Gold is up big in 2025, but should you invest in it? And if so, how?

In this episode, we break down everything you need to know about gold as an investor. From what actually drives gold’s price, to its long term returns (including the real return after inflation), to how much of your portfolio you may want to allocate - the ultimate beginner-friendly guide.

We then dive into the 5 main ways to invest in gold, including the pros, cons, fees, and tax implications of each option.

These options include: physical gold, ETCs, ETFs, gold mining stocks and digital gold.

In this podcast episode, I answer a question from Jiani.

This is a great question and a fairly common question one - is it better to 'lump sum' invest or 'drip feed' / 'cost average' invest.

We go through the data, the pros and cons of each approach, some real life examples, what I personally do, and more, in this podcast episode.

Listen to the podcast episode for the full details.

Timestamps:

0:00 - Question from Jiani: Cost averaging vs Lump sum

1:24 - What is the difference?

2:45 - What the data shows

4:17 - Why lump sum investing wins

5:13 - Why cost averaging/drip feeding might still be better

7:09 - When does each strategy work best?

8:31 - Some real life examples

10:17 - The ‘lost decade’ where drip feeding won

12:08 - The final verdict

13:23 - What do I do?

14:4 - Outro

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More investing:

📝 Download my free investing guide to help you start investing - https://www.makingmoneysimple.co.uk/Free-Investing-Guide

📕 Get my book Stop Waiting, Start Investing (available as a physical, digital and audiobook) - https://www.makingmoneysimple.co.uk/swsi-book

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⚠️ Disclaimers: I am not a financial advisor and this does not represent financial advice, it is for entertainment purposes only. Please seek professional advice to get the best information for your personal situation. When investing, your capital is at risk and you may get back less than invested. Past performance does not guarantee future results.

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📥 Get in touch: https://www.makingmoneysimple.co.uk/contact

Mat from @thequidsquid joins me on this episode to discuss all things budgeting.

From different budgeting methods, to budgeting techniques, to useful budgeting tools and apps, to juggling your budget whilst investing and saving.

Mat shares how he used budgeting personally to save for his own house. As well as how to go about budgeting the average UK salary of £35,000.

Listen to the podcast episode for the full details!

Timestamps:

0:00 - Intro

1:17 - Different budgeting methods

3:25 - 50/30/20 budgeting

7:39 - What techniques did Mat follow to save for a house

9:45 - Zero-based budget

14:14 - Budgeting for investing

17:13 - Other budgeting tips - mindset, LISAs

22:23 - How to budget the average £35,000 UK salary

26:25 - How much should you save/invest?

31:08 - Budgeting apps and tools

36:34 - Using multiple accounts

41:26 - Final quickfire budgeting tips

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More investing:

📝 Download my free investing guide to help you start investing - https://www.makingmoneysimple.co.uk/Free-Investing-Guide

📕 Get my book Stop Waiting, Start Investing (available as a physical, digital and audiobook) - https://www.makingmoneysimple.co.uk/swsi-book

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⚠️ Disclaimers: I am not a financial advisor and this does not represent financial advice, it is for entertainment purposes only. Please seek professional advice to get the best information for your personal situation. When investing, your capital is at risk and you may get back less than invested. Past performance does not guarantee future results.

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📥 Get in touch: https://www.makingmoneysimple.co.uk/contact

Tom from @tom.tpf joins me on this podcast episode to discuss a very important question what is the best global ETF for UK investors?

As Tom and I discussed on our previous podcast episode, investing really can be made simple - invest into a global fund and do this consistently for decades.

However, which global ETF is best? There are many to choose from and the jargon can be confusing. So, in this episode we compare 5 of the most popular global ETF options.

What makes them different? Primarily the number of underlying holdings (essentially the number of stocks in the ETF) and the fees that they charge.

We go through each of the ETFs and then conclude on which one (or ones) are the best for investors.

This episode will be very helpful if you're a long term global fund investor.

Listen to this podcast episode for the full details.

Timestamps:

0:00 - Intro

0:58 - Why use a global fund?

1:45 - Some global fund aren’t truly global?

4:55 - FTSE All World - VWRP & FWRG

9:02 - MSCI ACWI - SSAC & ACWI

15:35 - Solactive GBS Global Markets - PACW

21:35 - Which one is best?

26:47 - Final thoughts

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More investing:

📝 Download my free investing guide to help you start investing - https://www.makingmoneysimple.co.uk/Free-Investing-Guide

📕 Get my book Stop Waiting, Start Investing (available as a physical, digital and audiobook) - https://www.makingmoneysimple.co.uk/swsi-book

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⚠️ Disclaimers: I am not a financial advisor and this does not represent financial advice, it is for entertainment purposes only. Please seek professional advice to get the best information for your personal situation. When investing, your capital is at risk and you may get back less than invested. Past performance does not guarantee future results.

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📥 Get in touch: https://www.makingmoneysimple.co.uk/contact

Will from @nextgenngpf joins me on this podcast episode to explain exactly how he has built his own investment portfolio from £0 to £15,000 by age 23.

This includes what specific platforms to look into and what specific ETFs to consider investing into.

Investing seems very complicated, which is why reason why many people never start. But it can be made very simple and very passive.

Will runs us through his exact approach on how he's done that, his mistakes along the way, as well as how to plans to keep building his portfolio moving forward.

If you're looking to start investing, this podcast episode will be a massive help.

Timestamps:

0:00 - Will’s top 3 tips for beginner investors

4:51 - Investing mistakes to avoid

8:28 - How can a beginner investor actually start investing?

13:14 - What Will invests into in his investment portfolio

20:26 - Does investing need to complicated?

22:20 - Money psychology investing lessons

25:25 - Investing book recommendations

28:24 - Will’s future investing plans

30:42 - Outro

Listen to this podcast episode for the full details.

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More investing:

📝 Download my free investing guide to help you start investing - https://www.makingmoneysimple.co.uk/Free-Investing-Guide

📕 Get my book Stop Waiting, Start Investing (available as a physical, digital and audiobook) - https://www.makingmoneysimple.co.uk/swsi-book

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⚠️ Disclaimers: I am not a financial advisor and this does not represent financial advice, it is for entertainment purposes only. Please seek professional advice to get the best information for your personal situation. When investing, your capital is at risk and you may get back less than invested. Past performance does not guarantee future results.

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📥 Get in touch: https://www.makingmoneysimple.co.uk/contact

Tom from @tom.tpf joins me on this podcast episode to go through exactly what to look for when selecting an index fund or ETF to invest in.

Investing really can be made simple - invest into a global fund and do this consistently for decades.

However, how can you pick a fund? What should you look for?

It can get a bit technical. And in this episode we run through the nitty gritty of exactly what criteria to look for when selecting a fund.

This includes the underlying holdings, tracking errors, fees, fund size (or AUM 'Assets under management), and more.

On top of this, when it actually comes to then picking a fund on an investment platform and actually investing your money, there are a few more important differences.

What are they? They are differences in the fund provider, how dividends are treated and currency.

This episode will be a very valuable listen if you are planning to invest into funds for the long term.

Timestamps:

0:00 - Intro

1:34 - What is an ETF?

2:25 - Why is this a good way to invest?

3:54 - UCITS

5:11 - Underlying holdings

9:38 - Fees

11:39 - Domicile

13:50 - Tracking Error

17:09 - Fund size, bid ask spreads, liquidity

20:14 - Method of replication

24:13 - Fund provider

26:04 - Income vs Accumulation

28:45 - Currency

33:16 - Summary

Listen to this podcast episode for the full details.

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More investing:

📝 Download my free investing guide to help you start investing - https://www.makingmoneysimple.co.uk/Free-Investing-Guide

📕 Get my book Stop Waiting, Start Investing (available as a physical, digital and audiobook) - https://www.makingmoneysimple.co.uk/swsi-book

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⚠️ Disclaimers: I am not a financial advisor and this does not represent financial advice, it is for entertainment purposes only. Please seek professional advice to get the best information for your personal situation. When investing, your capital is at risk and you may get back less than invested. Past performance does not guarantee future results.

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📥 Get in touch: https://www.makingmoneysimple.co.uk/contact

Neil from @NeilInvests joins me on this podcast episode for a fascinating and insightful chat where we discussed his entire investing journey to date and his future investing plans.

For context, Neil is currently in his 40's and is planning to build his Stocks & Shares ISA portfolio to £500k+ to enable an earlier retirement.

Neil runs us through the specific investment platform he uses, why he uses a Stocks & Shares ISA, and why he specifically invests into the S&P 500 and FTSE All World.

But that's not all. We cover his biggest investing mistakes, favourite investing books, why he doesn't plan to invest into bonds, how he plans to live off of his investment portfolio, and a lot more.

Listen to this podcast episode for the full details.

Timestamps:

0:00 - Intro

1:15 - Neil’s overall approach

4:45 - Neil’s investing journey and mistakes

10:10 - The difficulty of stock picking

12:20 - Do you need a financial advisor?

14:36 - Why did you choose Trading212?

18:58 - Why a Stocks & Shares ISA?

24:05 - Why the Vanguard S&P 500 Income ETF and Invesco FTSE All World Income ETF?

27:10 - US or Global ETF?

28:50 - Crypto investing

31:36 - Why use Income/Distributing ETFs?

34:40 - Neil’s exit plan to live off of his investments

38:34 - What about bonds?

41:09 - Will you take the pension tax-free lump sum?

43:25 - Book recommendations to get started investing

46:01 - Outro

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More investing:

📝 Download my free investing guide to help you start investing - https://www.makingmoneysimple.co.uk/Free-Investing-Guide

📕 Get my book Stop Waiting, Start Investing (available as a physical, digital and audiobook) - https://www.makingmoneysimple.co.uk/swsi-book

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⚠️ Disclaimers: I am not a financial advisor and this does not represent financial advice, it is for entertainment purposes only. Please seek professional advice to get the best information for your personal situation. When investing, your capital is at risk and you may get back less than invested. Past performance does not guarantee future results.

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📥 Get in touch: https://www.makingmoneysimple.co.uk/contact

With Bitcoin back at all time highs I've received a few questions on cryptocurrency recently, so I thought I would collate them all into one podcast episode where I run through my exact crypto approach and strategy.

From the platforms I use, to cryptos I invest in, to how I store my crypto.

We discuss all of this and more in this episode.

Timestamps:

0:00 - Intro

1:19 - Crypto market cap

2:14 - How many are there?

2:47 - The biggest cryptos

3:57 - Recent updates

4:27 - My overall strategy

6:50 - Platform to use

9:06 - Cryptos I invest into

12:24 - How to store crypto

14:18 - My approach recap

15:01 - Crypto taxes

16:30 - Indirectly invest into crypto in your ISA and Pension

17:42 - Crypto ETFs

18:15 - How to stay safe

18:42 - Books to read

19:45 - Outro

Listen to the episode for the full details.

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More investing:

📝 Download my free investing guide to help you start investing - https://www.makingmoneysimple.co.uk/Free-Investing-Guide

📕 Get my book Stop Waiting, Start Investing (available as a physical, digital and audiobook) - https://www.makingmoneysimple.co.uk/swsi-book

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⚠️ Disclaimers: I am not a financial advisor and this does not represent financial advice, it is for entertainment purposes only. Please seek professional advice to get the best information for your personal situation. When investing, your capital is at risk and you may get back less than invested. Past performance does not guarantee future results.

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📥 Get in touch: https://www.makingmoneysimple.co.uk/contact

Massive shoutout to Ian who asked these brilliant questions.

From transferring defined benefit and defined contribution pensions, to comparing the index providers of FTSE and MSCI, from UK stocks and their fees, to investing into bonds, and a lot more. This episode has a little bit of everything. Timestamps for each question are below.

And if anyone is keen to get involved in a future 4-week investing crash course, give me a shout and I'll add you to the waitlist (IG - makingmoneysimple, email - [email protected]).

Timestamps:

0:00 - Intro

1:07 - Fees for non-UK stocks? Plus, should we focus on UK-listed stocks?

3:22 - And what about ETFs?

4:22 - Why are UK stocks listed in pennies?

5:53 - Can a company create new/more shares?

7:41 - And what about a company buying back shares?

8:34 - Index funds: FTSE vs MSCI?

11:22 - How to differentiate between indexes?

12:39 - Back to FTSE vs MSCI?

15:01 - Will the Cash ISA allowance be reduced?

16:06 - Are bond investments worthwhile?

17:58 - What is my personal annual rate of return?

19:19 - Has my portfolio recovered after the 2025 market drop?

21:31 - Pensions introduction

22:22 - Can any pension be transferred?

29:03 - Outro

Listen to the episode for the full details.

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More investing:

📝 Download my free investing guide to help you start investing - https://www.makingmoneysimple.co.uk/Free-Investing-Guide

📕 Get my book Stop Waiting, Start Investing (available as a physical, digital and audiobook) - https://www.makingmoneysimple.co.uk/swsi-book

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⚠️ Disclaimers: I am not a financial advisor and this does not represent financial advice, it is for entertainment purposes only. Please seek professional advice to get the best information for your personal situation. When investing, your capital is at risk and you may get back less than invested. Past performance does not guarantee future results.

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📥 Get in touch: https://www.makingmoneysimple.co.uk/contact

What happens if the dip keeps on dipping?

When the market falls, no one knows: 1. How big the fall with be. 2. How long the fall will last. 3. When the market will bounce back.

This is exactly why I don't personally 'buy the dip'. Long story short, because it's impossible to time the best time to invest. Which is why only investing when the market ‘dips’ is a losing strategy over the long term.

The much better strategy - in my opinion - is the following two steps:

1. Stay invested

At all times. After all, I don’t need this money for the long term. And it’s impossible to time the right moments to buy and sell.

2. Keep investing

‘Cost averaging’ by investing every single month. No matter what.

I do this personally by primarily investing into low cost global index funds and ETFs. No need to overcomplicate your investing strategy.

Then let time and compound interest grow your wealth

Listen to the episode for the full details.

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More investing:

📝 Download my free investing guide to help you start investing - https://www.makingmoneysimple.co.uk/Free-Investing-Guide

📕 Get my book Stop Waiting, Start Investing (available as a physical, digital and audiobook) - https://www.makingmoneysimple.co.uk/swsi-book

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⚠️ Disclaimers: I am not a financial advisor and this does not represent financial advice, it is for entertainment purposes only. Please seek professional advice to get the best information for your personal situation. When investing, your capital is at risk and you may get back less than invested. Past performance does not guarantee future results.

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📥 Get in touch: https://www.makingmoneysimple.co.uk/contact