The Meaningful Money Personal Finance Podcast

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 total annual fees including fund and platform fees to be about 0.66% pa. I don't think this is terrible but I think it could be less. I'm considering transferring my investments (which is a mixture of stocks and shares ISA, LISA and (very small) SIPP) to a cheaper platform. Do you have an advice on the transfer process, especially in whether to transfer all the funds in one go or is there a strategy you'd recommend to avoid falling foul of market fluctuations?
Thanks, Jack

30:47  Question 5
Hi Pete and Roger,
You guys are the best. You've given me my only financial education. Never underestimate what a difference you are making to ordinary people's lives. THANK YOU.
I am 42 years old saving into my workplace DC pension. I have a bit of a gap because I started late and then freelanced for a few years, so playing catch up, but thanks to you both, seeing the positives in this, rather than beating myself up.
I am basing the 'gap' on not quite having 3x salary saved by age 42 - is that a decent rule of thumb?
As you both say, arming people with knowledge can be a good thing and a bad thing, because armed with this new knowledge we can go off and overcomplicate things.
I decided to pull my pension from the default fund and pick 6 funds. What's the best route for working out if I am paying too much in fees, if I have got too much crossover across funds, and if the more pricey ones are worth it? 
Do I need to get financial advice or could I do this myself (being a complete layman obvs)? 
Do you have any tips on the process of comparing, finding inefficiencies and consolidating?
What's a reasonable number of funds would you say? 3? 1? 
BTW I've done the same thing with my ISAs since they let us have more than one. How do you just pick one and stick with it, and not get distracted by the new shiny providers? It seems like newer, better products and platforms come out all the time. Or am I worrying unnecessarily and might it be ok to have fingers in many pies?
Thanks again for all you do. Hayley

37:47  Question 6
Thanks for all the content, I listen to every episode and often share the pod with others to share the good word!
My partner will soon be able to get her NHS pension. While we were looking at the numbers, I began to wonder whether there is any benefit in taking the maximum lump sum and investing it outside of the pension. My thinking was that she would probably be able to generate the same amount of income from investing it in the stock market, but that when she dies she will be able to pass the capital on, whereas her pension will just stop paying out.
I think the maximum she can take is about £70k. Presumably she could put this in a GIA and feed it into an ISA over a few years, accepting that any gains in the GIA would be subject to tax. I just wondered if there were any other tax implications that I hadn't considered?
If not, then presumably it's just a case of comparing the drop in the annual pension payment against the expected returns (after tax) from investing outside the pension?
Would love to know your thoughts on this. Thanks again, and keep up the good work. Tim

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?
We're just trying to balance quality of life now with freedom and options later, and would love to hear your take on it. Is there anything else we haven't thought about?
Thanks so much for your thoughts!
Gez
 
19:25  Question 4
Hi Pete and Rog, big fan of the show and I appreciate the helpful topics you cover.
I am currently going through a remortgage and am extracting equity from our house to invest.
The new mortgage rate is around 4% and our LTV will be around 80%. The additional monthly costs are within our budget too.
My strategy is to invest the extracted amount in a stocks and shares ISA with my wife, utilising the £20k allowance each per tax year. This will be invested into globally diversified index funds.
I have ran calculations on how much I will be paying in additional interest vs how much is probable from stock market returns.
Over 25 years, the additional interest paid on £50k extracted at 4% is £29k
Over 25 years, having invested £50k, I would need to return 1.84% to break even from this deal. This is due to the way mortgages are amortised via repayment vs the investments compounding positively.
With conservative returns of 7% used, this will net £236k of interest.
Am I missing anything here?
Keep up the great work and I'm very interested to hear whether you have done this in the past.
Stephen

26:40  Question 5
Hi Pete and Roger,
Recent discoverer and now big fan of the show here - I have now caught up on all the Q&A episodes and am continuing to work my way through the back catalogue: a lot of material!
My questions centre on tax-efficient options once ISAs and pensions are maxed out, and how to "bridge" savings if retiring before pension-age.
I am 36, married and have 2 young daughters who are the apple of my eye. We have a very manageable mortgage and I benefit from a very well paid job. However, an extremely stressful period last year sent me on the track of better understanding personal finance (and ultimately finding you) in order to achieve financial independence and not need to tolerate that kind of situation ever again, as well as be free to dedicate my time and energy to things without worrying about how much money they pay.
1) I am trying to get to functional financial independence (i.e. paid work is entirely optional) as soon as possible - I now max out my annual pension and ISA allowance each year and am likely to continue to in the future. Are there any other normal vehicles I can use for additional saving and investing? Giving money to my wife to use her ISA allowance? Anything else? I don't want to overpay the mortgage for the next several years as we managed to get a fixed rate that is below the current rate of inflation.
2) I have a good understanding of our essential and discretionary spending, and with a conservative annualised rate of return I could theoretically stop contributing to my pension pot in the next 7ish years and compounding would mean it would be big enough to fully support us once we can access it. My question is - is there a good rule of thumb or approach for working out how much I need to save outside the pension if I wanted to stop working for money before 57? Is it just a case of working out # years x expenses or is there anything more sophisticated to it?
3) bonus question - feel free to cut if it doesn't fit: I'm familiar with the idea of asset allocation and rebalancing to "smooth the ride" for my portfolio. Most things I've read or listened to have focused on equities vs. bonds. When I was looking at a number of bond indexes recently the returns have been pretty flat, often 4% from a cash ISA, what's the point of the bonds? Am I missing something?
Thanks so much for all the knowledge you put into the world, giving people the tools to look after themselves. The chat is pretty great too! Kind regards,
Martin


37:18  Question 6
Hello Pete & Roger
Thank you for your fantastic materials, so well explained.
We're 62. We already have a standard pension pot Annuity and we have around £300,000 in savings in building society accounts.
(We value peace of mind over the potential for big gains, so we're not really considering stocks and shares).
We're wondering whether, rather than rely entirely on savings accounts, it would make sense to use a Purchase Life Annuity.
With current annuity rates, it looks like that's a Yes, so we're curious what your expert view is on this.
We're aware of the downside: that it leaves us without much of a savings pot for any unexpected very large need.
Have watched the Annuities: Back from the dead? video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=alTTzrd2NbY -  which talked about buying an annuity with pension, but in our case it would be Purchase Life Annuity, so does that make a difference when purchasing an annuity?
Thank you again! Moira

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

Welcome to the last Q&A session of 2025. In this show we cover selling properties to invest in pensions instead, starting to invest for the first time, UFPLS vs FAD and SO MUCH MORE!

Shownotes: https://meaningfulmoney.tv/QA36 


02:05  Question 1
Big thanks to Pete and Roger for all the excellent advice.
This question is for some of the 2.8 million UK landlords. Even those with just one property in their own name—not through a limited company—are increasingly affected by fiscal drag.
Looking ahead, I plan to sell down much of my property portfolio in later life (because who wants to be a landlord at 70?). Plus, mortgage finance becomes trickier in your 70s. That said, even if I retain one or two of the best properties, the rental income alone may push me into the higher-rate tax bracket.
I'm 49 and don't currently have a SIPP, but I can invest up to the £60k annual allowance via my limited company. Would it make sense to start building a modest pension over the next 10 years as a risk mitigation strategy?
If so, how should I think about the opportunity cost? I'd save 25% corporation tax going in, but pay higher-rate income tax on the way out (less the 25% tax-free lump sum)—so is the net tax cost around 5%? Or am I overlooking other factors, like the benefit of CGT and income tax exemptions on growth within the pension?
Appreciate your thoughts—and keep up the great work.
Regards, Cameron.

07:29  Question 2
Hi Pete, Roger and Nick,
I've recently discovered your YouTube channel and podcast, and it's been a real eye-opener - thanks so much for all the great content!
I'm 45 and currently have £74,000 in a Fidelity SIPP, but it's all sitting in cash. I know that's far from ideal, especially with 15–20 years until I plan to retire. I also realise it's a relatively modest pot for my age, and it's not earning anything while it just sits there.
How would you typically advise someone in my situation to begin investing some or all of that cash? I'm keen to make up for lost time but want to do so wisely.
Thanks again, and keep up the brilliant work!
Joanne

15:15  Question 3
Hi Pete & Roger,
Firstly thanks so much for all your hard work - I devour your podcasts, videos & books - so much hard work on your behalf & I hope you realise how appreciated they are.
I am just at the stage of life where in the next few years I need to start thinking about drawing money out of mine & my husband's pensions and I am considering the most tax efficient way of doing this. I have been reading all about UFPLS and FAD. As background, it is unlikely that either my husband or I will ever have much Personal Allowance unused in the years up to receiving our State Pensions due to rental income we receive; it is also unlikely that either of us will ever become higher rate taxpayers. I also understand that to get the most out of ones PCLS it is best to only crystallise the funds actually needed from an uncrystallised pension so the rest of the pot can hopefully grow and therefore the 25% tax free sum also grows. 
So, my question is, what am I missing, in what situations would it be more beneficial to take an UFPLS payment v making a partial crystallisation into a FAD pot (I am with ii who offer this).
I feel like an UFPLS payment would give me 25% tax free and 75% taxed right away, whilst a FAD would give me the same 25% tax free and 75% could be taken straight away or drawn down over time as desired and could also be left invested to hopefully grow?
Thanks so much, Tracy

21:12  Question 4
Hi Pete and Roger, thanks for hosting such a great podcast!
I've recently been searching for a new job and was lucky enough to receive an offer with some interesting compensation features that I thought I would ask your opinions on. I actually turned down this role in favour of something else, but wanted to ask nonetheless as the offer came with an interesting feature that I have not come across before.
Firstly, and probably most straightforward to answer – The salary on offer was £50,500 per year, which seems a weird figure – suspiciously only slightly above the threshold to tip me into the higher tax bracket, which got me thinking – are there any benefits (to the employer or employee) of being only just into the next tax bracket up? Why not £50k, or £51k?
Secondly, in addition to a very generous DC pension scheme (they would pay in 12% if I pay in 5%) they offer a "Savings Scheme" whereby 5% of my salary would be deducted (and paid into this scheme) each month and at the end of 12 months the company would then top up these savings with another 5% of my annual salary – (actually 6% to "account for the extra tax"). My real question is this – what are these "savings schemes" in a nutshell, and are there any benefits of them over trying to negotiate for increased employer pension contributions instead?
Interested to hear your thoughts on these.
Thanks so much!
Jamie

29:09  Question 5
Hello Pete and Roger
I've recently found your podcast and wanted to say thanks for all the insight you are providing. Not only do you make a fairly dull subject tolerable, you even manage to make it reasonably enjoyable 😉
My wife and I have a couple of rental properties which should be paid off along with the house in a year or so.
I'm 47 and on an average salary. I have a medical condition which means I'll probably be unable to carry on working till 67 (but life expectancy unaffected). The problem I have is I don't know when I'll need to access my personal pension so planning is a bit tricky.
My DC pension pot is just over £200k which ordinarily would be quite healthy but if I have to access it at 57 suddenly it isn't so great.
I'm currently invested 100% in shares and have been a bit braver than I'd normally be inclined, as I feel I need to make hay while the sun shines, but now getting to the stage where I might want to reduce the risk on the money I've worked hard to save.
The problem I have is knowing how to go about planning for an uncertain future.
I'm also aware I have a blind spot when it comes to bonds. I know they are meant to fare better than shares in falling markets but not sure if the reality matches the reputation. Fundamentally I just don't understand the mechanics of how they work and what factors affect how they move.
Would be very grateful to hear your thoughts!
Thank You and keep up the good work.
Danny

37:08  Question 6
Hi Pete and Roger,
I'm 31 and have been listening to this podcast for at least 10 years so have been very lucky to have baked all of your wisdom and advice into my own financial habits over the formative years of attending university and entering the world of work, which has undoubtedly set me on the right path for the rest of my life - I hope! I can't thank you enough for your generosity and dedication to this mission.
My question is maybe an unusual one...
I am fortunate to be in a well-paid job in what I think is a relatively secure career and have all of the basics covered - from a good EM fund, no debt and money put into wealth-building mechanisms (pension and Stocks and Shares ISA). I have more than enough to be comfortable.
Unfortunately, a couple of years ago my brother got diagnosed with a rare cancer at the age of 26 and has been battling the condition ever since. He's spent a lot of time in the care of the national treasure that is The Christie in Manchester, and I'm so grateful for the work they have done to support him and would like to financially donate to them so that I can do what I can to help them and others in return.
I get (what I consider to be) a significant pre-tax annual bonus to the tune of £10-15k and am considering donating this in one-off charity contributions through my employer's benefit scheme each year when I receive it. Alternatively, I could pension-dump these bonuses and build a strong compounding engine for retirement one day and at that point could then donate a substantially higher figure (potentially even just from interest on the core portfolio alone..?).
Whilst I won't ask you to answer what is probably an impossible question on behalf of The Christie in terms of which is more important - money now or money later - do you have any thoughts on the pros and cons of either approach? Is there a right answer here in your opinion?
Thanks again for all you do
Tom