Emma Simon

Unwanted Christmas gifts have always been part and — excuse the pun — parcel of the festive season, whether it’s an unfeasible number of French hens, or an over-pungent celebrity-endorsed Myrrh bath oil. We all have our favourite stories of mis-judged pressies: from the husband who bought his wife a gravy separator for Christmas (we are still married), to Auntie Mabel’s attempts to buy fashion items for a 14-year-old. Nationwide, the value of these duff gifts is now estimated to be some £2.6 billion, according to a recent survey by Triodos Bank. Among the most unpopular gifts are Christmas jumpers, onesies, celebrity autobiographies, novelty socks and kitchenware. That's what charity shops say, who often find they have a surplus of such items come January.

The Prudential seems shocked to find that many couples aren’t entirely honest with each other when it comes to their finances. The deceptions uncovered were manifold: there were secret squirrel savings accounts, undisclosed credit card debt and personal loans (and occasionally mortgages)-  as well as a general lack of truthfulness about how much each earned. The research found that a surprising one in six said their partner did not know what their salary was. Not surprisingly, in most cases they thought take-home pay was significantly less that it actually was. In total, the Prudential reckons couples today have ‘millions of pounds’ in money secrets.

There was one nugget in Philip Hammond’s first - and last - Autumn Statement that was met with almost universal approval: a crackdown on pension scams and cold-callers. 'About time too' seemed to be the general response, including from two former pensions ministers. I certainly wouldn’t disagree with this sentiment. Pension Life, a group that helps fraud victims recover losses, estimates that people have lost a staggering £1.7 billion in pension scams in the past six years. Action is well overdue. But before we get too carried away it’s worth noting that all we have at present are words, not action. The Chancellor hasn’t introduced any ‘ban’ on cold-callers yet.

It might seem far-fetched, but in recent years a couple of financial companies have started hiring from the gaming industry in an attempt to make their products more appealing to consumers. Let’s face it, most of us find pensions, savings and investments dull and confusing. Could more engaging money management apps, or elements of ‘gamification’ help to overcome these difficulties? The theory is that if people take more interest in their finances, they’ll be encouraged to save more. So perhaps an app where users have to make a million from a fantasy portfolio could help plug the savings gap. Like Pokémon, this could marry real-world data - up-to-date share prices, for example - with a virtual pot of money.

Millions of us will be tuning in to The Archers this week to see if Helen is found guilty of the attempted murder of her abusive husband, Rob Titchener. For more than a year his bullying and controlling behaviour has made for compulsive, if unsettling, listening for many regular fans like myself. It is interesting that this storyline has also shone a light on issues of financial control, and the part it plays in many cases of domestic abuse. Two years ago, Citizens Advice published one of the first reports into this phenomenon. At the time it said that this form of control and abuse remained ‘relatively hidden’ and was largely absent from media stories or academic studies into domestic violence.

It might seem as though houses are priced in monopoly money these days - but don’t assume the roof over your head will be your ‘get out of jail free’ card when it comes to saving for a pension. It’s not hard to see why so many are lulled into a false sense of security. Many people have made thousands - if not hundreds of thousands - of pounds from the property market by doing nothing more risky than buying a modest family home and living in it while their kids grow up. The boom over the last few decades can seem like the golden goose that won’t stop laying: a recent report by a London School of Economics professor (albeit sponsored by Santander) suggested that prices could double again in the next 15 years.

It’s a riddle of the modern age: when is your bank not experiencing 'unusually high call volumes'? You can puzzle the answer while listening to 20 minutes of looped Vivaldi interrupted sporadically by a disembodied female voice apologising for this delay. I recently called my bank at around 10.30 at night and endured exactly the same routine. This makes me suspect these frustrating delays have more to do with banks economising on call-centre staff, rather than my continued misfortune of ringing just as 100-odd other customers decide they also want to set up a new direct debit. To be fair this isn’t just a problem with our banks. Calling broadband providers, energy companies or other utilities can be a similarly time-consuming and soul-sapping experience.

Price comparison sites are being investigated by competition regulators. Good. It’s about time there was closer scrutiny of these meerkat-loving, opera-singing, stiletto-twerking financial behemoths. To be fair, this current investigation centres on 'one or two' energy price comparison sites who are alleged to have breached competition rules for online advertising. This isn’t my main beef with these sites. On of the face of it, they have made shopping around for energy deals, car, home and travel insurance and savings and credit a bit easier. But the assumption that they are speedy and hassle-free is nonsense. If you have an hour or two of your life to fritter away log onto a couple of these sites and compare results.

The pension revolution rolls on. Next year more than five million retired people will be able to enjoy the new ‘pension freedoms’ and cash in their annuity. I imagine the daytime TV ads are in the pipeline already, showing cheery pensioners completing the Daily Telegraph crossword in their new conservatory, or heading off into the sunset on a luxury cruise. It’s not hard to see why many pensioners might be looking forward to this opportunity. Not because they want to waste their hard-earned savings on fripperies, but because many will be unhappy with the annuity they were forced to buy at retirement. Until recently most people bought an annuity with their pension pot when they retired, which paid them an income for life.