E23: Common financial mistakes and how to avoid them with Lynn Beattie, Ola Majekodunmi and Jasper Martens.
The following’s a transcript of our monthly podcast, The Pension Confident Podcast. Listen to episode 23 or scroll on to read the conversation.
PHILIPPA: Welcome to the final Pension Confident Podcast of 2023. To round off the year, we’re going to talk about something we’ve all done - made a financial decision that we’ve later regretted.
Christmas is nearly here and, as we all know, this is the time when it can be, oh, so easy to go overboard on spending, which is great until your bank statement or credit card bill shows up in January. And that’s what got us thinking about financial mistakes. We all make them - little ones like lending a friend a tenner and knowing you’re never going to see it again. Or for some, a really huge, long-lasting mistake, like spending all your savings on a property only to realise it’ll never be the dream home you thought it would be.
Now, even money experts can screw up every now and again. The good news is we can all learn from our mistakes. The more we know about financial pitfalls, the better equipped we’ll be to avoid making more mistakes. And speaking of experts, we have three in the studio to talk us through some of their own money mishaps and what they learned from them. First, let’s welcome back Mrs MummyPenny; Lynn Beattie. Nice to see you, Lynn.
LYNN: Thank you for having me again.
PHILIPPA: Founder of financial literacy platform, All Things Money; Ola Majekodunmi is here with us too. Welcome, Ola.
OLA: Hello, thank you for having me as well.
PHILIPPA: And joining us again, podcast regular and PensionBee’s CMO; Jasper Martens. Hello Jasper.
JASPER: I’m back again!
PHILIPPA: Now, as I always say before we start - please remember that anything discussed on this podcast should not be regarded as financial advice or legal advice. When investing your capital is at risk.
Now, just to prove that everyone trips up over money at least once, we asked the lovely people at PensionBee to confess to their most embarrassing mistakes when it came to money. The things they did before they learned better. Here they are.
Pre-recorded clip starts
BROOKE: I bought clothes from a fake website and they just never arrived.
DANI: I was paying off a credit card for years and being charged interest before realising I could just transfer the balance to a 0% deal.
DAVID: I bought a second-hand car without doing any research and then found out there was loads wrong with it, and so had to spend hundreds of pounds getting it repaired.
FRANCESCA: When my partner lost his job, we didn’t apply for financial support because we knew our landlord would find out and we panicked. We now regret not talking to someone who could help.
RACHAEL: I cashed out two small workplace pensions in my early 20s and now that I’m older, I’m really kicking myself that I didn’t just leave them invested.
TOM: I used to be really bad with streaming subscriptions. I’d sign up for a free trial because I wanted to watch something in particular but would then forget to cancel it, and then the costs would really add up.
Pre-recorded clip ends
SPENDING MISTAKES
PHILIPPA: All sorts of mistakes there. A big thank you to everyone who was brave enough to share theirs with us. With Christmas around the corner, it can be tempting to overspend. Have you ever got finances really wrong around Christmas? I certainly did when I was younger.
OLA: Yeah, I’d definitely say spending and spending without a budget, because without a budget you can easily spend so much more money than you originally planned.
PHILIPPA: It’s that thing, isn’t it? Christmas, Christmas, Christmas! Because it’s a big event, you feel like you have to go big. But it’s not the only one, is it? Because there’s all sorts of occasions where you feel quite a lot of social pressure to spend. Things like attending weddings…
JASPER: I was invited to a really nice wedding in Italy.
PHILIPPA: And were they offering to pay?
JASPER: Well, unpopular opinion, but they’re no longer friends. Because I don’t believe that friends who invite you to those weddings are who you should have as friends!
PHILIPPA: It’s hard, isn’t it? Because there’s that social pressure, particularly with friends. You feel like you’re being really mean if you don’t spend the money. I’m thinking about things like children’s birthdays as well. If you have kids, like I do, you feel that pressure to spend. And when you see other people are spending big on their kids’ parties, you think maybe you should be doing this too.
LYNN: Yeah, I think the comparison of what other people do is really tough. I’ve got three boys and they’re getting a bit older, and presents seem to get more expensive as they get older. What I find is, I might buy a couple of things and say, ‘oh, I’m going to buy another thing and then another thing’, and then suddenly you’ve blown the budget - if there even was a budget.
PHILIPPA: And did they really need that much stuff? I’m thinking about shopping more generally and it seems to me that half the trouble is that it’s so easy to shop now. There’s a real danger of stacking up debt with over-shopping, isn’t there? I mean, Lynn, you’ve spoken so openly about your problems with debt in the past. We talked to you about it in episode 10. Remind people who haven’t heard your story because it’s such a useful thing to hear.
LYNN: So, I got myself into quite a lot of trouble, it was almost like ‘keeping up with the Joneses’. I wanted to go on that holiday, I wanted that handbag, I wanted those clothes because I was caught up in what my friends were doing and what my colleagues were doing. I spent, and spent, and spent! The problem with that was I’d finished a job, set up my own company; Mrs MummyPenny and my income just didn’t match. It went right down, but I was still spending the same. So then, I suddenly racked up £16,000 worth of debt, which pains me to say. And it literally was because I wanted to go to Las Vegas on holiday. I think, ‘why were those thoughts going through my head? Why did I have to do that?’.
PHILIPPA: And maybe those friends who are going to Las Vegas on holiday are earning a lot more than you? That’s the thing - we measure ourselves against everyone we know, but we’re earning different amounts of money, aren’t we?
JASPER: I sometimes compare shopping and purchasing to almost like a cigarette addiction. Once you start smoking, you keep on smoking because you really enjoy it, right? But we know it’s actually bad for us. There’s so many similarities to an addiction.
PHILIPPA: And of course, let’s be honest about it - that’s what retail is for. They want you to do that. The whole industry is about you making that impulse purchase and buying that second thing, particularly online. I’m a massive online shopper. The click and into the basket, it’s just the work of a moment, isn’t it? And then before you know it, you press ‘buy’ and you haven’t really looked at the total.
OLA: I think now, shopping online and in person has become so frictionless. You don’t have to get your cash out. I was even doing a shop the other day and I could just pay on my phone through Apple Pay. So you don’t even have to think about using cash, card, PayPal or anything else.
PHILIPPA: Apple Pay - that’s one to watch!
OLA: It’s the weakness, isn’t it?
PHILIPPA: Without wishing to denigrate Apple Pay, the risk is there. It’s just literally a tap and you’re done.
JASPER: A wine retailer, which I won’t name in this episode, did send me a voucher last week to get £20 off my Christmas shop if I spent £150 or more on my wine purchase. Do you see what’s happening there? So I went to the website and I filled up my basket, but I decided not to click ‘buy’ yet. I paused it for at least a day. Especially when it’s over £100, I kind of feel I need to just think about this. Usually I’ll cool off the next day.
OLA: I think the most important lesson to take away from these sales is that it was never a sale or bargain if you were never planning on buying it in the first place.
PHILIPPA: This is so true. But before we get to that, I need to ask Lynn, how did you pay that debt off?
LYNN: I basically stopped my life for two years, which was really, really hard.
PHILIPPA: So what sort of things are we talking about?
LYNN: I didn’t buy any clothes, I didn’t buy any makeup, and I love makeup! I had to have the conversation with my children, which was really, really hard, which I know a lot of people shy away from.
PHILIPPA: How old were they at this point?
LYNN: 11, nine and six.
PHILIPPA: Kind of old enough to understand?
LYNN: Old enough, and I’ve always been open and honest with my children about money. I said something like, ‘at the moment, mummy has some debt and I have to work on paying it off. So it’s going to mean that we’re not going to be able to go on holidays’. I had things like ‘no spend months’ which were really quite difficult. It was short-term pain for long-term gain.
PHILIPPA: How long did it take?
LYNN: It took two years to pay it off. I’ll never get into that position again.
PHILIPPA: A good lesson for your kids too?
LYNN: Exactly.
PHILIPPA: Back to tips before we move on. Thinking about putting stuff in your basket and not clicking ‘buy’ is a really, really good one. And the thing you said, Ola, about a sale not really being a sale - I always worry about things like Black Friday. I know there are really great bargains to be had, but it draws you into buying stuff that you didn’t have in mind to buy at all.
JASPER: From working in marketing, I also know from quite a lot of other brands, how that whole process works behind the scenes. A Black Friday deal, in the vast majority of cases, isn’t a deal. It’s been priced at that particular price point, it then was bumped up in price, probably in August or September, and then suddenly it’s Black Friday. We’re all falling for it too, every year. But in the vast majority of cases, that product has been on the shelves at that price for, probably, quite a long time.
LYNN: There’s a couple of websites where you can check. So, say if you’re specifically looking for an item, let’s say a Shark vacuum, you can put the details of that product into the website. There’s either Camelcamelcamel or Idealo. You pop in the product details and it’ll give you the pricing history. So you’ll know exactly what’s happened to the price.
JASPER: Marketeers will be caught out!
LYNN: Yeah, they’re really useful websites and apps.
PHILIPPA: What do we think about sales generally? Is that the same?
OLA: I think it’s about - what do you want to buy? And what are you buying for? It’s so easy to shop in the sales just because something’s on sale. I think going into the new year, what do you want to purchase? Is there anything that you’re looking for in particular? For me, I always look at if there’s any deals on flights and things like that. Whereas when it comes to clothes, clothes are on sale all year round.
PHILIPPA: OK, so we’re resisting that emotional boost of buying.
LYNN: Is it worth touching on emotional spending though? Because that’s something that I’ve really struggled with my whole life. When you’re feeling sad, or feeling happy, or feeling angry, my ‘go to’ position has been to spend some money on something. Whether it’s lipstick or an item of clothing. This is what I’m trying to do now - I’m trying to be more mindful about it, to maybe go out for a walk, or go for a run, or go to the gym, or stroke the dog or the cat. Just do something that takes your mind off that immediate dopamine reaction of, ‘I have to buy something’.
PHILIPPA: Yeah, distraction. Don’t give into the marketeers like Jasper!
OLA: And I think it’s interesting, like you said, Lynn, I think it’s also important to identify what your triggers are. So what has triggered you to make you feel sad, or what has made you feel so low in the moment that you feel the need to shop. I have to talk about this with my clients a lot and sometimes it’s about setting barriers in place, like deleting all the shopping apps off your phone and unsubscribing from the mailing list of your favourite retailer. The emails are what catch you out saying things like, ‘Ola, I hope you’re having a lovely week. Here’s 20% off’. And I’m thinking, ‘a treat on my Wednesday? I didn’t know I deserved that!’. It’s things like that. So, put those barriers in place to hopefully curb that impulse spending.
FINANCIAL APATHY
PHILIPPA: Disable Apple Pay or similar app, temporarily, if you need to. But sometimes it does seem to me that our biggest mistakes can be just not paying enough attention to our finances, because we’re busy, aren’t we? We prioritise other stuff. If we’re honest, if our money situation’s not where it should be, we can avoid it as well, can’t we? You don’t want to look because you’re not gonna like what you see.
You’re all well-organised financial professionals, but I’m wondering whether you’re aware of anything, right now, in your lives, that you haven’t got your eye across? Where you kind of know it’s costing you more than it should be? Because I’ve definitely got one. I know that I should’ve changed my utility supplier, but I haven’t done it yet.
JASPER: I’ve got some leakage in my bank accounts. So, we’re talking about monthly subscriptions and stuff. I’ve subscribed to a nice wireframe solution for work. It’s actually a piece of work software. It’s £9.99 per month. I actually should expense it through work, but it’s coming out of my personal account because I used my personal card when I signed up. Every month it just says, ‘hello £9.99’. I’ve got a few of those and actually, maybe I should do that this afternoon. If I actually took control, it probably would save me £40 to £50 each month. That’s quite a lot of money!
OLA: Yeah, it is. I’m embarrassed to admit this, but I signed up to a language learning app earlier this year to learn a new language for my trip. I signed up for the free subscription and completely forgot to cancel it, and it’s cost me £60 for the year.
PHILIPPA: I do that with newspapers. I’ll sign up for three months free, then forget. But, I’ve learned my lesson and what I do is put a calendar reminder in.
OLA: I’m always so good at that but this time around I just completely forgot.
LYNN: So, say you’ve got maybe four or five subscriptions that you could do without, that you could cancel. So maybe that’s something like £40 per month. That’s nearly £500 per year. If you just spent half an hour going through your subscriptions and cancelling those four or five, I know it’s a hassle to do it, but it’s a few clicks. £500 - when are you ever going to get paid £500 for half an hour’s worth of work?
PHILIPPA: It’s time, isn’t it? Thinking about things like auto-renewals, insurance or utility payments. We all know we should be shopping around, but that’s not an instant thing to do, is it? You sit down, you get the thing saying it’s going to auto-renew next month and you think, ‘yeah, I must shop around to see if there’s something better’.
JASPER: You pay for the ease. Hopefully my old employer isn’t listening, but I used to work for an insurance company, although I wasn’t involved in the insurance part. With auto-renewal on insurance premiums, as a customer, you’re paying more. And the insurers know that. So swapping every year, when the renewal comes up, is a good idea. And there are many comparison websites where you can do that. They’re more than happy to welcome you with open arms. What happens with insurance also happens with mobile phones. Simply texting your current mobile phone provider and saying, ‘can I get my PAC code?’, that basically means, ‘I’m leaving. I want to take my mobile number with me’. Alarm bells will go off for the provider, they’ll give you a call and your renewal will probably be half the price.
PHILIPPA: I’ve learnt to negotiate. I didn’t used to do that. So when they send you your renewal, you’ve shopped around and think, ‘actually that’s probably a lower price than everywhere else’ - I’ll still get on the phone to them and say, ‘well, you know, I think I can do better than this’. They always take a bit of money off.
OLA: They always find a ‘special little deal’ for you!
PHILIPPA: They do. And then there’s things that we don’t even think about, like our bank accounts. No one ever changes their bank account…
OLA: Oh, I do! I love a change.
PHILIPPA: But most people don’t, do they? We stick with them life-long, even though the market is much more diverse and sophisticated now. I know, because you’ve told me before Jasper, you’ve got a savings account story, haven’t you?
JASPER: Yeah, you’re absolutely right. People don’t change bank accounts. We also see that people are reluctant to change pension providers. It’s just such a thing, isn’t it? You want to think twice before you do it. In terms of savings accounts, I opened up, a few years ago, an account with Marcus for the interest rate. Lots of people did. But, what usually happens with savings accounts is, over time, those interest rates might not be as appealing.
Just looking around and shopping for if you can get a little bit more, especially now with inflation being high, your money can become worth less. So you want to make sure you get some interest on it. So, I’ve moved mine to a Monzo account now. I bank with Monzo, so it was very convenient for me to move it from Marcus to Monzo. Nationwide now has a really good deal - I mean, you do need to shop around. Do you have to change it every single month? No.
PHILIPPA: I was gonna say, how often?
JASPER: I’d say a few times a year. Like you said, it takes up about an hour of your time.
OLA: If that! You log into a comparison website, tell them what you’re looking for and within five seconds there’s already options. Then it’s as simple as making a transfer. It’s so easy these days.
JASPER: You’ve got to just invest that time, even if it’s an hour each quarter of the year. I know you like changing bank accounts, Lynn. You’ve told me about it in the past. There are some really great welcome bonuses available.
LYNN: I was always thinking, ‘oh, I don’t think this is going to work’. So, I’ve been trying this in the last year and I hate to admit it, but I’ve switched my main account three times now, but I’ve got £200 each time I’ve transferred! The cash bonuses now, for swapping your bank account, are really quite generous, and they do all the switching of the Direct Debits for you, and nothing’s ever gone wrong. So why would you not do it?
JASPER: It’s the seven day switch guarantee.
PHILIPPA: That’s solid, is it? Because I’ve got to say, that’s the thing that in my head stands in the way. I’m thinking, ‘do I believe them when they say that all my payments will be moved on? Will they all be there and will it all work?’. Does it work?
LYNN: It does work.
JASPER: It does. My salary was also paid into my new account. That’s always my biggest fear.
OLA: Especially if you’re feeling the pinch towards Christmas - I think there’s no better time than now to switch, especially if you need an extra £200. I felt the pinch in the summer when I was going on a holiday to Ibiza and I thought, ‘oh Ola, how are you gonna get any spending money?’. So I switched and got £200 just before I flew.
PHILIPPA: So, how much bother is it to close down your old account?
OLA: You don’t do anything.
JASPER: It literally takes you five minutes.
OLA: They do it all for you.
JASPER: I remember when I switched from HSBC to Monzo, I think it took me five minutes on the Monzo app. You do it with the new provider.
PHILIPPA: I’m thinking about accounts, but it’s also what you’re saving or what you’re investing, isn’t it? You mentioned pensions and I’m thinking about savings accounts as well. It’s not just where it is, it’s how much I’m putting into it. Particularly with pensions, I really do think that people feel, ‘I’ve got one. It’s all good. I never need to think about it again until I need the money’, but you should keep your eye on it, shouldn’t you? And thinking, ‘can I put a bit more in? Is it working for me?’.
JASPER: Times are tough. So I’m not here today to say, ‘thou shalt put as much money in your pension as possible’, especially when we’re all feeling the cost of living, when people are feeling the pinch. I think there’s a couple of things you ought to be looking at. We’ve talked about this in previous episodes - lots of people have tiny pots everywhere. If you don’t know where they are, or you know where they are, but don’t know exactly how much is in them, it’s probably a good idea to get them in one place, for sure. At least you’ll know how much you’ve got.
Older pensions can be quite expensive as well. It’s not always talked about, but, I’ll call them ‘legacy providers’ aka ‘steam-powered pension policies’, can be quite expensive. And actually, just moving them to a new home might save you money on the management fee.
PHILIPPA: It’s knowing what you’ve got, isn’t it? Whatever it is, I think it’s understanding how much you’ve got. You’ve probably done research on this, but if you were to ask people who do have pensions, ‘do you have any idea what’s going on with your pension right now, or even, how much you’re putting into it?’, they won’t know, will they?
JASPER: The vast majority don’t. They don’t know how much their employer pays into their pension. If you ask them, ‘how much are you charged for your pension plan?’, most people don’t know.
PHILIPPA: I know this is a subject close to Lynn’s heart, because you were a bit of a late starter on the pension front, weren’t you?
LYNN: Yeah, it’s my biggest financial regret, because I didn’t put any money at all into my pension in my 20s. Nobody took the time to explain it to me. So I thought, ‘that’s too far down the line’. I actually stopped my contributions, and it was to a defined benefit pension from my employer. If I worked out how much that was worth - it’s potentially six figures! So I had to start from scratch at the age of 30 and I’m paying for it now, because I’m having to put bigger chunks of money into my pension.
JASPER: When I joined PensionBee I didn’t know a pension cost money. I work in the pensions industry and I had no idea I was charged a fee on my pension. I thought my boss was paying for it.
OLA: Most people wouldn’t know, would they? Where’s that rule book that says this is how much you’re paying towards your pension and how much it costs you? That’s why platform fees are so important, especially when you’re looking at switching up your pension.
JASPER: So, be in the know.
BIG FINANCIAL MISTAKES
PHILIPPA: Should we move onto the really big financial mistakes now? We’ve talked about stuff that matters, but I’m thinking about the really painful ones that can affect you for years. Mind you, having said that Lynn, what you’ve said about your pension, that was a long-term mistake, wasn’t it? In the sense that you’re having to pay for it now.
LYNN: In terms of actual money, that’s probably my biggest financial mistake. But I’ve made plenty of others! So we can talk about them.
PHILIPPA: I love the honesty in the room. The end of year honesty in the room! Can we all remember our first big purchase we made? Did it all go smoothly? Did it go well?
OLA: Well, I can’t think of my biggest purchase, but the biggest that went badly. Last year, I did invest in a designer handbag and that designer brand got cancelled literally a week or two after I bought it. So I haven’t yet taken it out of the house.
LYNN: What do you mean it got cancelled?
OLA: Oh, it got slated and I’m not even going to mention the brand. They got cancelled and I think a lot of people who understood the scandal know exactly what I’m talking about. And yeah, it’s yet to leave the house.
LYNN: Interesting story about designer handbags, I’ll do it quickly. I spent an uncomfortable amount of money on a designer handbag last year. It was an emotional, impulse purchase. It’s a really difficult thing to get in control of. I’ll open up - it’s something I struggle with. So, I bought this handbag, I took it home, I showed my kids and my eldest son said to me, ‘that’s like a third of a holiday’. And just that one sentence made me take that bag back and I got my money back.
PHILIPPA: You see, I’m listening to you two talk about ‘investing’ in designer handbags and I’m sorry, I’m gonna say it, because we made a podcast recently about how women are much less likely to invest than men. We dug into the reasons why that was, it was all very interesting. But there are these big decisions that people make when they’re quite young. I’m thinking about university here actually, that’s a big investment, isn’t it? You don’t necessarily think about it that way when you go, take the loans and rack up all that debt. But that’s something to think about, isn’t it? Because there’s so many other routes of entry now, into all sorts of careers.
OLA: I agree. I honestly wouldn’t have gone to university had I felt well equipped to take another route.
PHILIPPA: Really?
OLA: Yeah. I really wanted to do something like an internship or an apprenticeship. But my school really did put a big emphasis on supporting people going to university rather than those going down the apprenticeship route. So if I wanted to do an apprenticeship, I had to find it myself. I had to actually understand what that was and I didn’t know.
PHILIPPA: That’s a big ask at that age.
OLA: Massive, especially now that I look at my sister who’s that age. I think, ‘wow, that is so young’. At the time, the only apprenticeships I came across were in finance. It’s funny, I definitely didn’t want to go down the route of finance at the time. I don’t have regrets about university now, but I am in £65,000 worth of debt, plus interest.
PHILIPPA: It’s a big debt, isn’t it? Thinking about sizable errors - property is the one that’s come to my mind now. Renting and buying. Thoughts on common mistakes there?
LYNN: I don’t think I’ve ever been in a position where I’ve made a really sensible property decision. The first house I bought, I did so when the market was at a high. Then when I sold it, the market was at a low. So I made about £10,000 profit on a property that I owned for five years. The next property I bought was with my husband. Then I got divorced. So then I had to increase my mortgage proportionately to buy him out. So I feel like I don’t have much equity to my name because I just haven’t made the right decisions about property. I’m 46 and I speak to some people in their 40s that are mortgage-free. I can’t get my head around how you can be mortgage-free when I’ve got a £300,000 mortgage left to pay and I’m 46!
PHILIPPA: Sometimes you have to sell when you have to sell, and you have to buy when you have to buy, don’t you? There isn’t always the opportunity to be completely rational.
OLA: I think this is why buying is such a hard topic because being a 26-year-old, all of my friends’ goals in life are to buy a property. I think it’s fueled more by peer pressure and societal pressures that make you feel like you have to buy, when really it actually might not be the best decision to make right now.
JASPER: A house is to live in and many people make the assumption that their house is going to be their pension, or it’s going to be ‘the’ investment they’re going to make. Like you said, Lynn, most people will have a really big mortgage attached to it, to actually purchase that property. It’s not actually yours, it’s the bank’s. I’d say with property, one of the biggest mistakes you can make is that you see it as ‘the’ investment. Well, actually there are other investments in life too, like an investment account or a pension. And then also very practically, within the house - I’m a homeowner. Don’t invest in a very fancy bathroom or a very fancy kitchen that’ll go out of fashion in two or three years. Some things that are a bit more timeless are more practical.
LYNN: Have you done that Jasper?
JASPER: Yes, I have!
PHILIPPA: We’re running out of time, but I think it’s interesting Lynn, when you talked about marriage and divorce and the costs that can involve - you having to up your mortgage. I’ve been there myself. All these things can get very, very expensive. What I took from that, and I don’t know what you all think about this, is the importance of having really good financial conversations with anyone you’re financially connected to. Whether it’s a husband, a flatmate, a friend, a family member.
LYNN: I think from the moment you know that, particularly a relationship, is getting serious, you have to have that financial conversation. And almost ‘marry up’ your money mindsets. I was married to a spender and I was a spender - that’s a really dangerous combination. Don’t be afraid to do it because marrying the wrong person is a really expensive mistake. Not just because of all the assets that have to be split, but getting divorced costs a lot of money.
OLA: Which people don’t talk about either, do they? I think, going back to the early stages of dating, a lot of people don’t ask about money spending habits. They may think it’s weird they were asked that on the date, but I think it’s really important to know. I think it’s a really important question.
JASPER: Would you ask that on the first date though?
OLA: First date? Maybe not. But third or fourth!
PHILIPPA: Yeah, we did make a whole podcast about how your relationships can impact your finances, but it’s always worth saying and it isn’t just romantic relationships!
OLA: Friendships, I think, are a big one as well. Trying to keep up with certain friendships can also be really, really hard. You don’t want to get into debt just to keep up with your friends, your real friends anyway. That shouldn’t be an issue.
PHILIPPA: That’s a really good point. It plays into something we always say - have good financial conversations and don’t just push money under the carpet. Thank you everyone. It was a great discussion. We’ve thought about so many different things that can go wrong, but now we all know what to watch out for.
Once more, please do remember anything discussed on the podcast shouldn’t be regarded as financial advice or legal advice and when investing your capital is at risk.
We’ll be back in the new year for series three of our award-winning podcast. And what better way to start than with a dream that may be one of your own New Year’s resolutions? Starting your own business.
And we’ve got exciting news! If you’ve got the PensionBee app, you can now listen to The Pension Confident Podcast on our brand new in-app player. So, why not catch up on all our episodes while you check up on your pension? If you’re finding the podcast useful, please do leave us a rating and write us a quick review in your app. You know we always love to hear your thoughts. So until January, a very Merry Christmas from all of us on the podcast and the PensionBee team, see you next year!
Risk warning
As always with investments, your capital is at risk. The value of your investment can go down as well as up, and you may get back less than you invest. This information should not be regarded as financial advice.
Period | Market Event | FTSE World TR GBP (%) | 4Plus Plan (%) |
|---|---|---|---|
4Plus Plan’s inception – 6 Sept 2013 | QE Tapering, China Interbank Crisis and its aftermath | -5.44 | -2.41 |
3 Oct 2014 – 15 May 2015 | Oil price drop, Eurozone deflation fears & Greek election outcome | -5.87 | -1.77 |
7 Jan 2016 – 14 Mar 2016 | China’s currency policy turmoil, collapse in oil prices and weak US activity | -7.26 | -1.54 |
15 June 2016 – 30 June 2016 | BREXIT referendum | -2.05 | -1.07 |
