Is it time to get out of passive funds and switch to their active brethren? Or should you dump equities entirely and find a nice savings account that pays 4%? While the latter means you won’t be maintaining the real value of your capital, at least you won’t lose too much of it. And what of silver or gold, or perhaps even Bitcoin? If you had to choose one, which would it be? And, just to ask, how angry should UK investors be with the Bank of England for forcing them to think about all of this? Or that the central bank left quantitative tightening too late and lost a fortune on their bond portfolio? In this special ask-us-anything episode of Merryn Talks Money, host Merryn Somerset Webb and senior reporter John Stepek try, with the help of reporters Joe Easton and Eddie Spence and Bloomberg Opinion columnist Marcus Ashworth, to give some answers. No one chose Bitcoin over real money and no one stepped up to defend the Bank of England. But there wasn’t 100% agreement on the rest. Listen in for the conflicts, some summer reading suggestions—and a few reasons why you should watch the Barbie movie.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ask this episode

“What did the council decide on item 42?” — answered with the speaker and the moment.