Turn £800 or less into £5,400+, cat warning, 1p Walkers, 22mths 0%, buy new clothes 2nd hand, Blue Peter badges

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07 May 2024 | View in browser

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THE TOP TIPS IN THIS EMAIL Martin: 'Aged under 73? You may be able to turn £800 or less into £5,400 or more': - Deadline to buy NI years back to 2006 - If you should, and how to, buy NI years - Many can now do this online Does your energy firm owe you £100s? CHECK NOW Cat owner warning + how to find cheap pet insurance 1p Walkers, 45p Heinz soup etc - extra 10% off past 'best before' food New. 5% 'easy access' saver + free £50 (if you've £10k) Bag new clothes at 2nd hand prices, eg, £197 bodysuit £6 New. Top 22mth 0% spending card How kids can earn a Blue Peter badge Ends Thu. 50GB Sim '£5.50/mth' 'I got £1,040 in compensation for an old flight delay' Martin's pod: Energy fixes, grandparents' financial wisdom, HIGNFY & more NHS, care or emergency worker? 20% off Pizza Express, Harvester & more 50% off Northern Rail advance fares Martin: We can't ignore the impact of money on mental health Tesco Clubcard holder? Some can earn up to £50 with offer FREE National Cycling Show tix Reminder. Santander to slash rate on 5.2% saver Subway customer? You've one week to use/lose loyalty points This week's best buys, including 132Mb broadband '£22/mth', Compare+ car insurance, 5.9% loans Should we cease contact with our daughter's ex who owes us money? BEST BUYS & TOOLS MSE Cheap Mobile Finder Credit Club including free credit report 0% balance transfers Compare broadband deals MSE Car Insurance Compare+ Best bank accounts Top savings accounts Credit cards for bad credit Credit Card Eligibility Calculator Loans Eligibility Calculator Mortgage comparison Compare travel money Cheap Energy Club, with Pick Me A Tariff Best Sim-only deals

Important. Are you under age 73? Martin: 'You may be able to pay £800, or far less, to gain £5,400 or more, but the clock's ticking! It's all about extra National Insurance (NI) years' And... finally, many can now do it online While 'boosting your state pension' doesn't sound sexy, it's the MOST LUCRATIVE THING many can do with their money. To whet your appetite, let's start with one of huge numbers of successes we've had both after I covered it on TV (see my 5-min video explainer) and in our full state pension boosting guide. It's from Martin Clark who kindly tweeted me last year: "@MartinSLewis You are a star, sir. I asked about my voluntary National Insurance contributions and I was 4 years short. If I pay £2,536 (1 year is £63.40), I get an extra £20.83 a week. Over 20 years I'll get an extra £21,000. Thank you." (I edited out the bit where he said I should be Chancellor - heaven forbid!) Don't delay. While today you can buy missing years back to 2006, soon it'll only be to 2019 This is all about the 'new' state pension introduced in 2016, which applies to all men born after 5 April 1951 and women after 5 April 1953. To get the FULL state pension, you need 35ish - and it really is an 'ish', it can vary widely - qualifying National Insurance (NI) years. These usually come from working, looking after children, or via some benefits. Yet many are missing past NI years, commonly due to years abroad, low incomes, career breaks or not claiming credits. Transitional arrangements from 2016 are due to end  They allow you to buy back missed years to 2006. They end this tax year, so that's 5 April 2025 (but it isn't quick & you may need to save up, so start looking now). After that you can only buy back 6 tax years. So miss the deadline & you lose the chance on 13yrs' worth PS: The original transition deadline was April 2023 - it was extended to July 2023, and again to April 2025. And frankly we're to blame. The Govt told me once MSE & I got hold of this and started explaining its importance, numbers jumped from 300 to 12,000/day, all the systems clogged up, so it had to be extended. My five steps to work out... ... if you should, and how to, buy NI years  This is a big, occasionally complicated transaction. So I want to take you through it step-by-step. Please don't skip any. That could cost you. Step 1) Two important checks EVERYONE should make. They're simple and only take a couple of minutes. The links take you through to easy help. Are you missing any National Insurance years since 2006?Speedily check your past NI record. It only counts towards your state pension if it says 'full year' - even missing a week of credits can mean you get nothing for that year. Important: If you have years missing before 2006, you CAN'T buy them back (though in a few cases if you didn't claim earlier years you should have, you may be able to get them free - see step 2). You may be able to buy part years super-cheap... National Insurance years are binary; there's no credit for a part year. So if you've not worked for a full year and/or you didn't earn over the threshold needed for that year (eg, it's £6,396 for this year), you won't get the year. But in some cases you only need to buy a week's worth, so £16 of credit, to get you over the threshold for a full year. Are you on track to get the full state pension? Next step is to check your state pension forecast. A full state pension would see you forecast to get £221.20 a week. Step 2) Check if you can plug NI gaps for free - it could save you £1,000s. While NI years are usually added to your record automatically, in some cases they need claiming. If you didn't do that, likely as you weren't aware, you can back-claim. We've a full list of free NI years to claim, but here are what I suspect are the three biggest... Child Benefit not claimed or claimed by wrong partner. Those providing childcare and not working, or earning under £123/wk, may be due NI credits. It's usually triggered by claiming Child Benefit. Yet many miss out as either i) their higher earning partner claimed it instead or ii) they didn't claim as their partner earned over the threshold. Ring a bell? See Child Benefit NI claiming. As Sean emailed: "I applied to transfer my wife's NI to me as she was claiming Child Benefit and working while I was a stay-at-home parent for 10 years. I got all the details I needed from your website, and the saving to me topping up was around £5,500 - I'm now entitled to a full state pension. What a relief!" Grandparents (or other family members) providing childcare. If a family member looked after an under-12 any time since 2011, before they were state pension age (even if they are now) as parents/guardians were working, then the parent can apply to transfer their childcare credit to the family member. See specified adult childcare credit - it can sometimes be backdated to 2011.  As Debra emailed me: "I was around 6 NI years short. I was advised I'd need to pay £4,000+ to make it up. I recalled an item in your programme about grandparents' credits, completed the forms and have just found it's made up the shortfall for free." Carer's Credit. A free NI 'credit' for those 16 to state pension age who provide unpaid care, such as washing, cooking, shopping or dressing, for at least 20hrs a week for someone receiving at least one qualifying benefit (including Personal Independence Payment, Disability Living Allowance etc). See how to claim Carer's Credit. Step 3) Missing years from 2006 to 2018? Decide soon if it's 'likely' worth buying years. It oft depends on your age... At/near state pension age (66)? It's relatively easy to see if topping up may help. If your state pension is, or is forecast to be, under £221.20 a week, and you can't plug gaps for free, topping up by buying extra years could be a no-brainer (see below for how to check). If so, and you're already taking your pension, do it ASAP, as the sooner you do it, the sooner your pension will be enhanced. Aged 45 to 60ish? Less definite as you may still naturally fill the gaps. The younger you are, the more time you have to earn enough qualifying years before you reach state pension age (remember it's 35ish years needed, but it can vary with circumstances). Here are the key things to think about... - The older you are, the less time to fill the gaps naturally. - Have you got years missing after 2019? (If so, and they'd be enough to plug gaps, you could delay the decision.) - The more years missing, the more likely buying years would help. - If you can buy partial years cheaply, it's a better bet (eg, if it only costs £16 to buy, it's likely worth doing as a 'just in case'). Under 45? It's not usually worth it, barring for cheap partial years. Generally, if you're planning to stay in the UK and work for much of the rest of your life, you've time to fill the gaps, so it's not worth it. The one exception is if you can buy a very cheap partial year, eg, where you just missed a couple of weeks' contribution, so it only costs £16 to £50 to buy the full year. In which case, it can be seen as an insurance against you not earning years, and at that price is likely worth it, even if it later turns out futile as you'd collect enough years to get the full pension anyway. You need at least 10 NI years to get any state pension That's the minimum under the 'new' state pension. So if you're short and can't buy enough to hit 10 years, it's not worth it as you still won't get anything. Yet if you're only a year short of 10 years, it could be very lucrative indeed (eg, £800 could get you £3,286/yr). Step 4) The most you'll pay for the old years is £824. This can typically net you an 'inflation-proofed' £5,000+. The exact cost of topping up a full voluntary NI year varies slightly depending on which year it is. For employees, class 3 contributions cost... - 2006/07 to 2019/20: £824.20 for a full year (or £15.85 a week) - 2020/21: £795.60 for a full year (or £15.30 a week) - 2021/22: £800.80 for a full year (or £15.40 a week) - 2022/23: £824.20 for a full year (or £15.85 a week) If you're self-employed, you can buy class 2 contributions a lot cheaper, for around just £160/yr. Each extra year typically adds £329 annually to your state pension This means, even if you had to pay for the whole year, you'd get back what you put in after about two and a half years of state pension. And every year you get your pension after that is profit. We've built a simple State pension NI contribution top-up calculator to help with the maths, though this graph gives you an idea. A man living for the typical life expectancy would get a total £5,400 back, a woman £6,100 as life expectancy is longer. There are things that can lower the return though, including... - If you die sooner, thus don't collect your pension for as long. - If the extra pension income (which is taxable) takes you up a tax threshold, so you pay a higher rate of tax on the amount earned above that threshold (see income tax rates). It's still worth doing though. - If you were only a couple of hundred quid a year below the state pension, you obviously wouldn't get the full gain from buying a year (you'll find this out in step 5). Pensions are, mostly, inflation-proofed too The state pension has long had a 'triple lock', meaning it must go up by the highest of a) 2.5% b) Consumer Prices Index inflation or c) average earnings. This may change, but most likely if it did, it'd still be inflation-proofed.  Step 5) Think buying NI years is right for you? Before you pay out... some important safety checks. Even if you've passed all the checks, you need actual calculations, or you may pay for years that won't help, or are unnecessary. Until now, that means getting advice via a bespoke (often clogged) phone line. Now some people can finally do this online, which should take some pressure off the phones, though if in any doubt, I'd still do it by phone.  a) Who CAN'T do this online... You won't be able to if: - You're at state pension age or within 4mths 8 days of it. - You're filling gaps from self-employment or when you worked abroad. - You hold a 'Married Women's Reduced Rate Election' certificate. - You're eligible for 'Home Responsibilities Protection'. b) If you can and want to do it online... Under the new Check your state pension forecast tool, you'll be shown your state pension forecast, NI record, payable gaps, and if you can pay for gaps online. It'll then either decide you've a complex case and you must do it by phone (see below) or let you select the year(s) to pay for, in full, online via bank transfer or via Open Banking. You can't pay in instalments. PS: HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) hasn't been great at giving us info on this, nor would allow us screengrabs to help. So we could do with your feedback on how the new online tool works for you. c) How to do it via phone and get 1-on-1 help. Which number you call depends on your age... - Under state pension age? Call the Future Pension Centre. - At or above state pension age? Call the Pension Service. Reminder: You can't buy back years from before 2006. If that's what you're trying to do, don't bother calling: it can't be done. While many have told me it can be a pain in the bum to get to speak to someone on these lines, once they do, most say it's brilliantly helpful. Such as Tom: "A huge THANK YOU about the NI advice and phoning the pensions people. I was missing 9yrs. I phoned to be told all I needed to buy was 7yrs to qualify me for an extra £40/wk [so £2,000/yr]. If I hadn't phoned, I'd probably have paid the full £7,500 and lost about £1,800. I'm now looking forward to receiving the full pension." If buying years is right for you. Then call HMRC to get an 18-digit reference code. This can be a frustration, but it has to be done as your money needs to be paid into the correct account. d) What they won't tell you online or on the phone. The advice doesn't cover every situation. The issues are mostly ones I've already mentioned, but to be sure: - They won't usually tell you if you're entitled to free years. - They won't tell you if it will push you into a higher tax bracket. - They won't tell you that if you're on a very low income, and would have got Pension Credit, this may reduce that.

 

 

DON'T believe the fake 'Martin Lewis' or 'MSE' ads Lots of scam ads litter social media and even newspaper websites - some of these lie that we or Martin promote Bitcoin, binary trading etc. See Fake ads warning.

 

 

 

Does your energy firm owe you £100s? It's the PERFECT time to check if your Direct Debit's too in-credit Plus cheapest fixes (including non-smart meters & for PREPAY) Energy firms are sitting on over £3 billion of our cash - around £180 per household. And a decent whack of that should be back in people's pockets. This can be tricky to do as firms throw up lots of reasons to hold on to our cash, one of which is timing, but check right now, and you can defeat the timing excuse - making it all a lot easier. And while you're at it, why not use our restarted Cheap Energy Club to ensure you're on the cheapest deal possible too... 1. Why it's time to 'spring' on your credit. Martin's new How to get £100s of energy credit back blog takes you through it step-by-step, and firm-by-firm, but in brief...  Monthly Direct Debits aim to smooth out seasonal usage, so you pay the same year-round. That means you build up credit in summer, and use it, or build up debt, in winter. Crucially, now - early May - is the bottom of the cycle, so you shouldn't have much credit. So if you've done an up-to-date meter reading (or your smart meter has), your bill is up to date, and your Direct Debit is the right level (see our Direct Debit Calc), now is the perfect time to see if you've too much energy credit. More than a month's worth right now is certainly a lot, so ask for it back (far more on that in Martin's blog), but to encourage you, Andy emailed Martin in March: "I went to my energy supplier today to input my gas/elec readings as per your piece on breakfast TV, and was shocked to see I was £2,016 IN CREDIT. Many thanks." 2. The cheapest fixes - lock in, save money, get peace of mind. Fixes are back, and if you're in one of the 90% of homes (not N. Ireland) on a Price Cap tariff, then you can pay less and get certainty over what you'll pay. Our Cheap Energy Club comparison also includes a unique way to demonstrate to those on the Price Cap a bespoke prediction of its costs over the next year, so you can compare that with fixing (though our comparison's currently only optimised for dual-fuel price-capped monthly Direct Debit users - we're working on improving that). Cheapest standalone energy deals (1) Prices vary substantially based on use & region, so links go via Cheap Energy Club to give personal comparison.  Compared with current Price Cap (2) Energy Club cashback? Ecotricity 1yr Green fix 9% less on average. £75-a-fuel early exit fees No, as we can't switch you to it Ends Thu. EDF Essentials 1yr May25 fix 7% less on average. £25-a-fuel early exit fees £10 a fuel, so £20 dual fuel Outfox the Market 1yr Apr 25 fix (3) 6% less on average. £25-a-fuel early exit fees £10 a fuel, so £20 dual fuel Not a fix... E.on Next Pledge 1yr tracker Tracks 3% under Price Cap, so if the Cap gets cheaper, it does too. No early exit fees No, as we can't switch you to it (1) In other words: you needn't sign up to other products to get them. (2) Average UK rates for someone paying by Direct Debit. (3) It has another similar fix, with no cashback, which may win for higher users - the comparison will show which is your best. 3. Don't want a smart meter? There are fixes for you. Usually the cheapest deals require you to agree to get a smart meter if you don't already have one. Yet both the Outfox the Market 6% under Price Cap on average deal above and a British Gas 1yr fix (at 5% less than the Price Cap) are available to new and existing customers WITHOUT the need for a smart meter. See our Smart meters guide for more on what they are and whether you should get one. 4. Ends 4pm Thu. On prepay? You may be able to fix too. Prepay fixes are rarer than Martin making an impulse purchase, yet EDF's Essentials 1yr May25 fix is available to new and existing customers including those already on smart prepay meters (but we can't switch you if it's prepay, so sadly no cashback in that case). 5. Struggling to pay your bills? See our full What to do if you're struggling to pay energy bills guide.

 

1p Walkers, 45p Heinz soup & more - via 10% off code for already reduced, past 'best befores'. MSE Blagged. Super cheap, 'beyond best-before' goods, but still edible. Min £22.50 spend and £3+ delivery. Approved Food New. Top savings if you've £10,000+, paying 5% 'easy access' plus £50. Savings marketplace Raisin lets you save and move money via different banks after filling in just one form. Newbies to it who open Paragon's 5% AER* easy-access savings via it (link takes you there) can again use code MSMG5024 to get £50 cashback after 6mths as long as they've kept £10,000+ in it (so it is easy access, but cashback needs a min balance). Next top equivalent is Kent Reliance's 4.96% AER (min £1,000). Full info: Raisin help. And for far more options and choice, see Top savings and Top 5.17% cash ISAs. Tricks to bag brand-new clothes at second-hand prices, eg, £197 bodysuit £6, £35 Asos dress £5. See how in MSE Olivia's Buy new, second-hand? blog. New. Top 22mth 0% spending card - borrow interest-free for nearly two years. If you need to borrow (never do it willy-nilly filling budget gaps) then do it interest-free. Just ensure it's for a planned, one-off purchase and you can budget to repay it within the 0% time. Top card: The new Barclaycard up to 22mths 0% charges no interest on spending for 22mths if you're pre-approved via our eligibility calc (link goes there) - if not, you may be offered a shorter 0%. In which case, if you've decent odds of getting NatWest's 19mths 0%, consider that instead, as all accepted get 19mths. Golden rules: 1) Always pay at least the min monthly payment. 2) Never withdraw cash. 3) Clear debt before the 0% ends or you'll pay 24.9% rep APR. Full help in 0% spending cards. Want to cut EXISTING debt costs? These cards aren't for you, do a balance transfer. How kids can earn a Blue Peter badge to get FREE entry to 200+ attractions. Find out how to earn one in time for the summer holidays, and how it compares with other deals. Ends Thu. 50GB Sim just '£5.50/mth'. This iD Mobile Sim (uses Three's signal) is £8/mth, but till 11.59pm on Thursday (though these deals do sometimes get extended), you can CLAIM (don't forget) a £30 Amazon or Currys voucher. Factor that in and it's equivalent to £5.50/mth over the 12mth contract. Want different data/network? Use Cheap Mobile Finder. 'I got £1,040 in compensation for an old flight delay.' Our success of the week comes from Leo: "I didn't realise I could go back up to six years to claim flight delay compensation. I was delayed long-haul from Manchester to Brisbane, Australia, in January 2020, arriving 11 hours late. I followed your guidance and claimed direct with Singapore Airlines and three weeks later £1,040 was paid into my account for me and my wife. Brilliant result, thanks." If we've helped you save (on this, or owt else), please send us your successes. Martin's new podcast: Finally, energy fixes that save you cash - how to decide if you should | Your grandparents' financial wisdom | Mental health & benefits | HIGNFY news. Plus more in the new The Martin Lewis Podcast. Listen via BBC Sounds | Spotify | Apple or wherever you like to get your Martin fix.

 

 

BLAGGED FOR MSE - 10% extra off past 'best before' food & drink Ends Wed 15 May	DID YOU MISS? - Top debt shift card - DEFINITE 27mths 0% with lower fee - BMW or Ford diesel driver? Last chance to join emissions claims - £35 'I Am Proud' skincare set (£100 bought separately) - Energy Minister responds after Martin raises critical issues - Get 3mths' Spotify Premium for FREE (if you're a newbie)

 

 

As cat owners are warned about microchipping... Find the purrfect cheap pet insurance (dogs welcome too) First the urgent bit. From Monday 10 June, by law, in England (doesn't apply to rest of UK) all cats aged 20+ weeks must be microchipped and registered on a database (it became law for dogs in 2016). Yet over 20% aren't yet (source: GoComp). It costs £10 to £30 at many vets (see get your pet chipped for help) or sometimes it's offered for free by animal rescues and councils. Once the law comes in, you'll have 21 days to sort if found to have an un-chipped cat, or face a fine of up to £500, but it can also affect your ability to make a claim for loss or theft on your pet insurance. As for pet insurance itself, costs are rising, so it's not surprising the Competition and Markets Authority has launched a formal investigation into vet bills. Our full Cheap pet insurance guide takes you through it step by step, but in brief... CATS & DOGS. Prices are bespoke, so the key is to get as many quotes as possible in the shortest time. 1. Combine comparison sites. Try as many as you've time for, as they search different insurers and sometimes have different prices, and most let you get multi-pet quotes. In order of how many insurers they compare, try MoneySupermarket* | Compare The Market* (single pet quotes only) | Gocompare | Confused.com*. 2. Check deals not on comparison sites. Big providers Petplan* and Direct Line don't appear on comparisons, plus there are promo deals that comparisons don't list (some as we've blagged exclusive extras). So check them and compare with the comparison site winners (though we've limited consumer feedback on these): - Waggel* via this link offers a £60 Amazon voucher per pet insured (up to £180) paid after 90 days of cover. - Napo* via this link offers a £50 Amazon voucher if you buy a new policy (using code MSENAPO24), paid after 75 days. - Agria* via this link offers a £75 (dog) or £40 (cat) Amazon voucher paid after 120 days of cover (max £155). - Animal Friends* via this link gives a £35 Amazon voucher for a cat or dog policy, paid within 2 weeks after 90 days' cover. - And check cashback sites too to see if you can get cashback on the comparison's winner. 3. Cats are seen as free spirits, dogs aren't. So you're liable for your dog's behaviour if it causes damage or injury to other people or property. Always check third-party cover (as a minimum, get it standalone from Dogs Trust). HORSES, RABBITS, PARROTS, REPTILES & OTHER PETS. As comparison sites don't usually work for these, you'll need to manually compare quotes directly with specialist insurers. - For horses and ponies: Try SEIB, Petplan Equine* and NFU Mutual. - For rabbits, budgies, guinea pigs, parrots, lizards and more: Try Exotic Direct* and British Pet Insurance (+ Sainsbury's and Petplan* for rabbits). Warning: Beware switching provider if your pet has an existing condition. Most new policies won't cover past issues, whether you've claimed for them or not. Yet stay with your old insurer and you're likely to pay more to cover that condition in future. So it's usually a hard choice between switching to a cheaper policy with no cover for the specific condition, or sticking and likely paying more. Full help in existing problems. Pet insurance NEED-TO-KNOWS... 1) It generally covers big issues (such as broken bones and tumours), not check-ups. See what's covered. 2) Need cover but can't afford it? If you're on certain benefits, charities such as the PDSA may help with vet bills. 3) Could you self-insure? For smaller animals, you could put cash in savings to cover fees. See self-insuring help. 4) Keep your pet's routine jabs up to date. Or it may invalidate your insurance. 5) Always check the policy is right for you. It's not easy, as insurance is about protection from the unknown, but do check the policy details, what's excluded, and that the firm's regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. 6) If your claim's unfairly rejected, take the firm to the Financial Ombudsman. Once you've complained to the provider, you've then a right to go to the free independent Financial Ombudsman Service for its help to settle the claim.

 

NHS, care or emergency worker? New 20% off Pizza Express, Frankie & Benny's, Harvester plus more discounts. See all 40 NHS discounts. 50% off Northern Rail advance fares. For Northern app newbies - applies to Northern network only. All aboard Martin: We can't ignore the impact of money issues on mental health. Here's what we're trying to do about it. Tesco Clubcard holder? Check if you can earn up to £50 with new limited offer. You need to opt in and be one of initial 3m users selected. See 'Clubcard Challenges'. Related: Spend/extend Clubcard vouchers as £17m due to expire. FREE National Cycling Show Birmingham tix (normally £18). 15 to 16 June - 7,500 available. Wheel good fun Reminder. Santander to slash rate on its 5.2% easy-access saver. Many of you grabbed this account in September, expecting the rate to last a year - but it's being cut to 4.2% this month. Ditch and switch? Subway customer? You've ONE WEEK to use or lose your loyalty points. See Subway Rewards.

 

 

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AT A GLANCE BEST BUYS 0% balance transfers Longest 0%: Barclaycard (check eligibility / apply*) - up to 28mths 0%, 3.45% fee (24.9% rep APR interest) No-fee 0%: NatWest (check eligibility / apply*) - 13mths 0% (24.9% rep APR interest) Broadband top picks Fast fibre (100Mb+): Virgin Media '£22.06/mth' Superfast fibre (500Mb+): Vodafone '£26.96/mth' On Universal Credit or similar? Check all discounted social tariffs Top savings accounts Top easy access: Oxbury 5.02%, min £20,000 Top one-year fix: SmartSave 5.18%, min £10,000 Car insurance Try our Compare+ Car Insurance tool Cheap loans Cheapest for £5,000 to £7,499: Tesco Bank (check eligibility / apply*), 7.2% rep APR Cheapest for £7,500 to £15,000: TSB (check eligibility, TSB has asked us to link only to our calculator), 5.9% rep APR Top energy deals Try our relaunched Cheap Energy Club Best bank accounts New. £175 to switch + top service: First Direct New. 12.68% interest for a year: Virgin Money Cheap Sims Up to 3GB data: Lebara, '£3.40/mth' for 3GB 4GB to 9GB data: Lebara, '£3.65/mth' for 5GB 10GB to 30GB data: iD Mobile, '£4.50/mth' for 30GB 31GB+ data: iD Mobile, '£7.50/mth' for 100GB

 

THIS WEEK'S POLL Do you own a cat and is it microchipped? As we talk about in our pet insurance note above, from Monday 10 June, all cats aged 20+ weeks must be microchipped and have their details registered on a database - with owners failing to do so potentially being fined £500. So we want to know: do you own a cat, and is it already microchipped? Vote in this week's poll. Over half of MoneySavers switched to a new energy tariff in the past six months. Last week, we asked whether you switched or fixed your energy in the past six months. Just under 5,000 of you responded, with 55% changing their tariff. Of those, almost two-thirds (63%) switched to a fixed tariff with their existing supplier - while one in four (26%) switched to a fixed or variable tariff with a new supplier. See full energy poll results.

 

MONEY MORAL DILEMMA Should we cease contact with our daughter's ex-husband who owes us money? Over several years, we lent our daughter's now ex-husband £20,000 for various business ventures, all of which failed. They got divorced this year but we've maintained contact to recoup our money. He's making monthly repayments and has, to date, paid back £6,000. However, our daughter has taken legal action to stop him from contacting her, and has told us she doesn't want us talking to him as it means he potentially has access to her. Should we do as she wants and risk losing the outstanding £14,000? Enter the Money Moral Maze: Should we cease contact with our daughter's ex? | Suggest a Money Moral Dilemma (MMD) | View past MMDs

 

 

MARTIN'S BLOG - Get £100s of credit back from your energy firm - We can't ignore the impact of money issues on people's mental health - here's what we're trying to do about it	MSE TEAM BLOG - MSE Forum highlights: Camcorder tapes, compost & choosing a printer

 

 

MARTIN'S APPEARANCES (TUE 7 MAY ONWARDS) Wed 8 May - Co-presenting Good Morning Britain, ITV1, 6am Wed 8 May - Ask Martin Lewis, BBC Radio 5 Live, 1pm Tue 14 May - This Morning, phone-in, ITV1, 10.20am

 

AI, TRACING FAMILY TREES AND PET TORTOISE CARE - WHAT WILL YOU DO WHEN YOU'RE RETIRED? That's all for this week, but before we go... at MSE we often talk about getting your finances in order for retirement, but what will you actually do when it arrives? Forumites on our pensions board have been sharing their stories and ambitions. One retiree took up jigsaws before deciding AI is the future and embarking on a PhD instead. Another has spent 22 years tracing their family history back to the 1700s, adding 5,300 people to their family tree. Others find satisfaction in part-time work, with one MoneySaver using a food delivery job as a way of meeting people. For one, semi-retirement has been completely different from what they expected - with fulfilment coming from low-cost community activities rather than expensive globe-trotting. And caring responsibilities are a reality for many - with one poster saying that even looking after two pet tortoises takes a surprising amount of time. Share your retirement hopes, dreams and experiences in our What to do with all your time? forum thread. We hope you save some money, The MSE team

 

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