Accountant Peter knows that to grow a business, you have to take on debt. But can he apply that same logic to his personal finances? He tells Claer how he is tempted to take out a bigger mortgage against his London flat and invest that money in a buy-to-let property - or even in the stock market. Has he come up with a brilliant shortcut to making some extra money, or is his plan to leverage up a recipe for disaster? Personal finance expert and FT columnist Jason Butler stresses that debt is no shortcut to wealth, while the FT’s European economics commentator Martin Sandbu looks at recent consumer debt trends.

If you are a regular Money Clinic listener and want to be in with a chance of winning £250, then let us know what you think of the show at www.ft.com/moneyclinicsurvey 

If you would like to be a guest on Money Clinic and chat to Claer about a money issue that’s bugging you, get in touch — our email is [email protected]

Claer and Jason will be doing an Instagram Live on Tuesday 18th May at 7.30pm UK time discussing the issues raised on this episode. If you would like to take part and ask questions, follow Claer @ClaerB or Jason @JBtheWealthman on Instagram

Further reading

Here’s our Money Clinic episode on how to get out of problem debt, and here’s the one about whether it's a good idea to pay off credit cards 

Follow Martin on Twitter and check out his book, The Economics of Belonging

Jason’s FT columns are available here. You can follow him on twitter and instagram and be sure to checkout his podcast

Jason recommends reading John Kenneth Galbraith’s The Great Crash 1929 and watching Capital in the Twenty-First Century

For the latest on market trends, follow the FT’s markets page.

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