About this episode
If you're a UK beginner and you're not sure where to start investing in 2026, Pete and Roger talk you through a calm, step-by-step investing order to follow. They cover when to build a buffer, tackle expensive debt and use employer pension matching, plus how to choose between a Stocks and Shares ISA and a pension. You'll also hear the key beginner mistakes to avoid so you can invest with confidence and stay the course. Shownotes: https://meaningfulmoney.tv/QA43 02:00 Question 1 Hi Pete and Roger I'm late to investing but thanks to your informative and entertaining podcasts and books - I feel on track to at least a decent retirement. I'm on a £60K salary and currently manage to contribute around £25K annually via salary sacrifice - which keeps me happily and comfortably within the 20% Income Tax bracket. However, with the Salary Sacrifice Cap coming in April 2029, I will end up in the higher-rate tax bracket. I was thinking about using my employer's Car Benefit Salary Sacrifice Scheme to help bring down my taxable income – whilst still maintaining the maximum salary sacrifice and utilising Relief at Source my AVC. I'm fully aware of the saying "don't let the tax tail wag the investment dog" but I was planning on getting a car in 2029 – when my mortgage is completed – so this might be a good alignment. My question's are: Can you confirm whether the Salary Sacrifice Cap applies to pensions only — and does using the car salary sacrifice scheme seem like a sensible idea in this context? Is there anyway that paying into my AVC via Relief at Source and claiming the higher-rate relief via Self-Assessment would result in HMRC issuing me a new tax code for the following tax year. Keep up the good work – and all the best to you and your families for the festive season. Thanks, Cris 06:43 Question 2 Hi, I recently came across your podcast and have not stopped listening to all the older episodes, and look forward to the new ones each week. Keep up the great work! I'm a 53 year old business owner looking to exit my business within the next 3 years via a sale and hope to receive around £1.5 - £1.8m from my share of the proceeds after tax. My wife is 8 yrs younger than me and will probably still be working doing some consultancy work. She has her own pension and savings in ISA's (currently a combined pot of around £250k which will hopefully grow over the next 10+ years) but we wouldn't need to access that till much later as required. My 2 questions are: 1. What would be the best way to invest the lump sum from the sale of my business to provide an income to support my retirement without having to necessarily eat into the capital or touch too much of my savings / pension early on as it will need to provide for my wife and I for quite a few years if we retire / semi retire in our mid 50's. Having looke
