The stock market has been rough in 2025. Both the US stock market and global stock market are down heavily since the beginning of 2025.Time to panic? I don't think so.As we go through in this episode, the big mistake that people often make at these uncertain moments is panic selling. We need to avoid that. Not just because it is impossible to 'time' when to get back into the markets, but also because the historical data backs up that these types of falls happen regularly in the stock market. And these falls might even be a good thing if you're a long term investor...What am I doing? Not panic selling, continuing to hold my investments and continuing to invest.What should you do? During this episode I share the 4 things that you should do - right now - in my opinion.

Listen to the episode for the full details.

0:52 - What's the damage so far?

3:12 - Stock market crash stats from history

5:51 - The big mistake people make

7:17 - My losses & why this could be good

10:14 - Why do optimists win?

13:04 - What should you do?

15:05 - Summary

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Alex from @wealthbyAlex joins me on this episode of the podcast to discuss all things pension. This episode really is a 'crash course' in absolutely everything that you need to know about pensions.

Alex is extremely knowledgeable on pensions and if you have any type of pension then this episode will be extremely helpful to allow you to cut through the noise and jargon surrounding pensions.

Pensions are often misunderstood, but they are one of the best (if not the best) ways to grow our wealth and then retire one day.

In this episode we discuss the state pension, defined benefit pensions (DB) and defined contribution pensions (DC). On this last one, these DC pensions include both workplace pensions and SIPPs (self invested personal pensions).

We ran through common misconceptions, how to make the most of your pensions, when to consider switching platforms, fees, funds, and a lot, lot more (timestamps below).

Listen to the episode for the full details.

0:00 - What is a pension

3:02 - The 3 types of pension

7:27 - Defined benefit (DB) pensions

13:32 - How does a workplace pension work

23:00 - Common pension misconceptions

25:30 - Making the most of your workplace pension

32:30 - SIPPs (private/personal pension)

37:26 - Moving workplace pension to a SIPP

45:32 - Limited companies and pensions

46:51 - Stocks & Shares ISAs vs Pensions

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Will the stock market crash? If so, when will it happen? When it does happen, when will the bottom be? And when will it bounce back to a new high?

These are all great questions that we discuss in this podcast episode.

Spoiler alert though - I have no idea. And no one else does either.

'Timing the market' is impossible.

Whilst the stock market is currently 'high', it could go even higher. Or there could go a massive crash tomorrow. Unfortunately no one knows.

Timing the highs and lows are almost impossible and missing just a few of the best days in the market could reduce your returns greatly.

As we discuss in the episode, a stock market crash is a matter of WHEN, not IF. The stock market will crash - 100%. If we look back at history, there are regular dips, corrections and crashes. However, it is impossible to predict this WHEN.

Hopefully this episode can help to provide some comfort to long term investors.

Listen to the episode for the full details.

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Which ISA is best? That is the topic of today's episode.

First, we cover exactly what an ISA - or Individual Savings Account - is and break down how each of the 4 different types of adult ISAs actually work.

We then move into which ISAs are likely to be best to prioritise in certain situations.

Overall, and everyone's situation will be slightly different, Stocks & Shares ISA will give you the most 'profit' (most likely). This is because over the long term the gains and dividends can exponentially grow your wealth.

However, Lifetime ISAs (specifically Cash LISAs) are a fantastic vehicle to save for your first house deposit. And Cash ISAs can be useful in some specific scenarios, like if you will breach your personal savings allowance and have to be some tax on your savings interest.

Listen to the episode for the full details.

Timestamps:

0:34 - What is an ISA?

3:46 - Cash ISA

5:58 - Stocks & Shares ISA

7:37 - Innovative Finance ISA

8:26 - Lifetime ISA

13:06 - Why I don’t like S&S LISAs

17:19 - Which ISA to prioritise in specific situations?

20:25 - ISA allowance

21:21 - Which ISA is best

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📕 Get my book Stop Waiting, Start Investing - https://linktr.ee/makingmoneysimple1

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If you would like to get involved in one of my 4-week investing workshops, get in touch and I can let you know when the next one is kicking off.

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Sammie from @upthegainsmoney joins me on this episode to discuss how we can achieve financial freedom.

It comes back to our 'FIRE number', the number we need to grow our investment pot to to then achieve financial freedom.

Which is why 'retirement' is a number and not an age.

Sammie introduces a concept called 'the gap'. We all have a gap and in order to reach financial freedom Sammie helps to explain a process of how we can close that gap and reach financial freedom quicker.

Listen to the episode for the full details.

Sammie @upthegainsmoney - https://www.instagram.com/upthegainsmoney/

Sammie's course - https://www.stockmarketschool.co.uk/

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If you would like to get involved in one of my 4-week investing workshops, get in touch and I can let you know when the next one is kicking off.

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In this video I discuss what will happen to the financial markets in 2025.

First though, it's helpful to revisit what was predicted in 2024. And then what actually happened in reality.

There was a big difference. Including the world's biggest bank getting their prediction wrong by an unbelievable 38%.

In fact, since I started investing back in 2017, I think there has been a 'big crash' predicted every year. Yet, the US and global stock markets are much, much higher than 2017.

You probably know where I am going with this, but it is impossible to know what will happen and it is impossible to time the market, as we discuss during this episode.

The best thing is to start investing and keep investing. It's impossible to predict what will happen from year to year, but by the market goes up slowly over the long term. And by investing you're giving your money the chance to beat inflation and compound.

Listen to the episode for the full details.

Timestamps:

0:00 - Intro

1:11 - Looking Back At 2024

8:08 - What Will Happen In 2025

13:19 - Start Investing Now

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If you would like to get involved in one of my 4-week investing workshops, get in touch and I can let you know when the next one is kicking off.

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In this video I discuss exactly how I invested £17,976 across 2024.

Including the platforms I use to invest and the specific investments I've made down to the penny.

The very large majority of this money went into global index funds and ETFs. That's the investing approach that I personally follow.

I then also invested a little bit of money into crypto.

Listen to the episode for the full details.

Timestamps:

0:00 - Intro

4:07 - Global Fund 1

6:22 - Global Fund 2

10:10 - Crypto

12:30 - 2024 Reflection

14:09 - 2025 Plan

15:22 - Get Started Now

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In this video I discuss the recently announced changes to Vanguard UK fees.

This took me by surprise.

In short, if you have <£32k on Vanguard's platform across your ISA, SIPP and GIA then you will be paying a £4 p/m fee from 31 January 2025 onwards. If you have >£32k then you are not impacted by this. This fee change also doesn't impact Junior ISAs.

In this podcast episode we run through the details of the fee change, the maths of it, who will be the worse impacted, whether you should consider switching or staying, and for those who will switch what platform and/or fund you should switch to.

Two specific platforms are appealing if you wanted to switch and I have linked them below.

Listen to the full episode for all the details!

If you what to sign up to Trading212 and get a free share - www.trading212.com/invite/Fg39FgeY

If you want to sign up to InvestEngine and get some free ££ - https://investengine.pxf.io/LKKVEL

These are both affiliate links, thanks in advance to anyone who uses them. T&C's apply, with investing your capital is at risk.

Timestamps:

0:37 - The Details

5:04 - The Maths

7:09 - Important Points

10:03 - What Should You Do

14:42 - What Platform To Switch To

17:55 - FTSE Global All Cap Equivalent?

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