancy Lane Clark and Peacock and Daniela Silcock who has her own pensions research company.Presenter: Felicity Hannah
Producer: Sarah Rogers and Helen Ledwick
Editor: Jess Quayle(This episode was first broadcast on Wednesday the 16th of July 2025)
-------- Â
28:32
--------
28:32
Water Meters and Cash ISAs
Money Box can exclusively reveal there has been a sharp rise in the number of people applying to have water meters fitted to try to bring their bills down. The data has been shared with this programme by the Consumer Council for Water, the CCW, the which speaks for water consumers in England and Wales. It comes after record April price rises for water with average bills rising more than ÂŁ120 to over ÂŁ600 per year. Cash ISAs appear to have been reprieved - at least for now. Until Friday morning there was widespread speculation that the Chancellor might announce on Tuesday that the amount you could put into a cash ISA would be slashed from ÂŁ20,000, perhaps to as little as ÂŁ4000. The idea was that would fit in with government plans to encourage investment by nudging people with ÂŁ20,000 to spare to use the rest of their tax free ISA allowance to invest in shares instead. However, Money Box understands that won't happen - certainly not on Tuesday when Rachel Reeves gives her annual Mansion House speech to the City of London. We'll look at what that might mean.And what does a major ruling on a divorce case in the Supreme Court mean for how wealth is split between couples in the future?Presenter: Paul Lewis
Reporter: Dan Whitworth
Researchers: Eimear Devlin and Jo Krasner
Editor: Jess Quayle(First broadcast 12pm Saturday 12th July 2025)
UK