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Most people with real money are optimising the wrong thing.

The industry shows you how: how to be tax efficient, how to invest, which product to buy. Influencers give you rules of thumb. But almost nobody asks the most important question first: what is the money actually for?

In this first full episode, Chris and Gareth start with an old story about a fisherman and a businessman, then get into:

• The destination problem: why "more money" isn't a goal
• Why the financial industry often focuses on products before purpose
• Why generic online advice can be right in general and wrong for you
• What a real, joined-up plan actually looks like
• What each of us would actually do, and what Gareth would tell his 35-year-old self

Plus three real listener situations in the Q&A:
1. A large lump sum from a business sale, and everyone's saying something different
2. Significant savings, but stopped working because of worries about tax
3. Probably able to retire, but can't bring themselves to stop

Our takeaway: if you can't say what your life looks like at 60, what you own now, and what you're trading off to get there, you don't have a plan yet. You have assets.

Got a question for the show? Send us a voice note or message on Instagram @seriousmoneypodcast, or email [email protected]. The best questions go straight into the Q&A.


Serious Money is for general information and discussion only and does not constitute financial advice. Nothing in this podcast is a personal recommendation. Your circumstances are unique, so please seek regulated advice before making financial decisions. Tax rules can change and their effect depends on your individual circumstances. The value of investments and pensions can go down as well as up, and you may get back less than you invest.

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Buy to let isn't dead. But it's not what it was, and many landlords have never run the real post-tax numbers.

Gareth has owned buy to let through two full market cycles and sold out both times. Chris comes at it from the maths, which are unforgiving. Together they get into:

• Why so many landlords are selling up, and why it's more structural shift than panic
• Gross yield vs net yield: the gap that catches most landlords out
• Section 24, capital gains tax and stamp duty: how the costs of getting in, staying in and getting out have changed
• Where buy to let can still work: location, value-add, limited companies and HMOs
• The honest question: £100,000, buy to let or invest? What each of us would actually do

Plus three real listener questions:
1. Two buy to lets. The accountant says wait, the planner says sell. Who's right?
2. 42, never owned property. Buy to let or stocks and shares?
3. Inheriting a parent's buy to let portfolio: gift or burden?

Our takeaways: work out your true net yield this week. And before buying, ask yourself whether you want the return, or the job of being a landlord. Because it's both.

Got a property question? Send us a voice note or message on Instagram @seriousmoneypodcast, or email [email protected]. The best questions go straight into the Q&A.

Serious Money is for general information and discussion only and does not constitute financial advice, tax advice or a personal recommendation. Tax treatment depends on your individual circumstances and may change. Buy to let property and most buy to let mortgages are not regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. The value of investments and property can go down as well as up, and you may get back less than you invest. Please seek regulated financial and tax advice before making decisions.

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There are loads of money podcasts. None of them are built for people who've already got money.

Serious Money is for business owners, higher earners, people approaching retirement, and anyone whose finances have moved well past budgeting and basic saving. If your money has real complexity and real decisions attached, this show is for you.

Hosted by Gareth Shears, who has spent over 20 years in financial planning, and Chris Exley, who has spent a decade in financial services working with clients in exactly this situation. Both from Newport, Wales.

What you'll get:

• One topic per episode, properly explored. No surface-level stuff.
• Real questions from real listeners, answered honestly.
• Real (anonymised) situations, not hypotheticals.
• Two people who'll disagree when they genuinely disagree.
• The occasional guest who adds something we can't.

Episode 1 is out now: why having money isn't the same as having a plan.

Got a question for the show? Send us a voice note or message on Instagram @seriousmoneypodcast, or email [email protected]. The best questions go straight into the Q&A.


Serious Money is for general information and discussion only and does not constitute financial advice. Nothing in this podcast is a personal recommendation. Your circumstances are unique, so please seek regulated advice before making financial decisions. The value of investments can go down as well as up, and you may get back less than you invest.