Money Clinic with Claer Barrett

Latest Episodes:

Help! What should I do with my mortgage? Mar 28, 2023

Show notes

The Bank of England raised its key base rate to 4.25 per cent last week, its highest level in 14 years. But if interest rates are going up, why are some mortgage lenders putting their rates down? Presenter Claer Barrett is joined in the studio by Chris Giles, the FT’s economics editor and Andrew Montlake, chief executive of Mortgage Broker Coreco. They explain how the uncertain outlook for base rates is affecting mortgages, the pros and cons of fixed rate and variable rate mortgages and what mortgage rates are available at the moment.

Want more?

Read Claer’s latest column about mortgage rates here

Check out last week’s Money Clinic: Interest rates, bank crises and your money

We'd love to hear from you. Please help us by filling in our listener survey at ft.com/moneyclinicsurvey. It will take you about 10 minutes to complete and you will be in with a chance to win a pair of Bose QuietComfort Earbuds!

If you would like to talk to Claer about a future episode, please email the Money Clinic team at money@ft.com with a short description of your problem, and how you would like us to help.

You can follow Claer on Twitter and Instagram @Claerb

Presented by Claer Barrett. Produced by Persis Love. Our executive producer is Manuela Saragosa. Sound design is by Jake Fielding and Breen Turner, with original music from Metaphor Music.

Clips: Bloomberg

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Interest rates, bank crises and your money Mar 21, 2023

Show notes

What does a week of turmoil in the banking sector - with the collapse of California’s Silicon Valley Bank and the Swiss state-backed rescue of Credit Suisse - tell us about what central banks will do next with interest rates? And what does it all mean for your money and investments? Host Claer Barrett hears from Financial Times markets editor Katie Martin, and author of the FT’s Unhedged newsletter Ethan Wu.

Want more?

Are banks on the edge of another 2008-style precipice?

Central banks announce dollar liquidity measures to ease banking crisis

Banking turmoil intensifies the need for better Federal Reserve policymaking

If you would like to talk to Claer about a future episode, please email the Money Clinic team at money@ft.com with a short description of your problem, and how you would like us to help.

You can follow Claer on Twitter and Instagram @Claerb

Presented by Claer Barrett. Produced by Persis Love. Our executive producer is Manuela Saragosa. Sound design is by Breen Turner, with original music from Metaphor Music.

Clips: BBC, CNN, CNBC, Bloomberg TV, ABC News

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What they don’t teach you about money Mar 14, 2023

Show notes

What should you be thinking about for your finances when you are just about to enter the adult world? In today’s episode Claer Barrett meets four sixth-form students Demi, Patrick, Lucinda and Loisse-Lhana, who are trying to figure out how to manage their money as they get ready to leave school. Claer answers their questions about investing, saving and how to budget so that your earnings last the month.

Want more?

What They Don't Teach You About Money: Habits to Get You Unstuck and on the Road to Financial Freedom by Claer Barrett is in bookshops from March 16.

Got questions for Claer? Join the FT Live webinar on April 21 where she’ll be discussing her book.

Read Claer’s latest column The first lesson for female financial education? Money is power

Thanks to Cardinal Wiseman Catholic School, Cardinal Vaughan Memorial School and Nationwide Building Society.

If you would like to talk to Claer on a future episode, please email the Money Clinic team at money@ft.com with a short description of your problem, and how you would like us to help.

Say hello on social media: You can follow Claer on Twitter and Instagram @Claerb

Presented by Claer Barrett. Produced by Persis Love. Our executive producer is Manuela Saragosa. Sound design is by Breen Turner and Jake Fielding, with original music from Metaphor Music.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How to financially survive a divorce Mar 07, 2023

Show notes

Divorce inquiries tend to peak in the first few months of a new year, so in this episode presenter Claer Barrett, the FT’s consumer editor, sources expert advice on how to manage your costs and finances through a legal separation. Listeners Jane and Tina recount their stories - and what they wished they had known at the start of the process - and Claer speaks to Brett Frankle from the law firm Withers as well as financial planner Tamsin Caine of Smart Divorce about how to ensure your finances survive a divorce.

Links to organisations mentioned in the episode:

https://resolution.org.uk/

https://www.judiciary.uk/family-justice-council/

If you would like to talk to Claer about a future episode, please email the Money Clinic team at money@ft.com with a short description of your problem, and how you would like us to help.

You can follow Claer on Twitter and Instagram @Claerb

Presented by Claer Barrett. Produced by Persis Love. Our executive producer is Manuela Saragosa. Sound design is by Breen Turner, with original music from Metaphor Music.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

‘Cash stuffing’: is cash making a comeback? Feb 28, 2023

Show notes

It’s called the ‘cash stuffing’ or ‘cash envelope’ method: separating your money into different envelopes of cash to control your spending. Host Claer Barrett speaks to ‘cash stuffer’ Euphemia Senna, better known on TikTok as She’s On a Budget, about the pros and cons of budgeting this way (and the digital equivalent). She also goes inside the Bank of England, the UK’s central bank, to speak to its chief cashier Sarah John about why there are record levels of banknotes in circulation. Is there any evidence that people are turning their back on digital payments and that cash stuffing is on the rise amid the cost of living crisis?

If you would like to talk to Claer about a future episode, please email the Money Clinic team at money@ft.com with a short description of your problem, and how you would like us to help.

You can follow Claer on Twitter and Instagram @Claerb

Presented by Claer Barrett. Produced by Persis Love. Our executive producer is Manuela Saragosa. Sound design is by Breen Turner, with original music from Metaphor Music.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Investment Masterclass: Stuart Kirk has ‘skin in the game’ Feb 21, 2023

Show notes

Former asset manager Stuart Kirk writes about investing for FT Weekend in a column where he shares both his investment successes and failures with readers. He tells host Claer Barrett what he’s investing in now,how he chooses stocks, why he isn’t keen on funds that follow a particular theme and what he thinks needs to change in the world of ESG or sustainable investing.

Want more?

Being honest about my portfolio’s performance https://www.ft.com/content/91e59c79-1275-49c3-986c-f1c6778ecfa5

Sectors make sense for investors, not themes https://www.ft.com/content/19a0a68f-c3fd-4267-96a7-f2698b38b19e

If you would like to talk to Claer on a future episode, please email the Money Clinic team at money@ft.com with a short description of your problem, and how you would like us to help.

Say hello on social media: You can follow Claer on Twitter and Instagram @Claerb

Presented by Claer Barrett. Produced by Persis Love. Our executive producer is Manuela Saragosa. Sound design is by Breen Turner, with original music from Metaphor Music.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Money Clinic meets: A bank CEO’s view of the cost of living crisis Feb 14, 2023

Show notes

Chris Pitt, chief executive of First Direct, the UK’s first ever telephone bank, tells presenter Claer Barrett why banks should be doing more to help customers through the cost of living crisis, and shares his own tips on saving and investing.

We'd love to hear from you. Please help us by filling in our listener survey at ft.com/moneyclinicsurvey. It will take you around 10 minutes to complete and you will be in with a chance to win a pair of Bose QuietComfort earbuds!

If you would like to talk to Claer about a future episode, please email the Money Clinic team at money@ft.com with a short description of your problem, and how you would like us to help.

You can follow Claer on Twitter and Instagram @Claerb

Presented by Claer Barrett. Produced by Persis Love. Our executive producer is Manuela Saragosa. Sound design is by Breen Turner, with original music from Metaphor Music.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What higher interest rates mean for your money Feb 07, 2023

Show notes

The Bank of England has raised its key interest rate to 4 per cent, the highest level the UK has seen since the 2008 financial crisis. Presenter Claer Barrett is joined by Helen Saxon, deputy editor of Money Saving Expert, James Pickford, deputy editor of FT Money, and Katie Martin, the FT’s markets editor, to discuss how you can best navigate those higher rates with your savings, mortgages and investments.

If you would like to talk to Claer about a future episode, please email the Money Clinic team at money@ft.com with a short description of your problem, and how you would like us to help.

You can follow Claer on Twitter and Instagram @Claerb

Presented by Claer Barrett. Produced by Persis Love. Our executive producer is Manuela Saragosa. Sound design is by Breen Turner, with original music from Metaphor Music.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

‘I was a victim of financial abuse’ Jan 31, 2023

Show notes

One in six women in the UK has experienced financial abuse in a relationship. That’s according to charity Surviving Economic Abuse. Anyone can become a victim, as Sarah Coles, senior personal finance analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, found out. She tells presenter Claer Barrett about her experience of surviving an economically abusive relationship. Claer also hears from another victim, Francesca, and sources advice on recognising and escaping financial abuse from Dr Nicola Sharp-Jeffs OBE, founder and CEO of Surviving Economic Abuse

Useful links:

The Surviving Economic Abuse website is packed with useful resources, helplines you can call and information on what to do if you or someone you know is in a financially abusive relationship.

For domestic abuse, you can call the freephone National Domestic Abuse Helpline, run by Refuge on 0808 2000 247. If you are in immediate danger, please call the police on 999. For mental health support, you can speak to the Samaritans on 116 123.

We'd love to hear from you. Please help us by filling in our listener survey at ft.com/moneyclinicsurvey. It will take you around 10 minutes to complete and you will be in with a chance to win a pair of Bose QuietComfort Earbuds!

If you would like to talk to Claer on a future episode, please email the Money Clinic team at money@ft.com with a short description of your problem, and how you would like us to help.

Say hello on social media: You can follow Claer on Twitter and Instagram @Claerb

Presented by Claer Barrett. Produced by Persis Love. Our executive producer is Manuela Saragosa. Sound design is by Breen Turner, with original music from Metaphor Music.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Best of Money Clinic: Investment masterclass — the cheapest way to invest Jan 24, 2023

Show notes

Best of Money Clinic: Against the backdrop of market turbulence, investors Jonathan Hollow and Robin Powell explain why they believe investing in broad-based index funds is the cheapest way to increase long-term wealth. This investment masterclass breaks investing down into six simple steps, with tips for those just getting started and those further along their investment journey.

If you would like to be a future guest on Money Clinic, email the team via money@ft.com or send Claer a DM on social media - she’s @Claerb on Twitter, Instagram and TikTok. How to Fund the Life You Want: What everyone needs to know about savings, pensions and investments by Robin Powell and Jonathan Hollow is out now.

Want more?

Why do we still bother with active funds? https://www.ft.com/content/c2e9abd0-0edd-4805-b1ab-d55b661c24de

Passive investing has increased US stock volatility, study finds https://www.ft.com/content/818f9e83-52a8-4170-a148-80f9d9139809

We'd love to hear from you. What do you like (or not)? What topics should we tackle? Please help us by filling in our listener survey at ft.com/moneyclinicsurvey It will take you around 10 minutes to complete and you will be in with a chance to win a pair of Bose QuietComfort Earbuds!*

Your personal information will be processed in accordance with the FT's privacy policy. If you have any queries about the survey please let us know at customer.research@ft.com.

Presented by Claer Barrett. Produced by Persis Love and Philippa Goodrich. Executive producer is Manuela Saragosa. Sound design is by Breen Turner, with original music from Metaphor Music

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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