Question Time: Are we failures for not owning a home? Is the LISA still due to be replaced? Car finance claim success!

21:46Martin Lewis:Then every six months or so, you take whatever you've got in there, making sure you've got a cash emergency fund, and you put that into the top one or two year, depending on your timeline, fix that's available at that point. Not just because it gives you a guaranteed rate of interest, but because it locks the money away. And if it's in a fix, especially fixed savings, you can't get that money out. and therefore it's gone and it's no longer in your choice. And I think there is, you know, knowing yourself and knowing that you will be tempted to fritter that cash away is important to try and find a way to protect yourself from yourself.

22:18Martin Lewis:And I think that may well help. It sounds to me like you're a little too early in the journey to be seeing a mortgage broker. I would go to one later. Or you might want to build a relationship now and just see what they'd say and how much you'd be able to borrow and what the situation is in your area. But certainly I would be pumping your money into savings and sort of have a timeline of three years to be really looking at this, to be building up that deposit. At that point, you'll be what? You'll be in your early 50s, both of you, will you? Yes, we will. I think there's still a good chance. I don't think you should lose hope.

22:49Martin Lewis:I think there's still a good chance you can get the home. And by then, it might be that it's a more affordable two-bed house. Of course, there's a chance house prices go up in the meantime. But that just seems like it's a cost of having to try to do what you need to do. You're right. There's no perfect answer here. No. Well, I mean, I had a few weird suggestions, but my husband's not so keen. So I suggested to him that you might think they're completely nuts. But I was suggesting that we buy the best two bed house that we can afford in our area, in the nicest area. And I don't know if you've seen you can get these sort of prefab extensions that you can put in your garden.

23:28And that would suit the kids while they're at home and give us the house. Is that completely nuts?

23:34Martin Lewis:It's not completely Lutz, but it's a pure lifestyle thing. I mean, that's not something I can help you with. But ultimately, you have to look on what's the planning permission issue? Will there be enough space in the garden? Do you want it to work that way? Would the kids be happy going that way? How long would it take you to actually manage to deliver that? Because clearly, you're not in a position from listening to you that you can sell your house. You can buy a new house while you still own your existing house. So what would be the transition arrangement from going that into getting the prefab built in and would it really fit?

24:06Martin Lewis:I don't think it's nuts at all, but I think it would take a lot of work and planning to get it right. OK, OK. I think that's pretty much where my husband was coming from. So I was kind of hoping you would tell me what I wanted to hear and that I could play in the podcast and say I was right. But OK. No, I don't. I don't think it's wrong. I just think you need to do some research into the feasibility of it. And what you're also doing is you're limiting your two-bedroom house choice, if you think about it. Because what you're doing is you're effectively saying, I need a house which will be able to fit that in the garden.

24:39Yes.

24:39Martin Lewis:And it's going to have to work that way. I mean, there is another way of looking at this, which may not be perfect right now, but you might want to look at, is in terms of getting on the property ladder, it is worth exploring. And you might simply not be able to afford it and there are risks involved, would be getting a buy-to-let property that you would later live in, that you're planning to live in in a certain period. But there are lots of risks involved in that, in that while even though under the new rental rights law, you would be able to giving adequate notice to get tenants to go when you wanted to move into it yourself, it's whether you would have enough income coming into it to be able to pay the mortgage in the meantime while you weren't living in it so that you wouldn't be having to do that from your existing house and you tend to need a bigger deposit on a buy-to-let house than you do on your own home.

25:24Martin Lewis:But that is another way, if you wanted to get on the housing ladder now, is to look at what feasibility of a buy-to-let mortgage on a property that you would want to live in in three years' time and to start looking at buying that now. Okay. That sounds a bit more sort of pleasing in terms of the dopamine fix of getting out there and getting on the housing ladder and knowing that that's solid and it's there. It's solid and it's there, but there are risks involved. There are costs involved in renting a property out and there are risks involved in not being able to rent it out and it being fallow and you being liable for that mortgage as well as your rent.

26:01Martin Lewis:So it is absolutely not a panacea. It is an option. I'm moving back to I would like you to go and find a decent mortgage broker. Look at what your buy to let ability is. Look properly at what type of mortgage you'll be able to get and how you get yourself in the position to do what you want to do. And I want you to talk to the mortgage broker, both because, listen, I think a buy-to-let mortgage would be quite difficult for you to get, but it is always worth just exploring and having that conversation, but also seeing your general bigger picture. But you know what? Can I just remind you, Liz, playing back to what you said to me, both you and your husband were in debt.

26:42Martin Lewis:You have managed to get yourself out of debt. You've got a property over your head and you've got your three daughters with you. you've got enough income coming in that you're being able to save a substantial amount each month you're not doing that badly you you maybe need to be a bit more if you forgive me saying glass half full than glass half empty oh absolutely i do agree and it comes back to i think feeling like you're being irresponsible by not aspiring to be on the housing ladder there seems to be that general feeling in society that if you're not a homeowner you're failing at life and I think that's that's where we really struggle with our situation we know we're we're very lucky and we appreciate everything we have we've worked very hard to get into the situation that we're in and we do appreciate that and you've done really well yeah if we could just shut out that noise that you know if you're not a homeowner you've failed in life in your 40s that that I think would bring us a lot of peace and we'd be happier picking any route because it feels like we're very lucky to have so many options but it it comes back to that feeling of you've failed um well i don't i disagree i started early on by saying it's peculiar to this country in many ways compared to the rest of europe that renting is seen as a dirty term right and i absolutely don't think it is the case there is nothing and i think i need to differentiate between you're saying the aspiration of homeowning and homeowning.

28:10Martin Lewis:You have to do what is right and sound and stable for your finances. And that's what keeps you and your husband and your children protected. Now, in some cases, that is buying a house. In some cases, it isn't. And overstretching yourself to get a property that you don't want, that could lead to financial problems later on, is actually not a good thing. Which is why, and this is sort of the difference between what I would say and what the property people say, because they're always overextend yourself and get whatever you can. I think you need to look after your finances first. So it has to be done within that.

28:42Martin Lewis:And you're doing that and you're asking the right questions and you're thinking the right things. So I think anybody who would judge you, although I think it's more about you judging yourself on this basis, anyone who would judge you on that level, they need to take a step back and think about the financial realities. You demonstrate one of the biggest reasons people are in debt in this country is not overspending. it tends to be change of circumstance and the loss of a partner divorce mental health losing your job issues with your kids they're all change of circumstance and that's life and you're dealing with it and you're thinking the right way the only thing that the only thing i would and it's not a judgment call but i would say back to you is you need to get out of the mindset of we will fritter this away if you want it to happen you need to find the self-discipline or the enforced self-discipline such as locking money away in a fix, if that's right for you, that will enable you to keep control of your own finances.

29:37Martin Lewis:Everything else that you've done, there's no judgment going on. That's the one thing I would say that actually maybe you need to trust yourself a little bit more and to make some decisions and stick to them and try and work out how you can stick to them. But the situation you're in, you've done nothing wrong. You're not failures. You're doing really well. It sounds like you've got three wonderful daughters and you've got a roof over the head and one's working and two are going to university. Well done you. thank you thank you that's so kind i think that's exactly what i needed to hear as well beyond it sort of goes a bit beyond buying the house it's about how you view yourself in your financial position i'm so grateful thank you so much my pleasure thank you so much for calling sarah i hope it goes well come back and talk to us in a year's time and see where you are wiggy oh yes keep in touch with the curator of questions himself Will I get a second badge?

30:30Martin Lewis:Oh, we haven't Oh, that's policy Matt, what's our policy? That's tricky I don't know Well, finite number I'd say If you've already got one Do you need a second? I'm not greedy But it's the status A double badge holder I'm going to disagree to an extent, Matt Okay, okay So I actually think You get a badge for coming on We want to We've invited Sarah to come back. Yes, actually. For us to deprive her of a badge if she came back a second time. You are true, you are right. Right, would be inappropriate. I think you get a badge for each appearance, but we'll cap it at five. Okay. So, yeah, next year get in touch with me and we'll see if we can get you another badge.

31:14Alright. Thanks so much for calling, Sarah. Thank you so much. Thanks, Sarah. Sarah's gone. That's one of those interesting ones, Matt,

31:21Martin Lewis:those interesting questions, because there are no right or wrongs here and there are so many different options. You know, I talked about buy-to-let for the house they were going to live in. Of course, you could also look about, if you want to get on the property ladder, getting a smaller buy-to-let that might be more affordable to get, but then they wouldn't have the advantage of living in it. And I don't think that's really the philosophy. But I think you can only in life, you are in the position that you are in. And there's no point, and there's certainly no reason in that case, of kicking yourself when actually you're far better to expend your energy on what do I do next and where do I go than to expend your energy on why am I here and why am I in this position?

31:59Martin Lewis:And that's sort of what I was trying to get Sarah towards. I mean, it's less financial than we normally talk about, but I hope it was useful and interesting anyway. Also, one thing that struck me was she said that she feels like she has to buy a house. Do you think that people think we have to buy houses? Because I don't own my home. Yeah, but to be fair, you're young. You're in your 20s. Late 20s. but you're still in your 20s. And listen, I didn't buy my first property until I was 33. So, and I certainly, I mean, I always get worried when 18-year-olds say, I'm not on the property ladder. It's like, well, hold on.

32:34Let's just think about it and take your time and go through that. But it is the British ideal in many ways

32:40Martin Lewis:is to own a property. And that's what's coming. That's what Sarah was thinking about there is this whole idea that I own my own castle and I live in it and my life and therefore I'm sorted on the way through. And I think that works for some. It doesn't work for all people. and it isn't always the best thing. You know, if you buy a property at the wrong time and house prices are declining and you get put in negative equity, owning a home can be absolutely catastrophic. But if you're buying over the long time in an affordable way and you're looking for it as a long-term place to live, as a place to trade, then it is generally a sensible option to be going for.

33:16That was all very interesting. I'm sure you've got another interesting one for me now. I presume this is a read. A read, yes. Let's stick to the original format. Lucas from Leeds has emailed this in to martinlewispodcast at bbc.co.uk. He says, hi, M &M. Nice. I like that. Yeah, sweet. I had quite a few M &Ms on my holiday, actually. Which type? Well, the peanut and peanut butter. I do like a peanut butter M &M. I like a peanut butter too. Tougher to get in this country and more in the States. Yeah, well, that's, yeah. Yeah, I like a peanut butter M &M. Very nice. Very sweet, but very nice. Highly calorific, though.

33:50Yes, but delicious. Very high in calories. Anyway, enough about M &Ms. Lucas says, thanks to your tips, I was lucky enough to get£100 in the Nationwide's fairer share payment. The account I received it into is a shared account which I hold with my wife. My question is, how will this pay be treated from a tax perspective? I know it'll be treated as interest, but whose allowance will it fall in? Is it split 50-50 between both of us? And is that what Nationwide will report to HMRC? Thanks for all your help. What an interesting question. Yes, the nationwide fairer share payment is it's a hundred pound payment this year and in previous years.

34:26Martin Lewis:Effectively, it's a loyalty bonus for existing nationwide customers who fulfill certain criteria. Now, what is interesting about this particular payment, as you say, is it does count as interest. Now, if you get a bank switching bonus, that is seen as an incentive as opposed to a reward for an existing customer. So that is not taxable. The same as cashback on credit cards is not taxable. But because this is effectively a benefit of a mutual organisation, Nationwide is, of course, a building society and is a membership payout, that is taxable and it's taxable as interest. So for those people who earn above their personal savings allowance of£1 ,000 a year as a basic rate taxpayer or£500 a year as a higher rate taxpayer, you would have to pay tax on the£100.

35:19Martin Lewis:If you earn less, you won't have to pay tax on the£100. Or if you're a non-taxpayer, you won't have to pay tax on the£100. So yes, if you have joint savings, the interest payment is demarked 50-50. The nationwide fairest share in a joint bank account is demarked 50-50. I haven't asked Nationwide if that's what they report to HMRC, but that is exactly what the situation is. So I can't see any reason why that isn't what they would report to HMRC. So, yes, you should consider this to be£50 each. Simple as that. A long answer for a very short answer. Hold on. No, a long answer for a very short answer.

35:59A long explanation is what I meant for a very short answer. Well, you know, sometimes when I talk to my Uncle Tony... I've met him. Have you met Uncle Tony? I was at the recording. You have? Yeah. So Uncle Tony, who for years was effectively my sort of finance director when I was running Money Saving Expert by myself.

36:19Martin Lewis:Uncle Tony will often answer short answer, yes, long answer, and then explanation. And I sort of did it in reverse. Yeah. I mean, I sort of did, and I could have done, but this is a podcast. It is a podcast. I mean, if I literally just said, yes, it's 50-50 and not give an explanation and said the interesting thing, it wouldn't be good listening, Matt. No, it would have been a much shorter podcast. You know, you've come back from your holiday. You're out there with your nails out coming to berate me over my answer system. But I think I gave the right answer within the podcast format. Did I not?

36:51No, you did. Definitely. And also I messed up on what I was saying. So I look like the fool, not you.

36:58Martin Lewis:No, you never look like a fool, Matt. I mean, no man who is a professor and a sir and a doctor could ever look like a fool. And an Esquire. And an Esquire. OK, Matt, even number. It's a caller. It's a caller. It's Jason and Enfield. And he's with us. Hi, Jason. Hi, Martin. Hi, Matt. Thanks for taking my question. A pleasure. Hello, Jason. What can I do for you? Well, back in December, Martin, I was actually in the live audience of another popular show that you do. on a channel that we won't name. Yes, maybe. Yes. And during that show, you played a clip of your interview with the Chancellor about lifetime ISAs.

37:40And during that, she promised a consultation early in this year about a brand new first-time buyers, ISA. And I've got a couple of questions off the back of that.

37:49Martin Lewis:Yes, you'll go for it. All right. So my situation, I've had a cash LISA since 2019 and I've managed to max it out pretty much every year since then. But when I opened it, I was a single guy in my mid-20s and I was just thinking about getting onto the ladder with a small flat. That was going to be well under the price cap of$450 ,000, the limit on the lifetime ISA. However, now me and my partner are looking to buy our first house in London. And as you probably know from the house prices, it's really difficult to find anything within that limit. So I'm trying to decide between three options on my next steps.

38:29I'm deciding if I want to take the hit and withdraw it now for a deposit, or should I keep it in cash and wait for the rules to change with the new product, or should I just transfer it to a stock share slicer for retirement?

38:45Martin Lewis:Okay, so let's just go through this in a little bit of detail. You're right, that is exactly what the Chancellor said. That is exactly what we were expecting, but we were probably expecting the world to be a little bit different at the time. And I don't think the government at the time were expecting quite the level of instability. Now, for those people listening, we are recording this on the day of the makers' field by election. So you listening will know what's happened and you will know whether Andy Burnham has won or not and whether there is to be a challenge to the leadership, or you might not know that bit yet, but whether there's expected to be a challenge to the leadership.

39:18Martin Lewis:And all of that, of course, affects the decisions that the government make and the security of the Chancellor, because the new Lysa was very much coming from the Chancellor and the Treasury. And I would like to give you, Jason, my impression of where we are with the Lysa. Are you ready for it? Yes.

39:45Martin Lewis:It's just gone very quiet. I wonder what that was then. It's just gone very quiet. It was sort of halfway between tumbleweed and nothing was what I was going for. I'm not sure I managed to get it right, but I tried. And so interestingly, just the meetings I've been supposed to be having to talk to powers that be on it, they haven't happened yet. Right. So I think it's a bit on the back burner at the moment. Now, that is the last thing that you want to hear. And I remember saying at the time to the Chancellor and in that interview that you saw that, you know, so what do people who've got current licensure do?

40:21Martin Lewis:And she said, continue as they were before and you shouldn't be put off doing them because the licorice regime will stay. But the problem for you is this 450 ,000 property cap, which has been in place since 2017 and it's never gone up with inflation. And you will know I've been campaigning to get them that if you're at least buying your first time property and it's above 450 ,000, while you might not get the 25 % bonus, you shouldn't have the penalty for using it. And you'll know all about that. And I thought I've got to be Jeremy Hunt first. And I thought I'd got to be with Rachel Reeves and it hasn't happened.

40:54So I think all we can do at the moment is make a decision based on what we know right now. So go through your three options again for me. So the first option would be to take the hit, the 25 % penalty, which would be quite a large amount of money for me. But I would do that and then use it towards a deposit now or wait a year or two to see if the rules change. Or if not that, I would transfer it into a stocks and shares lifetime ISA and just use it as a retirement pot instead, which would also delay the house purchase as well.

41:33Martin Lewis:So just to explain to people, the penalty of withdrawal is 25%, but you've already had a bonus of 25 % on that money. So the net effect is you would have about six and a quarter percent less than you originally put in. So it, you know, and it's probably even though you're looking at your account saying, I've got 40 grand in there and they're going to be taking off 10 grand of it. Ultimately, some of that money was given to you by the state. So your net reduction is not as bad although it's still bad don't get me right okay do you know what i'm trying to say yes yeah how much worse would you be not would you be off than had you just put it in a normal savings account and the answer is about six and a quarter percent as opposed to the 25 percent um but right okay none of which is that positive but it might help frame the decision for you in a way um yes yeah if i hadn't used a lisa i would only have six and a quarter percent more money than I do.

42:27Martin Lewis:It's not quite, that's a reciprocal. But I'd only have a little bit more money than I do right now. Again, I'm not justifying it. I don't like, I've given evidence against that penalty. I don't like it, but still. It's really tough. It's really tough. Let's go with the last option. You saying, do you know what? I'm going to use this towards retirement savings, then I don't have to pay a penalty. If you did that, would that stop you buying a property? It wouldn't stop me buying a property. It would delay it a little bit or make my mortgage monthly payment increase. But that would be the price to pay for that.

43:02If you left the money, where are you with buying a house? I mean, I think it all comes down to you. Right. I mean, you can certainly leave it in a lifetime ISA and see what happens.

43:12Martin Lewis:Is there where what do I think on the balance of probabilities? Do I think there is the chance they will either introduce a new product that you could put the money over to or change the existing LISA rules to at least get that amount to rise with inflation. Yes, I think that is plausible. If you'd asked me six months ago, I would have said it was probable. I would now say it's plausible. So that's I'm just giving you a level of percentage on that, if you see what I mean. I've gone from probably over 50 percent to under 50 percent, but still perfectly possible that it would happen. So there is a chance that you could hold off for a year and things you could be in a different situation in a year.

43:49Martin Lewis:But equally, you could be exactly where you are now. And when I say I don't know that, I don't know that because I don't actually believe at this point anybody knows that because I don't think there is anything firm in place. So rather than it's a lack of my knowledge, it's a lack of anybody's actually decided what on earth is going to be happening here. And all that flux is terrible for you. So if you were to take this money out if you were to ignore it ignore the penalty which you hate understand right but let's just let's just factor that out for a second and say the reality is you've got whatever it is 30 000 pounds not 40 000 pounds in your lisa yeah the reality is if you want to take it out to buy a house that's what you've got is that right yeah yeah that's about right that's in the right ballpark yeah if you did that would that enable you to buy the house that you want right now with a lower mortgage rate and a mortgage deposit in a sensible house with a decent mortgage that you're going to be living in that gives you and your family long-term stability yeah that would be a big help towards it yes so that that would be a viable option i think and is that it would be difficult to lose that amount of money but it would be something I could live with.

45:05Martin Lewis:Is that what you want to do? Ultimately, is that, you know, what do you want to do? Let's, let's look at it on that basis. Yeah, I think with, with how, it's not ideal, but on the balance of everything, I think that would be the better decision. And at least we would get the house that we wanted as soon as we could. Then do it. Okay. It's my view. I'm saying now I need to say this is not official advice or anything like that. But if I was your mate, so we're going to pretend we're friends in the pub now, then I would say close your eyes to the penalty. In reality, the penalty is I can't actually do it.

45:46Martin Lewis:Let's just take a pause. I want to do the maths for a second. OK, I've just gone through this. You've put in, we'll ignore interest here because interest would have been the same elsewhere. you've put in£32 ,000, right? You've got£40 ,000 in there because of the bonuses. If you withdraw the money, you will take out£30 ,000, all in round numbers. And I think it's better for you psychologically to think of, I've put in£32 ,000 and I can get£30 ,000 out. It's almost like an investment that's dropped a little bit. yeah so you're saying i should just ignore the fact that there ever was a bonus and think of it that way i really think for your own peace of mind and for your ability not to be kicking yourself about this that is a better way to think of it because if you had said if if we'd gone back now to when you first started putting money in this lifetime isa which of course the state encouraged you to do and you have done everything you were supposed to do you've saved into a product that's meant to be a first-time product.

46:52Martin Lewis:You're buying your first-time house with it. And I think you've absolutely been shafted on the back of this, which is why I say you should at least get back. In my view, you should be getting back 32, not 30. Yeah. That seems like it would be more fair. And I think in that case, if you had known this, you wouldn't have put your money in a lifetime ISA. You would have put your money in a... Is that correct? Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. I wouldn't have wanted to lose out on my own money. So then you would have put it in a normal savings account or ISA and you would have 32 grand. Therefore, even with hindsight, if you had known this, the best position you would have been in was 32 grand ish right now.

47:34Martin Lewis:And you've got 30 grand. So you should see that as the cost. Now, if I said to you, you have to pay me you don't obviously you've got money you have to pay me two grand for permission to allow you to buy the house that you want to buy right now with all the money you've got in and all the savings you've got in would you pay me two grand to do it or you're not allowed to do it by law yeah i think i would do that so then that's what you're doing okay do you see what i'm trying to do by the explanation of paying me i don't mean it in a real sense but I mean yes yeah of course if we look at this of what is the opportunity cost of you having put the money in the ISA it isn't the 10 grand you're losing compared to what you've got now it's the two grand you're losing compared to what you would have done had you not put it in an ISA and you're willing to pay that amount because this is right for you in your position right now then don't let the about the the penalty color your the doing the right decision for you and your family the the other point is remember that you have you have you haven't actually found a house yet have you no just still in the in the house searching looking phase okay so yeah set your budget by the appropriate look obviously always look for a house that's within the budget i mean biggest rule by the way when you're looking for a house in your especially as a first-time buyer work out what the maximum you're willing to pay is please do not go and see any houses that more than that.

49:05Martin Lewis:Just don't do it to yourself. Right. You know what I mean? This is my limit and I'm not going to go somewhere and then go, I really want that one. And it was 12 or more and I was just being a tourist, but that's the, don't do it because there's no such thing as perfection. And all you will do is it's either more debt or disappointment is the only thing that comes out of that. But ultimately there is a chance in this waiting process that something might change. Now, again, for people listening on Monday, you might know more than we do right now about whether there is a chance of a different government who might have a different attitude.

49:38Martin Lewis:And the only thing I can tell you is I will continue to be lobbying on this issue because I think it's a manifest unfairness for first-time buyers who are buying a first-time property with a first-time property ISA that they have to pay a penalty to do so. And I don't think that penalty should be there. But I think for your life and what I can hear in your voice, you should just get on and do what's right for you and not let the fact you'd have to pay the penalty stop you. Okay, that's perfect. Thank you so much for that advice, Martin. Thank you. And just before I go, can I just thank you for the campaigning you've been doing on Plan 2 as well?

50:10We really appreciate how you've been speaking out against that as well as someone who's affected by it. So thank you.

50:16Martin Lewis:You can very much. And while I can't fix Plan 2 and I can't fix the LISA penalty, something that I think you will understand is probably more important. We can make sure that once the badges are ready, which we'll be discussing soon, you get a badge. I mean. Oh, excellent. Very excited. Thank you very much. Thank you so much for recording. Nice to chat to you. Right, so number five. I presume the following format, and this is the... I now call it the askance question. It can be a funny question. It can be a comedy question. It can be a question about life in general or my life in general, within reason, that we're happy to take.

50:51Martin Lewis:So if you've got any of these, martinlewispodcast.bbc.co.uk. Matt, do you have one? Yes. Having built it up. Yes. I'd like to know... I say it would be a bit funny if we didn't have one, And we just cut that bit out, so it wouldn't be funny. But go on. So GDPR Rosie, Google Docs Rosie, she has put funny-ish on this one. Okay. So Rosie's judging. I think that's a scance then. It's a scance, not funny. Okay. So this one's from Melanie. Okay. She has started with Dear Martin, comma, no Matt, comma, just Martin. I think that's your punishment for being away. I actually said last week that it was my last chance to say, just do it to Dear Martin.

51:29Okay. And I think Melanie has delivered on that. So Melanie says, dear Just Martin, she says, as a colossus who strides the treacherous chasm between consumer rights, personal finance, those political heathens who govern us and scrabble, whose daily stride count can be considered the eighth wonder of the world.

51:47Martin Lewis:I am really liking Melanie. I just want to say, Melanie, how are you doing? What is your preferred footwear for such a mighty achievement? Sloppy trainer or sensible brogue? Well, it's interesting you asked me that this week because I had comments on something relatively similar on social media yesterday. I do, I regularly present Good Morning Britain on ITV, which is obviously very early in the morning. And I only, for that reason, because I have to get up at sort of four o 'clockish, I don't do it very often because I doesn't fit in with the rest of my work life. But I did it yesterday and I was wearing, and I was very proud of myself, I should say.

52:28I was wearing a blue suit and a white shirt, but I also had blue glasses, a blue belt and blue shoes, all dark blue.

52:38Martin Lewis:So I was feeling quite, you know, as a man in his 50s to a colour coordinate. And let's be honest, but I think I say as a straight man in his 50s to have managed to colour coordinate all that myself, I thought was an achievement. But then I realised because I do do enormous amounts of steps and I was walking afterwards that I can't walk in shoes. I literally can't do it. My feet aren't adapted to it. All my shoes have arch support in them. So I had to carry a pair of trainers with me. And then I did a post saying that I changed that. I just walked to the office and I trained out the trainers. Lots of people saying, why do you have to wear shoes when you're on telly?

53:09And well, you sort of, there is sort of a uniform for doing that type of telly because it's within a news environment. And because I do standing up in front of the graphics bits when I'm there and they can see my feet. So when you're going into, that was just an aside, but going into Melanie's question, the answer is i tend to wear special trainers i won't do the brand that are designed for walking

53:30Martin Lewis:and sometimes i put arch supports in them and the most important tip i got when talking to a foot specialist about this when i had plantar fasciitis which i had from run i've heard of that yeah it's not fun no from from running and walking and i obey this is have different shoes so when i although I say I have these specialist shoes, I try not to wear them constantly. So I try to change pairs every couple of days. So I'm not always using the same. And I have about two or three I rotate through. And I was told that apparently that helps your feet not get used to them and it not work in quite the same way.

54:07Martin Lewis:And that sort of difference and challenging means your feet and the muscle strength is still adapting as you're going by wearing different shoes. So I have walking shoes with arch support, but I rotate what I wear so that there is foot variance. I'm just hoping that that was, I don't think it was from Melanie, but you always, when you're in the public eye, I don't know if I can say this, you get requests for pictures of your feet. Oh. Do you know about this? I've heard of it. You do. I mean, I have to say my wife gets more than I do. Yeah. Right. And she doesn't send them just in case you're listening.

54:41And nor do I. I mean, sometimes you get requests for pictures can have pictures of your shoes or your feet in shoes but you do get requests for people to send pictures of your feet. Clearly it wasn't what Melanie was going on about but I hope I just haven't, haven't, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Just been informed there's a website called Rate My Feet. Oh dear. I'd just like to say my feet are about a two out of ten at best. Nobody wants to see them. I hope that puts everybody off. Yeah, if you do that much walk-in your nails won't be. Exactly, it's not happening. No, you really don't want to know.

55:10Enough foot talk now. I'm done. But,

55:15Martin Lewis:Matt, we cannot go without perhaps the most important news in Britain for the whole of 2026, I think. I do not know anything else more important that has happened in the country. What is happening with the ESQ badges, Matt? Right. So, it's very... I might have to have a sip of water. Hold on. OK. It's very, very exciting. Rosie's gone red. She's flushed. Right. I'm sitting here. My knees are bouncing. I'm on tenterhooks. Go on. You've been away. I've been away. The badges have arrived. And they are magnificent. Oh, my word. Do you have a badge in your possession? I have one with me. Yes. It's in my hand.

56:02Okay. How big are they? I'd say bigger than what I thought they'd be. Okay. They're not huge. I mean, they're sort of like huge. They're not the big birthday. They're not the big birthday. Yeah, they're like a badge that you'd put, but bigger than I thought they'd be.

56:18Martin Lewis:Now, I just want to say I'm making another executive decision, even though it may be out of my power because it's on the production side, not on the presenting side. Right. But I don't think we should ever put a picture of the badges anyway. No, I agree. I agree. Because the only way you should see it is if you come on this podcast. But I think we are allowed a description of it. Now, just as a note to everyone, everyone would be very interested in this. next week for other work Rosie is going to Manchester which is where Matt is and I'm in London and you're going to go aren't you Rosie she's going to go and see Matt and you're going to bring me some badges yeah so I'm going to get to see the badges but Matt I think we're allowed to describe the badges can you tell us how the badges look so the brief I had was that they had to look as though I designed them so they couldn't be too professional Okay.

57:08So I got one of our digital people to cut your face out from one of your videos that we put on social media. Okay. So you've got headphones on. Nice. It's your face blown up. And it says across the top, I'm Anne dot dot dot. And then underneath it says ESQ. And there is a little Easter egg, which I'm not going to say what it is. But if you look at the last dot, then there's a little Easter egg in there. Is it you, Matt? I could not confirm and I could not deny it. I would be willing to put money on the fact that you've put yourself in there. So I thought, you know, I'm a part of this podcast too.

57:45I need something. So I snuck my face in and I don't think anyone noticed until it had gone to print. So basically it's a picture. It's a big me. It's big you. It's the words ESQ. Yeah. And there's a tiny little mat in a dot. A tiny mat. I mean, if you didn't know, you probably wouldn't notice. And you can't make out any of my features. I mean, how, and we're not going to show you, listeners, you don't get to see it. If you want to see it, you've got to put a question in, be selected, and then be willing to agree to either give us a voice note or to come on the programme and ask a question. If you want a badge, that's how you get one.

58:21And it is very exciting to be able to say that we are now posting them out. So, you know, if you've come on before, you'll be getting one. And by the way, for those people who have come on before and you get a badge, feel free to send us a review of what you think of the badge. Yes, please. We're happy to read that out, to continue to tease all the people who haven't got a badge about what the badges are like. I would like someone to come on the podcast themselves and tell us how good the badge looks. Did they then get another badge? It's getting very technical. It's very technical. I think they're going to have to get another badge, but I feel that's...

58:54I'm not almost sure that deserves another badge. Maybe not. We'll see. Let's see how we feel. What does Rosie think? Did they get another badge? Rosie's saying no. She's cruel. She is. She is quite cruel. She is quite cruel. And then again, GDPR. GDPR, she's got to keep us on the straight and narrow. She's laughing now. Let's end the pod there. Thanks, everyone.

59:16Martin Lewis:And that's it for this week's Question Time. Don't forget to subscribe so you know when we release a new episode. We put out a new Question Time each Monday, alongside the Big Topic podcast with Adrian on Thursdays. Aren't you lucky? Two doses of money-saving tips and tricks a week. Now, do make sure you send in your questions. You can email martinlewispodcast at bbc.co.uk and just address it to dear Martin. Dear Matt. Oh, it's nice to have you back. And don't forget, if you do come on the show, we'll send you an exclusive Martin Lewis Question Time badge. Who wouldn't want that? We don't need an answer to that question.

59:52I got bills. I got paid. So I'm going to work for the world. I got a mouth I got a feet So I'm going to make sure everybody eats Martin Lewis is the founder of MoneySavingExpert.com But of course, other consumer and price comparison websites are available. You can get in touch with Martin's podcast production team by emailing martinlewispodcast at bbc.co.uk The offers and rates mentioned in the podcast are correct at the time of recording. However, if you are listening on demand and it's worth double-checking as details can date. Remember to subscribe on BBC Sounds and leave us a review however you listen.

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