Serious Money Podcast

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Half of YouTube will tell you financial advisers are a rip-off. What it doesn’t mention is that most people who actually have one are happy with it, and that only around 9% of the country ever gets to find out either way.
Gareth and Chris dig into the advice gap. Far more people would benefit from advice than can get it, and the gap is getting wider.
In this episode:
Why advice costs what it does: regulation, insurance, levies, and taking on the legal responsibility for your decisions
Financial advice vs fund management: why people keep mixing them up
The personal trainer test: you know how to do a press-up, so why pay someone?
Vanguard’s Adviser’s Alpha research and where the value of advice really comes from (hint: behaviour, not fund picking)
How one innocent pension withdrawal capped someone’s pension contributions for life
31,000 advisers for 54 million adults, an ageing profession and few young or female advisers coming through
The FCA’s three-part fix: targeted support, simplified advice and a clearer line between guidance and advice
The bigger problem: an education gap, not just an advice gap
Could AI fill the gap?
Plus: why only 4% of people in Wales have a financial adviser, compared with 16% in the South East.
Our takeaway: advice isn’t for everyone, and plenty of people can do a lot themselves. But you can’t judge something you’ve never tried. Start by knowing where you are, where you want to get to, and having a plan to bridge the two.
Listen on all apps: https://podfollow.com/serious-money-podcast
Got a question for the show? Message us on Instagram @seriousmoneypodcast or email help@seriousmoneypod.com.
Serious Money is for general information and education only and is not financial advice or a personal recommendation. The value of investments can go down as well as up, and you may get back less than you invest. Tax rules can change and depend on your circumstances. Please seek regulated financial advice before making decisions.

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Andy Burnham has been Prime Minister for about 80 days, and his first Budget lands on 28 October. Chris and Gareth go through what’s been announced so far, what’s being floated, and what they actually expect on the day.
In this episode:
The “flood the zone” approach: lots of small announcements, from the energy bill cut and £2 bus fares to business rate cuts for pubs, clubs and music venues
Your First Home: the new low-deposit equity loan scheme, how it works, and whether it helps the people who need it or just pushes prices up
Why the Chancellor has lost around half the headroom he inherited, and what higher borrowing costs mean for the Budget
The ideas being floated: a higher personal allowance, a property tax to replace council tax and stamp duty, a flat 10% inheritance tax, and bringing capital gains tax in line with income tax
The £90k VAT threshold and the £100k income “cliff edge”, and why they hold people back
Should the country be run more like a business?
Our predictions for the day
The big takeaway: don’t act on anything you read in the papers before the Budget. Wait for the detail, because even confirmed changes often go through consultation and come with a lead-in period.
We’ll be recording a special episode as the Budget is announced on 28 October, so make sure you’re subscribed.
Got a question for the show? Email help@seriousmoneypod.com or find us on Instagram @seriousmoneypodcast.
This podcast is for general information only and isn’t financial advice. Speak to a qualified adviser about your own situation.

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Pull up your pension. If you hold an S&P 500 fund, around a third of it sits in just seven companies, and even a "global" tracker has roughly a fifth in those same names. Those seven drove about three-quarters of the market's gains from 2022 to 2025. So are we in an AI bubble, and is it about to pop?
Gareth and Chris won't pretend to call it. Instead, they look at what history does to a portfolio this concentrated and how to protect yourself either way.
In this episode:
The difference between a correction, a crash and a bubble bursting
Why dot-com took 15 years to recover, and why today's tech giants look different
Nvidia's paradox: a $5tn company that's getting cheaper as it grows
The SpaceX IPO, and why you might own it within a week (or never)
The data centre spending boom and the "capex air pocket" risk
Is AI actually taking jobs yet?
Gareth vs Chris: is the S&P right to keep unprofitable giants out?
The real lesson? The danger isn't "AI". It's concentration.
Listen on all apps: https://podfollow.com/serious-money-podcast
Instagram: @seriousmoneypodcast
Questions for the show: help@seriousmoneypod.com
Serious Money is for education only and is not financial advice. Investments can go down as well as up.

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From April 2027, most unused pensions will count towards your estate for inheritance tax. For many families, that turns the pension from the best place to leave money into one of the worst.
In this episode, Chris and Gareth work through the numbers. If you die after 75, your beneficiaries could face 40% inheritance tax and then income tax on what they withdraw. That can add up to a combined 67% for additional-rate taxpayers.
We cover:
What's changing on 6 April 2027, and what's excluded (death-in-service, spouse and charity transfers)
Why age 75 is still the cliff-edge
The 52%, 64% and 67% double-tax scenarios
Why executors, not pension schemes, have to report and pay, and the liquidity trap that creates
Why defined benefit savers largely escape while defined contribution savers pay
The 2029 National Insurance cap on salary sacrifice
Two decades of moving goalposts, and why you shouldn't drain your pension in a panic
Is the pension dead as a way to pass on wealth? And how do you plan when the rules keep changing?
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Serious Money is for education only and is not financial advice. Tax rules can change, and the treatment depends on your individual circumstances. Please seek regulated advice before making any decisions.

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Buy to let isn't dead. But it's not what it was, and many landlords have never run the real post-tax numbers.

Gareth has owned buy to let through two full market cycles and sold out both times. Chris comes at it from the maths, which are unforgiving. Together they get into:

Why so many landlords are selling up, and why it's more structural shift than panic
Gross yield vs net yield: the gap that catches most landlords out
Section 24, capital gains tax and stamp duty: how the costs of getting in, staying in and getting out have changed
Where buy to let can still work: location, value-add, limited companies and HMOs
The honest question: £100,000, buy to let or invest? What each of us would actually do

Plus three real listener questions:
1. Two buy to lets. The accountant says wait, the planner says sell. Who's right?
2. 42, never owned property. Buy to let or stocks and shares?
3. Inheriting a parent's buy to let portfolio: gift or burden?

Our takeaways: work out your true net yield this week. And before buying, ask yourself whether you want the return, or the job of being a landlord. Because it's both.

Got a property question? Send us a voice note or message on Instagram @seriousmoneypodcast, or email help@seriousmoneypod.com. The best questions go straight into the Q&A.

Serious Money is for general information and discussion only and does not constitute financial advice, tax advice or a personal recommendation. Tax treatment depends on your individual circumstances and may change. Buy to let property and most buy to let mortgages are not regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. The value of investments and property can go down as well as up, and you may get back less than you invest. Please seek regulated financial and tax advice before making decisions.