Banks want to lend you a bigger mortgage - but is that a good idea?

Major banks are tweaking their rules to allow borrowers to get bigger mortgages, while a new upstart lender is offering seven times salary home loans. Is this a welcome easing of the too tight rules to suit people’s needs or the start of a recipe for financial disaster? On this week’s podcast, Georgie Frost, Lee Boyce and Simon Lambert dive into the world of mortgages and look at whether lenders are coming up with a solution or creating more problems. Is this a repeat of the heady days before the financial crisis, have stress tests helped borrowers avoid the stress of rising rates, and would you even want a seven times income mortgage? Plus, is the Bank of England about to aggressively cut interest rates in the wake of Donald Trump’s tariff chaos. Also on this episode, why our retirement expert Sir Steve Webb is loving his new solar panels and how to work out what kind of investor you are and how much risk you should take. And finally, a definitive list of the 50 best British cars of all time has been released, do you agree with it?

Amid Donald Trump's tariff madness, there may be a silver lining for British investors. With American exceptionalism swiftly being replaced with American erraticism, the UK is attracting the eye of international investors. They see the FTSE - and its European counterparts - as a relative bastion of sanity and somewhere that a rules-based trading system can ride out the storm away from a US government seemingly intent on tearing up the rulebook and throwing the pieces in the air to see where they land. But this isn't the first occasion that investors have heard the siren call of a revived UK stockmarket, only to have their hopes dashed on the rocks, so will it be different this time? On this week's podcast, Georgie Frost and Simon Lambert discuss whether UK shares will be a tariff winner - and where else investors can turn to make a profit. Plus, how much should you have in savings at different ages and are NS&I's new bonds or cash Isa table-topping rates from savings apps a way to get there. And finally, a question from a reader who asks what they can do about a neighbour who borrowed their lawnmover and broke it... and what our consumer rights lawyer's answer reveals about Georgie. Tell us what you think about the This is Money Podcast We are running a listener survey, to get your thoughts on what you like about the podcast and what we can improve. We would really appreciate if you could take a few minutes to fill it in - you can do so here. 

For years, two-year fixes were the mortgage of choice for most homeowners - but borrowers piled into five-year deals in 2022 and 2023 in a bid to lock in super-low rates. Now, UK Finance figures show shorter fixed deals are once again back in vogue. Does that mean people think rates are heading down - and what do you need to think about when choosing yours? This is Money's Helen Crane and Georgie Frost discuss.  Elsewhere in the property market, TSB data reveals that the average first-time buyer is now past their 30th birthday in all but one region of Britain. Perhaps more surprisingly, though, the amount people borrowed from family to get on the property ladder went down last year.  The team ask why that is, and tips for saving a house deposit.  Donald Trump's tariffs have continued to dominate the headlines this week, causing a whirlwind on the global markets.  Is this going to bring down savings rates for good, and what can people do with their money instead?  On the bright side, though, it means there might be a very short window in which you can buy a cheap TV. We are also running a listener survey, to get your thoughts on what you like about the podcast and what we can improve. We would really appreciate if you could take a few minutes to fill it in - you can do so here. 

Markets around the world have slumped, the dollar weakened and fears mount of a global recession, after Donald Trump announced huge 'reciprocal' tariffs on over 100 countries. The UK appears to have got off lightly, attracting just the baseline 10 per cent tariff - but even that will wipe out the Chancellor's beloved headroom and leaves the door wide open for tax rises in the Autumn. How else could it hit us here? From pensions, investments, mortgages and energy bills, Georgie Frost, Simon Lambert and Lee Boyce try to unpick a crazy few days in the geopolitical arena. As Isa providers continue to battle it out to win new customers ahead of the end of the tax year, we've seen some chunky deals. A quartet of savings apps have all boosted rates repeatedly in the last week, with the top cash Isa rate of 5.9 per cent up from 5.28 per cent just a week ago. The catch? These bonus boosts only last three months, so how good is the rate you're really getting over the whole year? And are these deals worth it? And on the topic of Isas, Simon has his very, very last minute tips on filling your allowance before it's too late.

Rachel Reeves is back to where she started after the Spring Statement, with her £9.9billion of budget headroom restored but at what cost. The Chancellor was true to her word and didn't turn this week's economic update into a second Budget, with no tax changes coming in. But a wave of spending cuts was announced, along with growth forecasts going both down and up. We also got the Office for Budget Responsibility's update on what Reeves' Autumn Budget tax rises will cost us, a threat to cash Isas and no reprieve for home buyers on stamp duty. On this podcast episode, Georgie Frost, Lee Boyce and Simon Lambert dive into the Spring Statement to explain why it happened, what it means and tackle the question of whether taxes are going to have to rise again in autumn. They look at the very important assumption being made by the OBR, which if it turns out to be wrong could mean there is a £48billion black hole in the sums. And is the entire thing a charade anyway and damaging to our future prospects? Simon explains why he thinks so. Finally, campaigners like Gary Stevenson claim this could all be solved with a wealth tax - is that where we will eventually end up?

Rachel Reeves is due to deliver her Spring Statement next week and it's probably safe to say this isn't the position she wanted to be in. After an Autumn Budget that raised spending and hiked taxes while locking the Chancellor in with a new fiscal rule, Reeves would have hoped to arrive in March with better news on the economy. Instead, Labour's not-a-tax-on-working-people national insurance hike on employers has backfired, at the same time as the growth forecasts have taken a downturn and borrowing costs have risen. So, what will the Chancellor do next week? Will she tweak her own fiscal rule, raise taxes again or cut spending in unprotected areas that are already suffering? As Rachel Reeves finds herself between a rock and a hard place, Georgie Frost, Lee Boyce and Simon Lambert look at what could happen in this podcast. Plus, what does the Bank of England holding rates and the potential future path mean for your savings and mortgage? What should you do to sort your Isa and pension now? Can you really give away £1million a year and dodge inheritance tax? And finally, the question that anyone like Simon who racks up the odd foreign traffic infraction needs answered, if you get a holiday parking fine, do you have to pay it?

Investors this week have been hit by the 'Trump Slump.' Why is the US President rattling markets and is it the end of the US bull market?  Georgie Frost, Simon Lambert and Lee Boyce discuss what you should be doing to make your investments great again.  How will the UK handle potential tariffs, should investors be in panic mode and what do experts say you should be doing to navigate the geopolitical turmoil? Pension freedom rules came into play 10 years ago - these allowed retirees to take control of their pension savings, shifting away from the obligation to buy an annuity and moving towards flexible drawdown and investment options. So a decade on, how have the class of 2015 fared? Nationwide is handing out more money - £600 million of it - to 12million eligible members as a 'big thank you' following its acquisition of Virgin Money last year. That’s £50 each. And it’s separate to its Fairer Share Scheme, which will be announced in May.  And lastly, what can you do if a neighbour cuts back hedges and trees which have given privacy for decades? 

People with gaps in their state pension records have just one more month to take advantage of a special offer to buy missing years going as far back as 2006. As long as you get your payment or a callback request in by 5 April you can still benefit from the deal, but after that you will only be able to fill gaps from the past six years. And many are facing a backlog with payments in limbo – so what's going on? This week pension gurus Sir Steve Webb and Tanya Jefferies join Lee Boyce and Georgie Frost to talk all things retirement. How can people save sufficiently to provide an income in retirement which they cannot even earn in salary? Steve replies to this tricky question. The state pension is going up in a month, with the headline rate at 4.1 per cent thanks to the triple lock. But Tanya reveals that elements of it are only going up 1.7 per cent... and does Sir Steve think the triple lock will survive? We're on the precipice of Billmageddon with council tax, water bills, train fares, car tax, telecoms and even stamp duty rising – can you dodge the worst of the rises? And Lee has five top tips for bidding at online auctions to pick up genuine bargains… but just remember the fees, no tweed required. 

If you earn a six figure salary then you have a far bigger income than most of the population. That's a multiple of the £37,500 median full-time salary and represents the kind of money that most people will only ever dream of. But would that equate to feeling rich? The cost of living and tax mean that increasing numbers of six figure earners are saying they aren't that wealthy. And surprisingly, more people seem to be agreeing with them - a recent This is Money poll of 7,600 people showed that 71 per cent thought you needed to earn at least £150,000 to be wealthy, while 25 per cent thought you needed to be on more than £500,000. On this episode of the This is Money podcast, Georgie Frost and Simon Lambert discuss what it takes to feel rich and why so many people on big salaries now don't. Also on this episode:  Why Generation X are falling behind on pension saving and what they can do to improve things.  Is it time to fix your energy bills as the price cap rises again?  And Carol Knight, of TISA (The Investing and Saving Association) on why cutting the cash Isa allowance would be a bad move and wouldn't even boost investing.