Question Time: Keep saving hard, or spend more on my family? £30,000 stoozing success! Top up missing NI years?

In this episode of The Martin Lewis Podcast's Question Time edition, Martin Lewis and Matt Burnham tackle a range of listener queries with financial wisdom and warmth. The episode opens with a caller, Dan, grappling with the tension between financial security and family enjoyment—specifically, whether to continue aggressively overpaying his mortgage or to spend more on creating memories with his young son. Martin validates Dan's hard work, confirms that overpaying the mortgage is now the better financial move due to rising interest rates, but encourages a balanced approach: allocating a portion of savings to a stocks and shares ISA for long-term growth while still prioritizing mortgage reduction. He also gives Dan explicit permission to enjoy life, framing it as a crucial part of wellbeing. Later, a couple from Harrogate shares their remarkable success story of building a £30,000 'Stooz' pot—using interest-free credit to earn high interest on savings—highlighting the power of disciplined, joint financial planning. Martin celebrates their achievement and underscores the importance of mutual alignment in money matters. The episode concludes with a deep dive into whether a 36-year-old should pay for missing National Insurance years, with Martin advising against it unless the cost is extremely low, due to the long-term uncertainty of future state pension rules. Finally, the hosts reveal a fun new initiative: listeners can vote to name future callers as either 'MPC' (Martin's Podcast Contributor) or 'Esquires' (Extremely Savvy Questioners), with the winning name determining the badge recipients.