Welcome to This Is Money Podcast. I'm Georgie Frost and joining me and Simon Lambert today is Tanya Jeffries.

And coming up, we run the rule over 2023. Was it a good or bad one for investors?

And we take a look at what 2024 has in store, where we see recession or recovery.

What impact will elections have on both sides of the

pond? What next for bonds? For gold? Can the UK stock market be the surprise performer? And what are

the other key themes you need to look out for next year? Also today, Boots pension has my early

retirement been robbed and daughters swapping homes. Do they face a future tax sting?

Don't forget your step to date with all the latest breaking money news. Just go to this ismoney.com.

Dot UK or download the app. Don't forget. You can stay on top of what's going on in the markets by

tuning in to the Digest and Invest Podcast by Itara. Go to your regular podcast platform and listen on the go.

Digest and Invest by Itara, the podcast for those interested in trading and investing.

But first, the UK is at risk of recession.

After revised figures show that the economy shrank between July and September, coupled with waning

inflation, the Bank of England is, despite protestations, being tipped by markets to cut interest rates multiple times in 2024, some suggestions as early as February even.

But what will it all mean for investors? Before we dive into the new year, we'll take stock of 2023. Not over yet, but almost. So was it a good or a bad year? Welcome to you both, Simon.

2023 for investors, obviously we'll be digging into all these themes in a lot more detail, but

briefly, A, B minus, D, fail. Well, it's an interesting one because it very, very much

depends what you were invested in.

It was a good year for passive investors, true passive investors who decided to track the global

stock market. And by doing that, we'll have been massively exposed to the US stock market, which meant that they also

benefited from the rise of the so-called Magnificent Seven. And these are the seven big tech firms

that have hugely powered investor returns this year. And if you remove them from the S&P 500, from the S&P 500,

...