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Andy Burnham has been Prime Minister for about 80 days, and his first Budget lands on 28 October. Chris and Gareth go through what’s been announced so far, what’s being floated, and what they actually expect on the day.

In this episode:

• The “flood the zone” approach: lots of small announcements, from the energy bill cut and £2 bus fares to business rate cuts for pubs, clubs and music venues
• Your First Home: the new low-deposit equity loan scheme, how it works, and whether it helps the people who need it or just pushes prices up
• Why the Chancellor has lost around half the headroom he inherited, and what higher borrowing costs mean for the Budget
• The ideas being floated: a higher personal allowance, a property tax to replace council tax and stamp duty, a flat 10% inheritance tax, and bringing capital gains tax in line with income tax
• The £90k VAT threshold and the £100k income “cliff edge”, and why they hold people back
• Should the country be run more like a business?
• Our predictions for the day

The big takeaway: don’t act on anything you read in the papers before the Budget. Wait for the detail, because even confirmed changes often go through consultation and come with a lead-in period.

We’ll be recording a special episode as the Budget is announced on 28 October, so make sure you’re subscribed.

Got a question for the show? Email help@seriousmoneypod.com or find us on Instagram @seriousmoneypodcast.

This podcast is for general information only and isn’t financial advice. Speak to a qualified adviser about your own situation.

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Pull up your pension. If you hold an S&P 500 fund, around a third of it sits in just seven companies, and even a "global" tracker has roughly a fifth in those same names. Those seven drove about three-quarters of the market's gains from 2022 to 2025. So are we in an AI bubble, and is it about to pop?

Gareth and Chris won't pretend to call it. Instead, they look at what history does to a portfolio this concentrated and how to protect yourself either way.

In this episode:

• The difference between a correction, a crash and a bubble bursting
• Why dot-com took 15 years to recover, and why today's tech giants look different
• Nvidia's paradox: a $5tn company that's getting cheaper as it grows
• The SpaceX IPO, and why you might own it within a week (or never)
• The data centre spending boom and the "capex air pocket" risk
• Is AI actually taking jobs yet?
• Gareth vs Chris: is the S&P right to keep unprofitable giants out?

The real lesson? The danger isn't "AI". It's concentration.

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Questions for the show: help@seriousmoneypod.com

Serious Money is for education only and is not financial advice. Investments can go down as well as up.

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From April 2027, most unused pensions will count towards your estate for inheritance tax. For many families, that turns the pension from the best place to leave money into one of the worst.

In this episode, Chris and Gareth work through the numbers. If you die after 75, your beneficiaries could face 40% inheritance tax and then income tax on what they withdraw. That can add up to a combined 67% for additional-rate taxpayers.

We cover:

• What's changing on 6 April 2027, and what's excluded (death-in-service, spouse and charity transfers)
• Why age 75 is still the cliff-edge
• The 52%, 64% and 67% double-tax scenarios
• Why executors, not pension schemes, have to report and pay, and the liquidity trap that creates
• Why defined benefit savers largely escape while defined contribution savers pay
• The 2029 National Insurance cap on salary sacrifice
• Two decades of moving goalposts, and why you shouldn't drain your pension in a panic

Is the pension dead as a way to pass on wealth? And how do you plan when the rules keep changing?

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✉️ Questions for the show: help@seriousmoneypod.com

Serious Money is for education only and is not financial advice. Tax rules can change, and the treatment depends on your individual circumstances. Please seek regulated advice before making any decisions.