Tariffs, Pensions and Credit Card Debt

Money Box

BBC

Business

4.2 • 804 Ratings

🗓️ 10 May 2025

⏱️ 25 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

The stock markets have been on somewhat of a roller coaster since US president Trump announced global trade tariffs. Listeners emailed Money Box to tell us about the impact of the fall out in their pensions and investments. The advice from the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association which speaks for pension companies is 'if you still have many years until you retire, you have plenty of time to recover short-term price falls'. But, what happens if you're retiring right now and you've seen your pension plummet?

Also on the programme, the amount we owe on our credit cards is at record levels, topping £73 billion. But is increased borrowing an indication of consumer confidence or personal crisis?

And do you know you state pension age? Research suggests many of close to retirement don't.

Presenter: Paul Lewis Reporters: Eimear Devlin and Jo Krasner Output Producer: Craig Henderson Editor: Sarah Rogers

(This episode was first broadcast on Saturday the 12th of April on BBC Radio 4)

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. Listen first on BBC Sounds. BBC Sounds,
0:34.0	music, radio podcasts. Hello, welcome to this Moneybox podcast. Official figures for
0:39.9	credit card debt hit a new high this month, just a few years since COVID reduced it by a quarter.
0:45.6	It's a sign of financial problems or financial confidence. And just as people were getting used to state
0:51.4	pension age being 66, next April it starts going up again.
0:56.0	What will yours be? But first, plunge, plunge, sore,
1:01.0	plunge, sore, gentle slope. Those last six trading days might make you think the London Stock
1:07.7	Exchange had moved to Blackpool, as the US President announced, then de-announced,
1:12.7	changes in the taxes he would impose on goods coming into the USA, except for China.
1:18.1	And when the investors who lend the US government money started pulling it out of this once safe haven,
1:24.7	that hit the dollar and threatened the whole US economy. Of course, it was mainly the
1:29.4	plunges that led you to email us, worried that thousands of pounds had been wiped from your
1:34.1	pensions and investments as the Trump Tower's rollercoaster jolted on. But all rides come to an
1:40.1	end and the normal advice is wait it out until your feet are back on solid ground. But what
	...

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