E42: Should you pay for your kids to go to university? With Tom Allingham, Kia Commodore, and Stewart Twynham
Release Date: 09/28/2025
E43: Who wants to be a pension millionaire? With Faith Archer, Damien Fahy and Maike Currie
The Pension Confident Podcast
Enjoying the podcast? Tell us what you think below and give us a review or rating. As always we’d love to hear your suggestions and feedback. Send us an email: . Building a £1 million pension pot may be more achievable than you think. But how much money will that £1 million give you in retirement? Join our host, Philippa Lamb, and our expert panel as they discuss what it takes to build £1 million in your pension from the monthly contributions needed depending on your age, to the role that compound interest and employer contributions can play. Financial Expert and...
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E42: Should you pay for your kids to go to university? With Tom Allingham, Kia Commodore, and Stewart Twynham
The Pension Confident Podcast
Enjoying the podcast? Tell us what you think below and give us a review or rating. As always we’d love to hear your suggestions and feedback. Send us an email: . University has never been more expensive. A 2025 report from the Higher Education Policy Institute found that . But even the maximum annual Maintenance Loan available to students from the lowest income households would only cover half this. So who’s expected to plug the gap: the students or their parents? Join our host, Philippa Lamb, and our expert panel as they discuss the financial realities new students are facing and...
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BONUS EPISODE: Why do we need a ‘Pension Switch Guarantee’?
The Pension Confident Podcast
Enjoying the podcast? Tell us what you think below and give us a review or rating. As always we’d love to hear your suggestions and feedback. Send us an email: . For this bonus episode, we’re looking at how the pension transfer process works and why it should be improved to give savers more control of their money. We’re spotlighting the need for reform in the pensions industry, specifically with a ‘’ to make pension transfers as simple as switching banks. Only the government has the power to change this, so if you’d like to see a 10-day Pension Switch Guarantee, running...
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TRAILER: Catch up on Series 4 of The Pension Confident Podcast (so far)
The Pension Confident Podcast
Enjoying the podcast? Then don’t forget to rate and give us a review! As always we’d love to hear your suggestions and feedback. Send us an email: . We’re taking a short break over August, but we’ll be back in September with brand new Series Four episodes and bonus content. We’ve covered a lot of ground already this year, everything from relationships, to AI and tech, the economy and - clue’s in the title - pensions. If you missed one earlier in the year, don’t worry, you can catch up on every single episode so far wherever you get your podcasts: So...
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E41: How can multi-generational living save you money? With Sam Bartley, Molly Broome, and Simmy Kaur
The Pension Confident Podcast
Enjoying the podcast? Tell us what you think below and give us a review or rating. As always we’d love to hear your suggestions and feedback. Send us an email: . Why are more families choosing to live with two, three, or even four generations under one roof? Rising rent, home prices, and living costs can make sharing a home a smart way to save money. Maybe that’s why right now. But not all reasons are financial. For some, it’s a cultural norm or a chance to care for young children and elderly relatives. Join our host, Philippa Lamb, and our expert panel as they discuss the...
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BONUS EPISODE: Six tips for automating your personal finances
The Pension Confident Podcast
Enjoying the podcast? Tell us what you think below and give us a review or rating. As always we’d love to hear your suggestions and feedback. Send us an email: . For this special bonus episode, we’re looking at how automation can help you manage your personal finances. Standing orders, calendar reminders and apps - they can all save us time and make sure we keep our payments and savings on track. We’ve gathered six top tips and insights from our guests to help you get your finances in order. Join our host, Philippa Lamb and our expert guests to hear the best bits from...
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E40: The ADHD tax - how much is it costing you? with Dr Tara Quinn, Krystle McGilvery and Emily Tribe
The Pension Confident Podcast
Enjoying the podcast? Tell us what you think below and give us a review or rating. As always we’d love to hear your suggestions and feedback. Send us an email: . ADHA can affect how your brain handles things like planning, focus and organisation, which can make it particularly challenging to stay on top of your finances. Things like paying off debt, saving into a pension, paying a bill on time can feel really overwhelming. In this episode we explore exactly why money and ADHD can clash, find out what can help, and take a look at how to build systems that could work for you. Join...
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BONUS EPISODE: Personal finance tips for the self-employed
The Pension Confident Podcast
Enjoying the podcast? Tell us what you think below and give us a review or rating. As always we’d love to hear your suggestions and feedback. Send us an email: . In this special bonus episode of The Pension Confident Podcast, we’re discussing how to manage your pension and your personal finances whether you’re self-employed, freelance or running your own business. PensionBee’s Invisible Worker research - which surveyed 1,000 British gig workers - found more than half of them can’t afford to save into a pension. Nearly 30% of them also said they wouldn’t know where to start...
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BONUS EPISODE: Understanding market volatility
The Pension Confident Podcast
Enjoying the podcast? Tell us what you think below and give us a review or rating. As always we’d love to hear your suggestions and feedback. Send us an email: . In this special bonus episode of The Pension Confident Podcast, we’re diving deeper into the topic of market volatility. explored President Trump’s tariffs and the impact on pension balances and in this episode, we’re going to be answering some popular questions that came in off the back of that - with some helpful explainers from our expert guests. Join our host, Philippa Lamb as she shares helpful explainers...
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E39: Trump, tariffs and what it all means for your pension with Emma Maslin, Lucy Evans and Clare Reilly
The Pension Confident Podcast
Enjoying the podcast? Tell us what you think below and give us a review or rating. As always we’d love to hear your suggestions and feedback. Send us an email: . Global stock markets have been on a bit of a rollercoaster lately, thanks to a flurry of announcements from President Trump and his administration around spending cuts and trade tariffs. The uncertainty about what might come next has left investors worldwide feeling uneasy. And when investors get jittery, markets tend to get volatile. So what does stock market volatility actually mean for you and your savings? Join our...
info_outlineEnjoying the podcast? Tell us what you think below and give us a review or rating. As always we’d love to hear your suggestions and feedback. Send us an email: podcast@pensionbee.com.
University has never been more expensive. A 2025 report from the Higher Education Policy Institute found that students need £61,000 to have a minimum socially acceptable standard of living over a three-year degree.
But even the maximum annual Maintenance Loan available to students from the lowest income households would only cover half this. So who’s expected to plug the gap: the students or their parents?
Join our host, Philippa Lamb, and our expert panel as they discuss the financial realities new students are facing and how parents can support their children through university.
- Communications Director at Save the Student, Tom Allingham;
- Founder of Pennies to Pounds, Kia Commodore; and
- Engineering Manager at PensionBee, Stewart Twynham.
Episode Breakdown:
04:10 What are Tuition and Maintenance Loans?
07:11 How families can navigate university costs
10:54 The impact of household income
15:18 Is university good value for money?
18:15 Price of a pint across the UK
20:28 Can students supplement costs with part-time jobs?
22:00 Should parents pay for their kids to go to university?
23:51 Financial health check for parents
28:04 How can student finance be improved?
Further reading, listening and watching:
To learn more about supporting students at university, check out these articles, podcasts and videos from PensionBee:
- Episode 42 transcript (Blog)
- E41: How can multi-generational living save you money? (Podcast)
- E28: The Bank of Mum and Dad - what’s the impact on your pension? (Podcast)
- 5 tips for parents paying for university (Blog)
- Building your family’s financial resilience (Video)
- Is it better to pay off your student loan or top up your pension? (Blog)
- Retirement planning in your 50s (Article)
- Should you pay off your child’s student loan? (Blog)
- Starting a pension at 50 (Blog)
Other useful resources:
- Changes to tuition fees: 2025 to 2026 academic year (GOV.UK)
- Mapped: The price of a pint across the UK (The Independent)
- Parents’ guide to university 2025 (Save the Student)
- Student finance for undergraduates (GOV.UK)
- Student living costs in the UK 2025 (Save the Student)
- Student Money Survey 2024 Results (Save the Student)
- The impact of undergraduate degrees on lifetime earnings (IFS)
- The UK Pension Landscape (PensionBee)
Catch up on the latest news, read our transcripts or watch on YouTube:
Follow PensionBee (@PensionBee) on TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, X and Threads.
Follow Save The Student (@SaveTheStudent) on TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook and X.
Follow the Pennies To Pounds (@penniestopound) on TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook and X.