Inflation strikes back: How worried do we need to be?

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.

The future of the cash Isa has been in the spotlight of late, with rumours the Chancellor could tinker with one of Britain's best loved tax breaks. It's believed some city bosses are lobbying her to make the limit less generous, and push more people into investing their money instead. While just speculation, it's a move that would certainly ruffle a few feathers. This week, Lee Boyce, Georgie Frost and Angharad Carrick discuss the future of Isas and ask: Should people with cash parked in savings accounts be strong-armed into investing instead? Elsewhere, Octopus has launched an investment platform where you can buy into a wind turbine - is it a good home for your cash? Council tax has been in the spotlight, with some areas seeing increases in annual bills of up to 9.9% - and with it a social movement to cancel direct debits. Here's why that's not a wise move. Ang spoke to Virgin Media O2's customer service boss about their pledge to turn around their poor performance over the years. Will we just be shoved to chatbots? And does living in a hard water area make energy bills more expensive?

The Bank of England has delivered another rate cut but big questions remain over what happens next? Forecasters had largely agreed that this year would see another two base rate cuts, but the Bank delivered a pair of verdicts that could push ratesetters down a different path. Firstly, it slashed its growth forecast for 2025 from 1.5 per cent to just 0.75 per cent. Secondly, it said inflation would rise well above target to 3.7 per cent. So what does this mean for the UK economy, interest rates, mortgage rates and savings rates? On this podcast episode, Georgie Frost, Simon Lambert and Helen Crane discuss the impact of the rate cut and the Bank of England's forecasts. Another major issue for investors and the UK is Donald Trump's trade war, Simon explains how this will affect markets and where the winners and losers are likely to be. On the investing theme, the team also look at the lessons we can learn from the Covid crash and rebound, five years on from when the pandemic first started to hit. Plus, the mortgage trick that could clear your loan early... but would your lender let you do it? And finally, has Nectar finally come up with something to stop points being stolen?

More than a million people switched current account last year - the second time it has ticked over the 1m mark. So, who is winning the switching battle and is it all driven by people chasing a quick and easy buck from banks?  Lee Boyce and Georgie Frost dive into the data and also look at why you might not be rich enough to bank with HSBC anymore... if you want its exclusive account. The Government rules out forcing businesses to accept cash - is that a smart move? Need help with your tax return? HMRC slammed for poor customer service record via the telephone, is all the criticism justified?  And your next car insurance quote might just be significantly lower... as Lee sees a huge drop with an auto-renewal that had him smiling from ear-to-ear.