Investments and Carers Allowance

Money Box

BBC

Business

4.2 • 804 Ratings

🗓️ 3 May 2025

⏱️ 26 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Stock markets around the world have plunged in reaction to the import tariffs imposed by President Trump and then the retaliation of China which responded with its own tariffs on American goods. Economists have warned that this trade war could seriously damage the world economy, and make all of us poorer. By the end of Friday shares traded in London had fallen nearly 5% in price. What does that mean for investments?

The earnings limit on Carer’s Allowance is to rise this week. From 7th April working carers can earn up to £196 per week after certain deductions, the equivalent of 16 hours at the National Living Wage, and continue to claim Carer’s Allowance. That's an increase of £45 compared to the previous earnings threshold. But what, if anything, does that mean for the thousands of carers who're in debt because they unwittingly got overpayments of the benefit?

Last year we tapped our cards 19 billion times in shops, pubs, cafes, and retail outlets without using our PIN. At the moment the upper limit for contactless card payments in person is £100, but regulators are considering raising it or even scrapping it altogether. What would that mean in practice?

And, a reminder to get your postage stamps before the cost of them goes up.

Presenter: Paul Lewis Reporter: Peter Ruddick and Dan Whitworth Researchers: Eimear Devlin and Jo Krasner Editor: Jess Quayle

(First broadcast at 12pm Saturday 5th April, 2025)

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello, Russell Kane here.
0:03.1	I'm back for another season of character assassinating the nice guy
0:06.4	and binging up the baddies in evil genius.
0:09.2	Yep, even the biggest legends have their skeletons.
0:12.0	So join me and a panel of brilliant comedians
0:14.4	to weigh in on whether the biggest players in history
0:16.9	are more evil or more genius.
0:19.0	I just think every celebrity, said with respect, Russell,
0:22.3	is out of their minds. Evil genius with Russell Kane. Listen first on BBC Sounds.
0:32.5	BBC Sounds, music, radio podcasts. Hello, welcome to this Moneybox podcast.
0:39.0	From April the 7th, carers can earn more before they lose their carer's allowance.
0:44.4	But every day, 30 more carers are being told they must pay back their allowance because
0:49.2	they earned too much. Posting a letter will cost more from Monday, six months after the last increase.
0:56.0	And should the contactless card limit rise to £200 or even be scrapped?
1:02.0	But first, have you woken up this morning to find your investments are worth a lot less?
1:07.0	Stock markets around the world have plunged in reaction to the import tariffs imposed by President Trump
1:12.7	and then the retaliation of China, which has imposed its own tariffs on imports from the USA.
1:19.0	Tariffs are attacks on goods arriving in a country, and economists have warned this trade war
1:24.3	between these two global giants could seriously damage the world economy and make all of us poorer.
1:30.8	By the end of Friday, shares traded in London had fallen nearly 5% in price,
1:35.9	and the drop was closer to 6% in New York.
1:39.1	Well, one man who's seen plunges and peaks in share prices over the years is Justin Urquette Stewart, the founder of
	...

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