Footwear and the ESQ badges

This BBC podcast is supported by ads outside the UK Innovation has always kept the world moving forward, but it also comes with risk As technology and AI evolve AXA XL is facing into risk. As a leading global insurer, we constantly push the boundaries to protect your data and network from cyber risks AXorXL facing into risk for a future to be imagined. This advertisement doesn't constitute an offer or solicitation nor a description of any products or services of AxorXL Now what is interesting about this particular payment, as you say, is it does count as interest. I think that's exactly what I needed to hear as well. You just completely let us go. And I just thank you for the complaining you' be doing on planl two as well. You get requests for pictures of your feet and they are magnificent. The best thing to do to give yourself a chance is to put the complaint. Hello and welcome to the cunningly named The Martin Lewis podcast s going be about. And this is onQuestion timeime episode where you, our asquires, our extremely savvy questioners ESQs get to ask me your questions on absolutely anything and everything, open brackets within Reason Plose brackets. And this week you ask me, We're in our forties Are we failures for not owning a house? Is the lifetime ISA reform happening Or should I just pay the fine, get on with it, and buy my first home? How does the nationwide Fairr share bonus scheme work for tax purposes? Then we've got a success. They say, We found our deceased relatives motor finance details. Thank you so much. Now we're able to reclaim. And what shoes do I wear considering I'm doing all those steps? Play the theme tune Hello and welcome to our Quion Te podcast. Yes,'s one where you get to ask me questions on anything and everything open brackets within reason and closeed brackets. And joining me for this backack after a very long sabbatical is the curator of questions himself Yes It's Professor Sir, doctor Matthew Andy Burnham Esquire. And you can tell I've added an extra title in there, Matt. Did you hear it? Yeah, it was someone's name. It was. And because I thought that as you've been away, I didn't want to take any of your titles away and I should just say to anybody listening, all of those are legitimate titles that Matt has within the canon of this podcast, but not in real life. No. But within the canon of this podcast, he has all those titles. So the reason I put Andy in there is because obviously you put anything political in there Some people will have very positive views about it, some people will have very negative views about it. And that was your slight punishment for your derogation of duty that I'm giving you a title that is not universally seen as positive. It will be seen as very positive by some, but it will be seen as negative by others. because I just felt, you know, you've been off six weeks.'ve derogation of duty. you've left us without You know, we've stuck to your format. Podcast producer Simon, podcast producer, Matt, a different Mat to you, who've been filling in while you've been away. They have been diligently going through caller and read in the right order. We. I've been scared to break it? Good. Have you been listening? Yeah. Honest. Yeah. I listen to a bit of one Okay. so of six. so Not only dereliction of dauty But I mean, you just completely let us go. I've been busy. If we're down in the podcast charts, I'm blaming your lack of ad. That's not my fault. It iss your fault not fault. 'cause you should be one making sure that you're listening to it at in one of the placees that they track it. I listened to the one where Matt Lanceley did his impression The Australian in Australia is veryic. Really enjoyed that. Yeah that's been very popular with people. Yeah that was very good. But no, I haven't listened to any of the other oes. I also interested you've been busy, you've been at the holiday and at weddings and Busy holidays I'm also interested. and I think I know that our listeners like to see behind the fourth wall You will be putting together the best of podcasts that we're doing in the summer Will you only be doing those episodes that you were producing and you are curator of Questions in? orr will you be open to putting in questions from the other producers when they were there? Well, I think my diplomatic answer would be no, I will include all of the content from every episode. But the real anser the real answer ist absolutely not. I will only include right now. What do to Tomy, you're listening. I will include all the things that I like that I've done and then I might include some of other things, you know Why don't you talk to Simon and Matt about what they liked from their podcast and that will help you when you're putting it all together. Now most importantly, You're back. I'm back. I don't want too much detail because we'll discuss this more at the end. Regular listeners will know and this is very, very important that if you call up this podcast you become an Esquire and you are allowed to use the title ESQ extxtremely savvyQuestioner or Esquire, your name Ag within the canon of the podcast only, but we're happy within that But if you call up or you do a voice note on request from podcast producer Matt, cururator of Questions himself then you get a badge. And before you went away, You said you had commissioned the badges. No I don't want to know What the news is, But will you have a badge update for us at the end of the podcast? I can confirm there is a badge update. It's very exciting Rosie Rosie Rosie has a wry smile on her face. I think I think Rosie's excited. Rosie's here againgain, sorry I'm talking about regular listen all the time. If you're not regular listener, well just listen more often than you will come one in the future and you'll be able to join the club. Regular listeners now I think we need a title for Rosie, by the way. Oh, someone came up with one. Oh did that? Yes, let me find it. So Rob emailed and said Not a question but suggestion, sureurely Google Docs professional Rosie GDPR is Rosie's title. so Google Docs professional Rosy. What you think of that? Yeah, Rosie created the Google Doc we used to do the questions.. So Google Docs pro Rosie. I quite like GDDR. Yeah. So GDPR. now, if you're listening, you'll know that Rosie is always here. She is fact checking me live as we go because when you're doing something like this and I'm answering, I don't always hear what comes out of my mouth and she's absolutely brilliant, but she doesn't speak in the podcast No She's this unseen all powerful figure with oversight over the entire podcast. Th' eyebrows get raised, smiles happen, Fowns happen, but voice No, no. no. You don't get to hear what Rosie sounds like, do they, Rosie She shrugged. I thought I was expecting a shake of the head. we got a shrug there. I got a shrug anyyway, we should probably get on with it Right, Matt, let's get into the first one. What question do you have for me? Actually, let's change it up a little bit Shall we do a success? Oh look at that Look at that, he's just flouting his authority. I'm back. I'm the curator of questions, I'm in charge. I can break the format if I choose. Absolutely. This one big got for me. This one's from Chris. He's emailed early. says, Hi, Martin and this week's producer. it's me. It's Matt's back. You can startop playing that trail again. that's me and you argue No no, Martin He says, I heard on a recent podcast someone talking about how they werere looking to submit a finance claim for a deceased relative I too am in that position, my mother in law has passed away and she had a finance agreement for a car, but going through all her paperwork we had none of the details I try to use the Equifax app, but it requires you to sign up with photo ID, such as a passport or driver's license and then verify your face against this Unable to proceed further with this method. I then called Equifax and was advised to write to them With that included, a copy of the executor's ID Proof of exxcutor's address copy of the death certificate completed Equifax application form in the name of the deceased, and a copy of the will as proof of being an executor. Three weeks later, I've had a reply and now have the details of the car finance agreements. The bonus is that they've sent details of the last three that she had dating back to two thousand eight and we were only expecting one Thanks for the great podcast. It is one of the best produced ones. And presented, surely. No, it's just produced. Oh, Chris, I'm so delighted. Thank you very much. So we covered this in the Question Time podcast about four weeks ago where we had someone who was talking about, maybe even a little longer ago It was longer 'cause I was there. Okay, so it must be at least six weeks ago where we had someone who was talking about How you claim on behalf of a deceased relative, and I went in detail about how you do that But the Equifax A, which is how you find details of car finance agreements you don't know about was the stumbling block and I went through this process then and said having spoken to Equifax that the thing to do was that you had to go online, you don't have to pay, but you have to register with them and you have to do this manual process with them And I said at the time Please let me know how it goes and that is the first feedback that it works. So I'm really delighted to hear that, Chris, and I think that will help many people to know that you can go through that. Obviously you have to be the right person. Chris had all the documentation and the detail to be able to go through that he was able to get the information. The next step in the process, I suspect Chris knows, but just for everybody else, is if you have not put in a complaint yet, whether for yourself or for a deceased relative, you are always better to be putting a complaint in than not twowo reasons. One, that that brings you forward in the quue and people who complain will get paid out quicker than the people who don't, even though the firms still have to track you down if you were misssold otherwise. And two, because especially for deceased relatives, there can be identification problems of Wh is the natural person that the money and the assets need to pass on to if it's going to be paid. And there are ID problems even if you're claiming for yourself. Do they still have your details? Has the paperwork being got rid of, especially for older claims? So putting in a complaint is important. There are free template tools online that can do all of this for you. When you're using those tools, if you're claiming for a deceased relative, just make sure that you put in as well as the deceased relative details, you put in a note and it won't in the tool, but you can easily add it in the way most of the tools work put a note saying I' claiming on behalf of deceased relative, I'm the primary beneficiary or I am the executor of the will. and these are my contact details. All the other details like the address when you had the policy should be of the deceased relative. So it is relatively easy to do. The other thing people ask me just to fit in is when is all this going to happen? A. When the FCA first launched its master redress scheme earlier in the year, we were told it would start in July, but there are four court challenges to it To be fair, it's not the FCA. Those are three companies, car finance companies and one effectively, it's a claims firm who will be doing the legal challenge itself. And therefore, we have to wait on the courts What I'm generally hearing is the hope is that the scheme will start in November, which means the first payouts will now be in twenty twenty seven and some of the payouts will be taking as long as twenty twenty eight Don't let that put you off though. I mean, it isn't guaranteed this will still happen, but you still the best thing to do to give yourself a chance is to put the comping And thank you so much for that success, Chris. And well done for doing it first, Mat. You say being nice is your first one backat. Thank you So I presume, I mean you've got to follow your own format. We've been rigidly following the Mat Burnam format while you've been away with fear all of the other producers that they will get your wrath if they don't follow that even numbers are callers. So I presume we're going into a caller man. We are. I just want to say, I'm not a scary person and I do not I would not enforce this. sometometimes I want to stray from it, but do you know who won't let me? Who you that's true to an extent. I don't like you passing the book back in this way, but let's just say E though IR L, You may not be a scary person This is about the canon of the podcast m. Yes. And with all those the canon with all those titles. I mean, what you are the professor, sir, Dr. Mattty Burnn Masquire. That's true. quite an authority figure. Yeah. You know, people want your approval. That's true. I mean, I don't know whether it's fear or approval that they want. so no one want no one wants to very from the Burnham Line. Okay, shall we go to our caller? Yes. Okay. Sarah is in Alton and she's with us. Hi, Sarah. Hi. Hello, Sarah Hello, what can we do? Hello and I have a slightly obscure situation and I wanted to ask So my husband and I are both in our late forties now almost at free with really good incomes. We're not currently on the housing ladder because we've previously gone through divorces and ended up coming out with nothing but debt, unfortunately. So we're wondering at this stage, is it worth us struggling to get on the housing ladder It is a really interesting question I mean, the plain answer is Is it worth us struggling Well, no, we don't want you to struggle But if we get rid of that sort of that judgment in there and say, is it worth you getting on the housing lad? For a long time, I'ved been one of those people who has always said, renting isn't a dirty word And it isn't. And I think we're far too negative about renting in this country. I think the property porwn TV shows have pushed people to stretch themselves beyond their limit to buy a home. But I still think for a long period of time It is often optimal to own if you can so that the money you are paying for housing each month is going towards buying you an asset as opposed to going towards paying off somebody else's purchase on the asset whichich is ultimately what you tend to be doing on renting So I mean, You say you're in your late forties. you've still got fifteen years of earning potential left. You've got decent amount of savings which should make it easier to get a deposit So I mean, I wouldn't necessarily poo poo buying. But have you looked at the cost differences between renting and what a mortgage would cost you on a similar property in your area Well we couldn't afford a similar property in our area. Unfortunately, we you probably get a two bedroom house. Well I was going to change the question that way round. say if you couldn't afford a similar property, could you happily change your life to live in a property that wasn't a similar property that you could own Only if we chuck out old kids, which my husband's quite keen to do, but I'm slightly more attached to them say. So we've got three daughters aged two are eighteen and one's nineteen One's working and the other two are going to university soon and we've managed to talk them out of taking out an extra student loan so they can live on campus so they're going to be living home with us say It would be a bit of a squeeze. but We could find a way to do it. I think they do triple bunk beds now, don't they? So they could sleep them all in the same room. I mean, also, let's be honest, we're talking three years probably while they're still at university So ye, you know, you're talking a three year courseps. We're not talking forever and decisions don't have to be made forever. And you can I mean, ultimately If you don't it if you don't want to get onto the housing ladder then it's perfectly possible for you to say, what else can we do with our money in that term that may enable us to get on the housing ladder in five years time if that's what we choose to do I don't know how much savings you've got. We've only just started saving because we've We've been paying off debts, we've been haamering down what missingdstood the phrasing earlier. So you're in the start point of saving. Well, I mean ultimately, but it sounds to me like you may be able to save a relatively substantial amount each month now the debts are paid off. Yeah, we should be able to put aside about thir thousand threeteen hundred pounds a month Okay, well, that's a decent mark I mean, that should get you there. And again Bigger the deposit you have, certainly when we're building up to it, the better and more able you should be able to get a mortgage and the lower rate you get a mortgage because of loan to value ratios. So a loan to value ratio for those who don't know is what percentage of your house's value you're borrowing. So the bigger deposit you have, the more savings you have, the lower the percentage of your house's value you're borrowing and down to around sixty percent. You know what for If you're borrowing ninety percent, You don't get as good a rate generally as if borrowing eighty percent and seventy percent is better than eighty percent and sixty percent is better than all of them. and below that it doesn't really change. So building up a deposit would be good I think one of the decisions you have to make is if you're not buying a house now When do you think you would want to do so M That's the tricky question. I think we would like to buy a house sooner rather than later because my concern is that money that we're supposed to be saving for a deposit is going to get frittted away and spent on things that are pointless and not helping us. The other concern is if we're not If we get on the housing ladder sooner obviously, we can get a longer term mortgage, the longer we leave it, in the time in which we're saving up a deposit The smaller the mortgage term will be considered for andfore our affordability will be affected. So we kind of feel like every way we turn we hit a brick wall and it's not really clear what is the best way out of this situation. I don't think you're hitting a brick wall as much as you think. Once you get to retirement, they will look at your retirement income. The days where you can't get a mortgage once you hit retirement are gone So but of course they will assess if your mortgage term goes into retirement, what retirement funds you have. They will look at what pension funds you have and what income you would potentially have coming in in your retirement. So that would have to be factored into the equation Okay, I'll be honest and not in a bad way, but I'm getting mixed messages from you, I think And I think that probably that's probably a symptom of the difficulty in the decision If youre if you're getting thirteen hundred pounds a month to save Then you can easily, I don't know what area you're in so I don't know what typical house values you're looking at. Could you know roughly? U so we're probably looking around four hundred thousand Well anywhere between three and four hundred thousand depending whether we go for a two bed or a three bed. Okay, so you're looking therefore, you're going to be wanting to aim to be saving around forty thousand pounds. I would think because you want a ten percent deposit is much cheaper mortgage than a five percent deposit. That's a good place to start So on that basis, at thir thousandteen hundred pounds a month, you're talking two, two and a half years away So there is an argument here that says planning now to save that so that you can do it the moment the kids are out of university. It does seem to make a bit of rational sense to me because you're going to need that time to build up the savings anyway and at the same time they're at home and you're not going to want to move to a smaller place In terms of you say you'll fritter the money away, why will you fritter it away Because life is like that for us, we just find that you know a car breaks down or a child needs this or particularly with them at the age that they're at, it tends to be money just falls through our fingertips. If it's going into a mortgage, it feels like it's locked away and safe and we can't be wasting it on whats like that? We can sort of replicate that to an extent So you could put the money into fixed rate savings where the money is locked away for a set term which means if what you don't say is you don't Trust your future selves to make the right decision once this is locked away Then you know, for example, every four or five months, you could take the money you've saved, so we'll work on a rough basis that that's going to be about six and a half grand. And you could lock that into a one or two year fixed rate savings account where you get a guaranteed rate and you know what it's going to be or a fixed rate cash Ier so that you know you can't touch it. Would that help with this personal self discipline I think it would actually. I think that would massively help So I mean the problem with fixes is you normally have to fund them within the first thirty or sixty days. So what I'm suggesting is you put this money I'm going away from my investing talk earlier because if you're going to want this money in three years time, that's probably too short a period to be looking at You put this money in the top easy access savings, you can get somewhere like the Chase account or trading two hundred and if it's a cash isicer and you're using your cash ers, making sure you're not paying tax on this. Th every Six months or so, you take whatever you've got in there, making sure you've got a cash emergency fund and you put that into the top one or two year, depending on your timeline, fix that's available at that point Not just because it gives you a guaranteed rate of interest, but because it locks the money away. And if it's in a fix, especially fixed savings, you can't get that money out. and therefore, it's gone and it's no longer in your choice. And I think there is You know, knowing yourself and knowing that you will be tempted to fritter that cash away You know it's important to try and find a way to protect yourself from yourself And I think that may well help It sounds to me like you're a little too early in the journey to be seeing a mortgage broker goes on later. You might want to build a relationship now and just see what they'd say and how much you'd be able to borrow and what the situation is in your area But certainly, I would be pumping your money into savings and sort of have a timeline of three years to be really looking at this to be building up that deposit. At that point, you'll be what? You'll be in your early fifties, both of you, will you? Yes, so well. I think there's still a good chance I don't think you should lose hope I think there's still a good chance you can get the home And by then it might be that it's a more affordable two bed house. Of course, as a chance house prices go up in the meantime But just seems like it's a cost of having to try to do what you need to do. you're right, there's no perfect answer here No. Well, I mean, I had a few weird suggestions, but my husband's not so keen. so you want to tell me suggested to him that you might think they're completely nuts, but. I was suggesting that we buy the best two bed house that we can afford in our area in the nicest area. And I don't know if you've seen you can get these sort of pre fab extensions that you can put in your garden And that would suit the kids while they're at home and give us the house. Is that completely nuts? Well it's not completely luts, but it's a pure lifestyle thing. I mean, that's not something I can help you with. But ultimately you have to look on what's the planning permission issue? Will there be enough space in the garden? Do you want it to work that way? Would the kids be happy going that way? How long would it take you to actually manage to deliver that becausecause clearly you're not in a position from listening to you that you can sell your house. you can buy a new house while you still own your existing house. So what would be the transition arrangement from going that into getting the prefab built in and would it really fit? I don't think it's nuts at all, but I think it would take a lot of work and planning to get it right Okay, I think that's pretty much where my husband was coming from, so. I was kind of hoping you would tell me what I wanted to hear and that I could play in the podcast and say I was right, but okay. No, I don't think it's wrong. I just think you need to do some research into the feasibility of it. And what you're also doing is you're limiting your two bedroom house choice, if you think about it Because what you're doing is you're effectively saying I need a house which will be able to fit that in the garden And it's going to have to work that way. I mean, there is another way of looking at this, which may not be perfect right now, but you might want to look at. is in terms of getting on the property ladder, it is worth exploring And you might simply not be able to afford it and there are risks involved would be getting a byy to let property that you would later live in, that you're planning to live in in a certain period. But there are lots of risks involved in that in the Well, even though under the new rental rights law, you would be able to giving adequate notice to get tenants to go when you wanted to move into it yourself It's whether you would have enough income coming into it to be able to pay the mortgage in the meantime while you weren't living in it, so that you wouldn't be having to do that from your existing house and you tend to need a bigger deposit. on a b to that house than you do on your own home. But that is another way if you wanted to get on the housing ladder now is to look at What feasibility of a buy to let mortgage on a property that you would want to live in in three years time and to start looking at buying that nowap Okay But sounds a bit more sort of pleasing in terms of the dopamine fix of getting out there and getting on the housing ladder and knowing that that's solid and it's there. So it's solid and it's that But There are risks involved. There are cost involved in renting a property out and there are risks involved in not being able to rent it out and it being fallow and you being liable for that mortgage as well as your rent So it is absolutely not a panacea It is an option. I'm moving back to, I would like you to go and find a decent mortgage broker Look at what your bite to letability is. properly at what type of mortgage you'll be able to get and how you get yourself in the position to do what you want to do. And I want you to talk to the mortgage broker Both because listen, I think a buy to let mortgage would be quite difficult for you to get, but it is always worth just exploring and having that conversation but also seeing your general bigger picture But you know what C I just remind you? list playing back to what you've said to me and Both you and your husband were in that You have managed to get yourself out of debt You got a property over your head, and you got your three daughters with you You've got enough income coming in that you're being able to save a substantial amount each month You're not doing that badly. You maybe need to be a bit more, if you forgive me saying, glass half full than glass half empty Oh, absolutely. I do agree. and comes back to, I think, feeling like you're being Iirresponsible by not aspiring to be on the housing ladder There seems to be that general feeling in society that if you're not a homeowner, you're failing at life. And I think that's That's where we really struggle with our situation. We know we're very lucky We appreciate everything that we have. We've worked very hard to get into the situation that we're in and we do appreciate that And you've come really good Yeah, if we could just shut out that noise that, you know, if you're not a homeowner, you failed in life in your forties, that would that I think would bring us a lot of peace and we'd be happier picking any route because it feels like we're very lucky to have so many options. It comes back to that feeling of you've failed.t I disagree. I started early on by saying it's peculiar to this country in many ways compared to the rest of the Europe that renting is seen as a dirty term And I absolutely don't think it is the case. There is not and I think I need to differentiate between your saying the aspiration of homeowning and home owning You have to do what is right and sound and stable for your finances And that's what keeps you and your husband and your children protected In some cases that is buying a house. in some cases it isn't And overstretching yourself to get a property that you don't want that could lead to financial problems later on is actually not a good thing which is why this is sort of the difference between what I would say and what the property people say because they're always overextend yourself and get whatever you can. I think you need to look after your finances first So it has to be done within that and you're doing that and you're asking the right questions and you're thinking the right things. So I think anybody who would judge you, what I think it is more about you judging yourself on this basis. Anyone who judge you on that level, they need to take a step back and think about the financial realities that You know, you demonstrate theg one of the biggest reasons people are in debt in this country is not overspending. It tends to be change of circumstance and the loss of a partner Divorce, mental health, losing your job, issues with your kids. They're all change of circumstance And that's life and you're dealing with it and you're thinking the right way, the only thing that the only thing I would And it's not a judgment call, but I would say back to you is You need to get out of the mindset of we will fritter this away If you want it to happen, You need to find the self discipline or the enforceced self discipline such as locking money away in a fix, if that's right for you that will enable you to keep control of your own finances Everything else that you've done, there's no judgment going on That's the one thing I would say that actually Maybe you need to trust yourself a little bit more and to be make some decisions and stick to them and try and work out how you can stick to them. But the situation you're in, you've done nothing wrong, you're not failures, you're doing really well. It sounds like you've got three wonderful daughters and you've got a roof over the head and one's working and two are going to university well done you. Thank you. Thank you. that's so kind. I think that's exactly what I needed to hear as well. Ohond sort of goes bit beyond buying the house. it's about how you view yourself in your financial position I'm so grateful. Thankk you so much. It's my pleasure. Thank you so much for calling, Sarah. I hope it goes well. Come back and talk to us in a year's time and see where you are, Wiggy Yes, for which keep in touch with the cururator of questions himself Will I get a second badge? Oh we haven' we haven't dec Oh, that's policy Matt, Matt, what's our policy on this tricky? I don't know. Well, find out number I'd say, if you've only got one, do you need a second U noope. I don't agedy, but it's the status I actually double badge holder. I'm gonna to disagree to an extent, M. Okay, Okay. So I actually think you get a badge for coming on We want to we've invited Sarah to come back. Yes, actually. us to deprive her of a badge if she came back a second time. You are true, you are right. Right would be inappropriate. I think you get a badge for each appearance.. but we'll cap it at five. Okay. So yeah, next year, get in touch with me we'll see if we can get you another badge Thanks so much for calling me, Sarah. W is so best. Thanks, Sarah. Sarah's gone. That's one of those interesting ones, Matt, those interesting questions because There are no right or wrongs here and there are so many different options. You know I talked about By to lettte for the house they were going to live in. of course, you could also look about, if you want to get on the property lad, getting a smaller By to lettte that might be more affordable to get, but then they wouldn't have the advantage of living in it. and I don't think that's really the philosophy But I think you can only in life, You' you are in the position that you are in And there's no point, and there's certainly no reason in that case of kicking yourself Actually, you're far better to expend your energy on what do I do next and where do I go than to expend your energy on why am I here and why'm I in this position. And that's sort of what I was trying to get Sarah towards. I mean, it's less financial than we normally talk about, but I think it was I hope it was useful and interesting anyway Also one thing that struck me was she said that she feels like she has to buy a house. think think that we have to people think we have to buy houses because I don't own my home. Yeah, but to be fair, you're young, you're in your twenties late twenties, but you're still in your twent room And listen, I didn't buy my first property tntil I was thirty three. So I certainly I mean I always get worried when eighteen olds say I'm not on the propertyadder.'s like well, hold on s just think about it and take your time and go through that. But it is the British ideal in many ways is to own a property and that's what's coming, that's what Sarah was thinking about there is this whole idea that I own my own castle and I live in it and my life, and therefore, I'm sorted the way through And I think that works for some. it doesn't work for all people and it isn't always the best thing You know, if you buy a property at the wrong time and house prices are declining and you get put in negative equity, owning a home can be absolutely catastrophic But if you're buying over the long time in an affordable way, and you're looking for it as a long term place to live as a place to trade, then it is a generally a sensible option. again That was all very interesting. I'm sure you've got another interesting one for me now, I presume this is a read. A read, yes, that stick to the original format. Lucas from Leeds has emailed this in to Martin Lewis podcast at bbc d. com dot UK. He says hi M andM Nice. I like that. Yeah, sweet. I had quite a few MMMs on my holiday actually. Which type about the Linut and bring up me peeanut butter like a peanut like a peanut butter too. Tougher to get in this country and more in the states. Yeah, well that's yeah, yeah. I like a peanut butter E and. Very nice. Very sweet, but very nice. Highly calorific though. Yes, butine calories. Anyway, enough about M andems. Lucas says thanks to your tips, I was lucky enough to get a hundred pounds in the nationwide's farer share payment The account I received it into is a shared account which I hold with my wife. My question is, how will this pay be treated from a tax perspective I know it' be treated as interest, but whose allowance will it fall in? Is it split fifty, fifty between both of us? And is that what nationwide will report to HMRC? Thanks for all your help What an interesting question. Yes The nationwide Far share payment is it's one hundred pound payment this year and in previous years. effectively it's a loyalty bonus for existing nationwide customers who fulfill certain criteria Now what is interesting about this particular payment, as you say, is it does count as interest. Now if you get a bank switching Bonus That is seen as an incentive as opposed to a reward for an existing customer. So that is not taxable, the same as Cashback on credit cards is not taxable But because this is effectively a benefit of a mutual organization, Nationwide is of course a building society and is a membership payout That is taxable and it's taxable as interest So For those people who earn above their personal savings allowance of one thousand pounds a year as a basic rate taxpayer of five hundred pounds a year as a high rate taxpayer, you would have to pay tax on the hundred pounds. If you earn less you won't have toayax on the hundred pounds or if you're a non taxpayer, youon't have to pay tax on the hundred pounds. So yes Unlike interest if you have joint savings, the interest payment is demarked fifty fifty The nationwide farer share in a joint bank account is demarked fifty fifty I haven't asked nationwide if that's what they report to HMRC, but that is exactly what the situation is. So I can't see any reason why that isn't what they would report to HMRC. So yes You should consider this to be fifty pounds each Simple as that A long answer for a very short answer. Hold on No a long answer for a very short answer. A long explanation is what I meant for a very short answer Well, you know, sometimes when I talk to my uncle Tony I've met him. Have you met Uncle Tony? I was at the recording. You have. Yeah. Uncle Tony, who last years was effectively my sort of finance director when I was running a money saving expert by myself Uncle Tody will often answer Short answer, Yes Long answer. and then explanation. And I sort of did it in reverse. Yeah. I mean, I sort of did I could have done, but this is a podcast. It is a podcast. I mean literally just said yes, it's fifty fifty and not give an explanation and said the interesting thing. It wouldn't be good listening Mat. No, it would have been I think You know, you've come back from your holiday You're out there with your nails out coming to berate me over my answer system, but I think I gave the right answer within the podcast format. Did I not? No, you did, definitely. And also, I messed up on what I was saying. so I look like the fool, not you No, you never look like a full man. a I mean no man who is a professor and a sir and a doctor could ever look like a f And an aquire and an aquire Okay, Matt E number It's a caller. It's a caller. It's Jason and Enfield. and he's with us. Hi, Jason Hi, Martin, Hi Mat. Thanks for taking my question. A pleasure. Hello, Jason. What can I do for you Well, back in December, Martin, I was actually in the live audience of another popular show that you do on a channel that you won't know Yes, maybe, yes. And during that show, you played a clip of your interview with the Chancellor about lifetime ISIS And during that, she promised a consultation early in this year about a brand new first time buyers ISA. And I've got a couple of questions off the back of that. Y, she'll Right, so my situation, I've had a cash licus since twenty nineteen And I've managed to max it out pretty much every year since then. But when I opened it, I was a single guy in my mid twenties and I was just thinking about getting ono the ladder with a small flat That was going to be well under the price cap of four hundred fifty thousand the limit on the lifetime ISA. However, now me and my partner are looking to buy our first house in London And as you probably know from the house prices, it's really difficult to find anything within that limit So I'm trying to decide between three options or my next steps I'm deciding if I want to take the hits and withdraw it now for a deposit Or should I keep it in cash and wait for the rules to change with the new product? or Should I just transfer it to a stock shares licer for retirement Okay, so let's just go through this in a little bit of detail. You're right, that is exactly what the Chancellor said. That is exactly what we were expecting, but we were probably expecting the will to be a little bit different at the time. and I don't think the government at the time were expecting quite the level of instability. Now for those people listening We are recording this on the day of the Makof Field by election So you listening will know what's happened and you will know whether Andy Burnham has won or not and whether there is to be a challenge to the leadership, or you might not know that bit yet, but whether there's expected to be a challenge to the leadership, And all of that, of course affects the Deisions that the government make and the security of the Chancellor, because the new Lyser was very much coming from the Chancellor and the treasury. And I would like to give you Jason, my impression of where we are with the Lyser. Are you ready for it Yes It's just gone very quiet. I wonder what that was then? It's just gone very quiet. It was sort of halfway between tumbleweed and nothing That was what I was going for. I'm not sure I managed to get it right. I tried. And so interestingly, just the meetings I've been supposed to be having to talk to powers that be on it, they haven't happened yet Right, so I think it's a bit on the back burner at the moment. Now that is the last thing that you want to hear And I remember saying at the time to the Chancellor in that interview that you saw. You know, So what do people who haveve got current LSas do? And she said continue as always as they were before and you shouldn't be put off doing them because the LSA regime will stay But the problem for you is this four hundred fifty thousand property c. which has been in place since twenty seventeen, and it's never gone up with inflation. and you will know I've been campaigning to get them that if you're at least buying your first time property and it's above four hundred fifty thousand, while you might not get the twenty five percent bonus, you shouldn't have the penalty for using it. And you'll know all about that And I thought I'd got to get with Jeremy Hump first and I thought I'd all got to with Rachel Resason and it hasn't happened So I think All we can do at the moment is make a decision based on the what we know right now So go through your three options again for me So the first option would be to take the hit, the twenty five percent penalty which would be quite a large amount of money for me, but I would do that and then use it towards a deposit now or wait a year or two to see if the rules change U and O if not that, I would transfer it into a stocks and shares lifetime Ier and just use it as a retirement pot instead, which would also delay the house purchase as well. So just to explain to people, the penalty of withdrawal is twenty five percent, but you've already had a bonus of twenty five percent on that money So the net effect is you would have about sixcent and a quarter percent less than you originally put in So it, you know, and it's probably even though you're looking at your account saying, I've got forty grand in there and they're going to be taking off ten grand of it Ultimately, some of that money was given to you by the state. So your net reduction It is not as bad, although it's still bad Don't get me wr right? Okay. Do know Do you know what I'm trying to say Yes, ye. How much worse would you be would you be off than had you just put it in a normal savings account? And the answer is about six and a quarter percent as opposed to the twenty five percent Right o. None of which is that positive, but it might help frame the decision for you in a way If I hadn't used a Lysa, I would only have six and a quarter percent more money than I would. It's not quite that's reciprocal. But I'd only have a little bit more money than I do right now. Again, I'm not justifying it. I don't like I've given evidence against that penalty. I don't like it, but still It's really tough It's really tough. Let's go with the last option. you saying, do you know what? I'm going to use this towards retirement savings, then I don't have to pay a penalty If you did that would that stop you buying a property It wouldn't stop me buying a property. It would delay it a little bit or make my mortgage monthly payment increase But that would be the price to pay for that If you left the money, where are you with buying a house? I mean, that I think it all comes down to you. Right. I mean, you can certainly leave it in a lifetime icer and see what happens. Is there where what do I think on the balance of probabilities? Do I think there is the chance They will either introduce a new product that you could port the money over to or change the existing LS of rules to at least get that amount to rise with inflation. Yes, I think that is plausible If you'd asked me six months ago, I would have said it was probable. I would now say it's plausible So that I'm just giving you a level of percentage on that if you see what I mean I've gone from probably over fifty percent to under to fifty percent, but still perfectly possible that it would happen. So there is a chance that you could hold off for a year And things you could be in a different situation in a year, but equally, you could be exactly where you are now. and When I say I don't know that I don't know that because I don't actually believe at this point anybody knows that because I don't think there is anything firm in place. So rather than it's a lack of my knowledge, it's a lack of anybody who's actually decided what on Earth is going to be happening here. which and all that flux is terrible for you Yeah. So if you were to if you were to take this money out, if you were to ignore it Iignnore the penalty which you hate. Understand Right, But let's just let's just factor that out for a second and say the reality is you've got whatever it is thirty thousand pounds, not forty thousand pounds in your lyser Be the reality is if you want to take it out to buy house, that's what you've got. Is that right Yeah, that's about right. that's in the right ballb ballbark. Yeah If you did that Would that enable you to buy the house that you want right now with a lower mortgage rate and a mortgage deposit in a sensible house with a decent mortgage that you're going to be living in that gives you and your family long term stability Yeah, that would be a big help towards it. Yes. So that would be a viable option, I think. And is It would be difficult to lose that amount of money, but it would be something I could live with Is that what you want to do Ultimately is that you know, what do you want to do? let's let's look at it on that basis Yeahah, I think with with how It's not ideal, but on the balance of everything, I think that would be the better decision and at least we would get the house that we wanted as soon as we Good then do it. Okay,'s my view. I'm saying Now I need to say this is not official advice or anything like that But if I was your mate So we're going to pretend we're friends in the pub now. then I would say Close your eyes to the penalty. think in reality, the penalty is It can't actually do let's just take a pause. I want to do the mask for a second Okay, I've just gone through this. You've put in, will'll ignore interest here because interest would have been the same elsewhere You've put in thirty two thousand pounds Right You've got forty thousand pounds in there because of the bonuses If you withdraw the money, you will take out thirty thousand pounds all in round numbers And I think it's better for you psychologically To think of, I've put in thirty two and I can get thirty out It's almost like an investment that's dropped a little bit Yeah, so you're saying I should just ignore the fact that there ever was a bonus and think of it that way. I really think for your own peace of mind and for your ability not to be kicking yourself about this That is a better way to think of it because If you had said, if if we hadd gone back now when you first started putting money in this lifetime ISA, which of course, the state encouraged you to do and you have done everything you were supposed to do. You've saved into a product that's meant to be a first time product, you're buying your first time house with it. and I think you've absolutely been shafted on the back of this, which is why I say you should at least get back. in my view You should be getting back thirty two Not thirty. Yeah, because you that's what It seems like it'd be more fair. And I think in that in that case If you had known this, you wouldn't have put your money in a lifetime ISE You would have put your d in nook Is that correct Yeah, absolutely. I wouldn't have wanted to lose out on my own money. So then you would have put it in a normal savings account or ISA and you would have thirty two grand Therefore, even with hindsight, if you had known this, the best position you would have been in was thirty two grand ish right now And you've got thirty grand. So you should see that as the cost Now, okay, if I said to you You have to pay me, you don't, obviously You've got money You have to pay me two grand for permission to allow you to buy the house that you want to buy right now with all the money you've got in and all the savings you've got in Would you pay me two grand to do it or you're not allowed to it by law? Yeah, I think I would do that So again That's what you're doing Okay. you see what I'm trying to do by the explanation of paying me? I don't mean it in a real sense, but I mean Yes, yeah, of course. If we look at this of what is the opportunity cost of you having put the money in the ICA? It isn't the ten grand you're losing compared to what you've got now. It's the two grand you're losing compared to what you would have done had you not put it in an ICer and you're willing to pay that amount because this is right for you in your position right now Don't let the U about the the The penalty colour you doing the right decision for you and your family. The other point is, remember have you you haven't actually found a house yet, have you No,' still in in the house searching looking phase. Okay So set your budget, buy the approp look, obviously, you always look for a house that's within the budget. I the biggest rule by the way, when you're looking for a house in especially as a first time buyer. Work out what the maximum you're willing to pay is. Please do not go and see any houses that are more than that. Just don't do it to yourself. Okay. Right. You know what I mean? Yeah. This is my limit. Yeah. and I'm not going to go somewhere and then go, I really want that one and it was twelve or more and I I was just being a tourist, but that's the don't do it. because there's no such thing as perfection and all you will do it's either more debt or disappointment is the only The only thing that comes out of that But ultimately, there is a chance in this waiting process. that something might change. Now again, for people listening on Monday, you might know more than we do right now about whether there is a chance of a different government who might have a different attitude. And the only thing I can tell you is I will continue to be lobbying on this issue because I think it's a manifest unfairness for first time buyers who are buying a first time property with a first time property ISA, that they have to pay a penalty to do so And I don't think that penalty should be there I think for your life and what I can hear in your voice, you should just get on and do what's right for you and not let the fact you'd have to pay the penalty stop you Okay, that's perfect. Thank you so much for that advice, Martin. Thank you coming And just before I go. ye. Can I just thank you for the campaigning you've been doing on planlan two as well. We really appreciate how you've been speaking out against that as well as someone who's affected by it Thank you. You can very much. And while I can't fix P two and I can't fix the licer penalty, Something that I think you will understand is probably more important. We can make sure that once the badges are ready, which we'll be discussing soon, you get a badge I mean, Oh excellent, very excited. Thank you very much. Thank you so much forording. nice to chatch you. Right. so number five, I presume the following format and this is the I now call it the a sccans question. It can be a funny question, it can be a comedy question, it can be in a question about life in general or my life in general within reason that we're happy to take. So if you've got any of these, Martin Lewis podcast at bbc. co. u. Matt, do you have one? Yes having built it up. Yes. I'd like to say it would be a bit funny if we didn't have one, but we just cut that bit out. so it wouldn't be funny but go. So GDPR Rosie, Google Docs Rosie. She has put funny ish on this one. Okay. So Rosie's judging I said that I think that's a scance then it's a scanance not funy. Okay. So this one's for Melanie Okay. she has started with Dar Martin. No mat. Ca Just Martin I think that's your punishment for being away. I actually said last week that it was my last chance to say, just do it to dear Martin. Okay. And I think Melanie has delivered on that. Thank you Melanie says, Dear J Martin. Yeah She says, As a colossus who strides the treacherous chasm between consumer rights, personal finance, those political heathens who govern us and scrabble Daily Stride count can be considered the eighth wonder of the world. I' really liking Melanie. I just want to say Melanie, how are you doing What is your preferred footwear for such a mighty achievement? Soppy trainer or sensible brogue? Well, it is it interesting you asked me that this week because I had comments on something relatively similar on social media yesterday. do regularly present Good Morning Britain on ITV, which is obviously very early in the morning. And I only for that reason because I have to get up at sort of four o'clockish. I don't do it very often because I doesn't fit in with the rest of my work life But I did it yesterday and I was wearing and I was very proud of myself, I should say. I was wearing a blue suit and a white shirt But I also had blue glasses, a blue belt Bue shoes So I was feeling quite, you know As a man in his fifties to have colour coordinate and let's be honest, but I think I'd say as a straight man in his fifties, to have managed to colour coordinate all that myself, I thought was an achievement But then I realized because I do enormous amounts of steps and I was walking afterwards, that I can't walk in shoes. I literally can't do it. My feet aren't adaped to it. All my shoes have arch support in them. So I had to carry a pair of trainers with me and then I did a post saying that I changed out I' just walked to the office and I trained out of the trainers. Lots people saying, whyy do you have to wear shoes when you're onnt telling? Well, sort there is sort of a uniform for doing that type of t telly because it's within a news environment and because I do standing up in front of the graphics bits when I'm there and they can see my feet. So when you're going into that was just an aside, but going into Melanie's question The answer is I tend to wear special trainers I won't do the brand that are designed for walking and sometimes I put arch supports in them And the most important tip I got when talking to a foot specialist about this when I had plantar fasciitis, which I he from I've heard of that. Yeah, it's not fun. No. fromom running and walking And I obey this is Have Different shoes So when although I say I have these specialist shoes, I try not to wear them constantly. So I try to change pairs every couple of days so I'm not always using the same. and I have about two or three I rotate through And I was told that apparently that helps your feet not get used to them and it not work in quite the same way. And that sort of difference and challenging means your feet and the muscle strength is still adapting as you're going by wearing different shoes. So I have walking shoes with arch support, but I rotate what I wear so that there is foot variance I'm just hoping that that was I don't think it was from Melanie, but you always, when you're in the public eye I don't know if I can say this You get requests for pictures of your feet Oh, do you know about this I've heard of it. You do. I mean, I have to say my wife gets more than I do. Yeah Right and she doesn't send them just in case you're listening. and nor do I. mean I mean, sometimes you get requests for pictures canot have pictures for shoes or your feet in shoes, but you do get requests for people to send pictures of your feet. It clearly it wasn't what Melanie was going on about, but I hope I just haven't haven't Yeah, just been informed, there's a website called Rate My Feet I'd just like to say My feet are about a two out of ten at best, noody wants to see them. That puts everybody off. Yeah, if you do that much walking in, your nails won't exxactly. It's not happening. No. you really don't want. Enough foot talkal now on I'm done But Matt We cannot go without perhaps the most important news in Britain for the whole of twenty twenty six, I think, I do not know anything else more important than has happened in the country What is happening? with the ESQ badges map. Right, so I feel I might have to a sip of water to hold on. Okay. It's very, very exciting. Rosie's gone red. She's flushed Right, I'm sitting here. My knees are bouncing. I'm on ten to hooks Gone You've been away, ave been away Badges have arrived And they are magnificent. Oh my word. have do you have a badge in your possession? I have one with me. Yes, it's in my hand. Okay How big are they? I'd say Bigger than what I thought they'd be. Okay, they're not huge I mean they're they're not huge. They're not the the They're not the big birth. Yeahah, they're like a badge that you put, but bigger than I thought they'd be. No, I just want to say, I'm making another executive decision, even though it may be out of my power because it's on the production side, not on the presenting side. Right But I don't think we should ever picture of the badges any No, I agree, I agree because the only way you should see it is if you come on this podcast. But I think we are allowed a description of it. Now just as a note to everyone and everyone would be very interested in this. nextext week for other work Rosie is going to Manchester, which is where Matt is and I'm in London. And you're going to go, aren't you Rosie? She's going to go and see Matt and you're going to bring me some badges So I'm going to get to see the badges, but M, I think we're allowed to describe the badges. Yeah tell us I can have the badges look. Okay. so The brief I had was that they had to look as though I designed them. so they couldn't be too professional. Okay. So I got one of our digital people to cut your face out from one of your videos that we put on social media. Okay. So you've got headphones on. Nice. It's your face blown up. And it says across the top, I'm an dot dot dot. and then underneath it says ESQ. And there is a little Eter egg, which I'm not going to say what it is, but if you look at the last dot Th then there's a little Eter Eragon there. Is it you, Matt could not confirm I could I would will be willing to put money on the fact that you've put yourself in there. So I thought, you know, I'm a part of this podcast too. I need something. So I snuck my face in and I don't think anyone noticed until it had gone to print So there it so basically it's a picture. it's a big me big you. It's the WordsySQ. Yeah and there's a tiny little mat in a dot. A tiny mat. I mean, if you didn't know, you probably wouldn't notice and you can't make out any of my features. I mean, how how much and we're not going to show you listeners. Wait, you don't get to see it. If you want to see it, you got to put a question in, be selected and then be willing to agree to either give us a voice note or to come on the preg and ask a question. If you want a badge, that's how you get one. And it is very exciting to be able to say that we are now posting them out. so You know, if you've come on before You became one And by the way, for those people who have come on before and you get a badge Feel free to send us a review of what you think of the badge. Yes, please. We're happy to read that out to continue to tease or the people who haven't got a badge about what the badges are like. I would like someone to come on and on the podcast themselves and tell us how good the badge looks. So they then get another b thats very It's very technical I think they're going have to get another badge, but I feel that I'm not almost sure that deserves another badge. Maybe not. We'll see. Let's see how we feel. What does Rosie think? Do they get another badge? No Rosie saying no, She's cruel. She is. She is quite cruel 's quite And then again, GDPR. GDPR she's got to keep us on the straight and narrow. She's laughing now. Let's end the pod there. Thanks everyone And that's it for this week'sQuestion timeim. Don't forget to subscribe so you know when we release a new episode. We put out a new question time each Monday alongside the big topic podcast with Adrian on Thursdays. Aren't you lucky? Two doses of money saving tips and tricks a week. Now do make sure you send in your questions. you can email Martin Lewis podcast at bbc. co. uk and just address it to dear Martin, Dar Mat. Oh it's nice to have you back, And don't forget, if you do come on the show, we'll send you an exclusive Martin Lewis Question time Badge Who wouldn't want that? We don't need answer to that question So