Investments and Carers Allowance

Loading player...
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)
3 May English United Kingdom Business

Other recent episodes

Investing in Gold and Accessing Child Trust Funds

Money Box investigates fees being charged of teenagers who are struggling to access their child trust funds. We speak to an 18 year old who agreed to pay a claims management firm 25% of his fund plus VAT, not realising he could do it for free. Lord David Blunkett was…
17 May 25 min

Money Box Live: Social Housing

New analysis shows that some parts of England have waiting lists for social housing that exceed 100 years. Recently the government pledged £2 billion of new investment to build up to 18,000 new social and affordable homes. But will that be enough? Felicity Hannah is joined by Jasmine Basran of…
14 May 28 min

Tariffs, Pensions and Credit Card Debt

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…
10 May 24 min

Money Box Live: Will Tariffs Affect your Finances?

US Trade tariffs, stock market ups and downs, economic uncertainty. What do they all mean for your money? Since last Wednesday, when Donald Trump announced huge increases in tariffs for goods being imported by the USA, global stock markets have been in turmoil. Money Box Live is discussing what these…
7 May 28 min

April Bills and Child Benefit

The cost of just about everything we need to run a home will be more expensive for millions of households from Tuesday. Switching on the lights, turning on the heating, turning on the tap, calling your mum or your best friend, logging on to emails, will all cost more with…
26 Apr 26 min