Money Box: Your toolkit for balancing your budget, growing your bank balance and living a better financial life

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In some ways, you might think it’s a good thing that we’re being families again and looking after one another. It could be positive, but it just depends on how well you all get on and the size of your home. ‘The way to get the best possible mortgage deal is to go to one of the big, national, independent mortgage brokers’ (Photo: Yui Mok/PA Wire)

I think it’s the worst I’ve ever come across. It’s much worse than the banking crisis in 2008. And it’s worse than the last time inflation hit this sort of level in the 1970s. To be classed as a Which? Recommended Provider (WRP), the platform needs to have a customer score above 70%. When you invest with an investment platform that's registered with the Financial Conduct Authority, your money will be ring-fenced and should be returned to you if a company goes bust - without having to wait alongside other creditors. Part of the reason is people in the 1970s didn’t have the same level of debt, as it was more difficult to get into then. Now we have middle-income families going to food banks and to do this, you have to be recommended by an agency – you can’t just turn up and get free food.I once wrote a book that had a lot of golden rules. Some of them were golden and sparkly rules. And the most important had jewels on as well. If I could do that here, this would be the diamond encrusted platinum rule: Never, ever, ever, ever take investment or financial advice from anyone on social media. We’re setting up warm banks – churches and libraries and so on are opening up so that people can go in and keep warm. All the people I know who’ve been around as long as I have say exactly the same thing. In a time of such economic uncertainty, it has never been more important to take control of your money. For over 40 years, Money Box has been arming you with the most up-to-date knowledge, giving you the confidence to take on the financial world. To get a good pension – by which I mean around half to two thirds of your income when you were working – you have to be saving 25 per cent, ideally from day one.

LifeSearch Partners Limited (FRN 656479), for the introduction of Pure Protection Contracts, who are authorised and regulated by the FCA to provide advice and arrange Pure Protection Contracts. LifeSearch Partners Ltd is registered in England and Wales to 3000a Parkway, Whiteley, Hampshire, PO15 7FX, company number 03412386. I don’t invest. This has probably cost me a lot of money over the past 10-12 years when I could have invested my pension. My problem is that the fear of losing money is so much greater to me than the pleasure of making it, that I’m much happier when my money is just sitting there getting a little bit bigger every year.

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My inbox contains messages from people who have taken the risk or fallen foul of other much more sophisticated thieves, and they’ve lost their life savings or their pension fund because they thought, “I’m fed up with earning 1 per cent in cash” – which of course you did until recently – so when they were offered 8 per cent guaranteed, they handed over the money. And it went. Greed is what really damages people. No real-world celeb would ever endorse anything on such platforms. By which I mean, they would only endorse things if they knew nothing about money and were paid to promote it. That’s how influencers work. But no journalist or financial expert who knew anything about investment would do it. If you see one, it is a fraud.

General investment account - can hold different types of investments but doesn't give tax-free benefits like pensions and IsasAnd if you are saying, “Look, inflation is nearly 11 per cent, I think I need a pay rise”, and your employer says: “Okay, well I’ll give you a bit extra, a few per cent, but I can’t afford more,” you could then ask for them to add a few more per cent into your pension. You can negotiate your employers pension contributions, Paul Lewis says (Photo: Joe Giddens/PA Wire Photographer) I have been very impressed with how easy it has been to set up, and how the round-ups add up. I particularly like the function which shows me how my investments may change by tweaking my regular top-ups - it makes it really easy to make financial decisions’ What happens is, the moment you ask that question, your premium for next year is already going up, because the algorithm will decide you are a higher risk. Never mind that it wasn’t your fault or you may have decided not to make a claim after all. Never call your insurance company, except to make a real claim.