Question Time: Beginner investor: explain the risk? Faulty kitchen: getting money back? Self-employed: how to start a pension?
5/18/202638 min
In this episode of The Martin Lewis Question Time Podcast, Martin tackles a packed agenda of your real-life money dilemmas, bringing practical advice to your most pressing financial questions.
For those new to investing, there’s a question from a beginner worried about risk. Martin unpacks what “risk” really means, how to assess your tolerance, and why understanding volatility is key before putting your money into the markets.
Martin explains pension options for the self-employed — a crucial topic for anyone without automatic workplace contributions. Martin breaks down the key choices, from personal pensions to SIPPs, explains how to get started and how to make your money work harder for your future.
A listener asks what rights they have when a kitchen starts to fail five years after installation. Martin explains consumer protection laws, including how long goods should reasonably last and how to challenge retailers or manufacturers when things go wrong well beyond the guarantee period, going through his SAD FART acronym so you can easily remember your statutory rights under the UK Consumer Rights Act.
There’s also a feel‑good moment, with a success story from a listener who successfully claimed on their travel insurance — highlighting the importance of knowing how to navigate the claims process.
Plus, Martin reflects on his own biggest money‑saving faux pas, listen to find out if he is on the Energy Price Cap.
And, England fast bowler Mark Wood steps up to become the first cricket World Cup winner to also be awarded an ESQ.
If you want to ask Martin a question, you now can! His Question Time podcast lets you ask Martin absolutely anything and everything (within reason!) – so if you’ve always wanted to know his favourite ice cream flavour, if he’s ever pondered the meaning of life, or have a very complicated question about your personal finances, email it to MartinLewisPodcast@bbc.co.uk.
Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsMartin Lewis· Host0:00
[upbeat music] Pensions, you could go on for hours and hours and hours, but as a where to dip your toe in the water, I hope it gets us there. I should explain Sad Fahrt to new listeners.
Natalie0:08
I listened to all the previous podcasts and things like that. It's great. It really is really good, yeah.
Martin Lewis· Host0:12
Oh, that's wonderful to hear. We British particularly, we like certainty, and investing doesn't have certainty. Hello, and welcome to the cunningly named The Martin Lewis Podcast. I do wonder what that's gonna be about. And this is our question time episode where you, our ESQs, our extra savvy questioners, get to ask me your questions on absolutely anything and everything, open bracket, within reason, close brackets. And this week, the questions from our ESQs are: I'm self-employed. How do I start a pension? Can I ask for money back on a kitchen if it's faulty after five years? I'm a beginner investor. Can you help me understand exactly what the risk I'm taking is? After that, it's a caller all about his success of making his travel insurance firm pay out after his complaint. Then you ask me what is my biggest money-saving faux pas. And to finish, PPS has a PPS. Play the theme tune.
Speaker 31:08
[upbeat music] I got bills I gotta pay. So I'm gonna work, work, work every day. I got mouths I gotta feed. So I'm gonna make sure everybody eats.
Martin Lewis· Host1:25
Hello, and