This email was sent to Money Box subscribers on 3 September 2010...
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Dear Listener

After six glorious weeks of freedom (from the BBC) I celebrated my return by going inside. Into Her Majesty’s prison Ranby to be precise. There I spent a fascinating afternoon talking to the prisoners about money and bank accounts and how they would cope with both on their release. More on that later – it is featuring in this week’s programme.

But what about the summer? I have been trying really really hard to have a rest from finance and money (though when you holiday in France as I did you certainly cannot avoid going ‘How much?!’ whenever you get the bill at a bar, café, restaurant, hotel, toll road, or beach). But some things have filtered through.

Pension schemes – they seem to be in worse trouble than ever as deficits soar, contributions are raised, and schemes close. Spending cuts – we warned on Money Box around the time of the election that cuts of 25% would be needed whoever won the election. But now those numbers are being translated into services, jobs, and benefits that will be cut it really does seem horrendous. And the new Revenue computer – which cost £389 million and is designed to improve the efficiency and accuracy of the tax taken from our pay and pensions – is actually making far more mistakes than the old computers did and taking far more off us than it should.

Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose. Or perhaps it’s déjà vu. Well, I have been in France.

***ON MONEY BOX THIS WEEK

Story one is about a new financial product that offers a risk free and cost free way to make money from your home. Or so its promoters say.

Research shows that one of the best ways to stop people re-offending when they come out of prison is to give them a bank account. I go inside – just for the afternoon – to find out more.

Then we talk to the woman who claims she has lost £66,000 because of bad investment advice and faulty administration by one of the UK’s biggest banks. The bank has offered some compensation which she has rejected. But should you ever go your bank for financial advice? A question to which we get a clear answer.

If you make widgets and the national association of widget makers votes you the top widgeteer of 2010 and gives you a cash prize of £500, is the money taxable? And what if the cash is commuted to a crate of champagne? That question was asked of us very publicly in his acceptance speech not by a widget-maker but by joke-maker Russell Kane, the winner of this year’s Edinburgh Festival Comedy Award. Does he have to pay tax on his £10,000 prize? The answer, sadly, is not funny.

Those fours stories are our plan – but remember the number of stories can go down as well as up. However, in our case past performance generally IS a good guide to the future. So you can tune in knowing it will be worthwhile and listen live at noon on Saturday, or repeated at nine pm on Sunday, or at any time on the website www.bbc.co.uk/moneybox. There you can also read web pieces, download transcripts, follow links, and send us stories or ideas you want us to look into. And Have Your Say on financial advice from banks.

Best wishes,

Paul

PS don’t forget the programme trail on Breakfast on BBC 1 between 0845 and 0900 on Saturday.


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