Martin Lewis TV pension gaffe sparks outrage

I've been trying to find out what his qualifications are...

No answer so far...

hes a clown that guy anyway, pretends to know a lot more that he obviously does!

... but he's not wrong when he says annuity rates for men might fall due to the EU's gender rules.

It has always been a bug bear of mine that Financial Advisers are run through the mill these days to ensure that the advice they give, on a one to one basis, is spot on.

Yet people like Martin Lewis can effectively advised thousands of people at once, via the media, and not have a single financial qualification to their name. And worse still are not held accountable for their 'advice'.

I'm not an even an adviser, but as a consumer, it does annoy me some what.

(see previous thread)........one of his "best savings rates" only a few days ago was being offered by a NIGERIAN bank.

"I am not an investment specialist" Says Money Saving Expert is now my screen saver.

'Outrage'?! Tabloid headline - get a grip!

He is a patronising drama queen who creates media hype and unnecessary fear for the general public.

This is a man who previously recommended Crown Currency Exchange who went bust last year owing £20 million to its customers. If you find out what credentials he has I would really like to know as sadly many of the public act on his opinions.

Why do so many journalists try to make themselves look like experts? For instance, I spoke to a client yesterday who told me pensions are "crap"? On quizzing him why, he'd got his knowledge from friends, the papers and the Panorama program aired a month or 2 ago. After getting over the surprise I got that a layman watched a program about pensions and managed to stay awake, it just shows what damage idiots like this do to the industry.

As I explain in seminars, pensions are just savings plans with a lot of whistles and bells. As long as you're saving for a retirement and its managed, then we'll worry about the options later, as these seem to change on an annual basis at the moment. But what Mr Lewis does is not just damage our credibility as industry experts and instores negativity to the public over pensions.

And what will the FSA do as a result? Sod all comes to mind

I think his site is very useful, espically for savings rates and general advice on debt. However wouldn't it be better if he were regulated as a provider of advice as he seems to like the sound of his own voice!

He should be authorised or shut up.

He could then pay for his own PI Insurance and contribute to the FSCS.

On the other hand, maybe we can all charge for providing help and information without advice or being authorised? No RDR to worry about then.

I wonder what Canary Wharf would think about that one.

he should stick to where the cheapest petrol is or where we can buy the best value sausages and no go into areas that he doesn't understand. To say he didn'y heat the question is a poor defence.

Why on earth do the media continue to perpetuate the myth that you HAVE to buy an annuity? This is nonsense and has been for years now.

apologies, I should proof read my responses before hitting the post reply button, that should be hear the question

he does do a lot of good work bringing matters to the public's attention, and we all make mistakes as the dalek said getting off a dustbin.

as long as he can put it right on his website/ morning tv

Normal media misinformation

He sometimes makes good points but this highlights the issues of 'experts' on TV and in the press.

No one seems to be a correspondent anymore but call themselves 'experts' when they are nothing of the sort.

Surely there is an issue of false advsertising when individuals with no industry qualifications of note describe themselves as experts?

Whoops, and after this in 2008-

"Mr Lewis came under fire in an interview with Channel 4 in 2008 for recommending readers to put savings into Icelandic banks which later folded."

and this back in March last year-

"Money saving expert Martin Lewis has denied any wrongdoing after his slot on GMTV broke Ofcom rules on product promotion.

Martin Lewis: The 'Moneysaving Expert' was found to have promoted his business on GMTV.

Ofcom investigated after a viewer complained that links on the GMTV website, promoted in the programe, linked off to Moneysavingexpert, which it deemed a commercial enterprise.

Ofcom rules, which work to ensure programmes are not distorted for commercial purposes, state products and services must not be promoted in programmes for financial gain and 'undue prominence' should not be given to any particular product.

GMTV was criticised for giving such prominance to vouchers and deals promoted by Mr Lewis, creator of the personal finance website Moneysavingexpert.com, on his Deals of the Week feature, a part of weekday morning TV programme GMTV with Lorainne Kelly.

GMTV argued it did not receive any payment from Mr Lewis and the aim was to direct viewers to its own website. Mr Lewis argues also he did not mention Moneysavingexpert.com on air. However, Ofcom disagreed and pointed out the vouchers recommended by Mr Lewis were only available via a link to Moneysavingexpert.com, which it views as a commercial enterprise. Therefore, it found the programme was 'effectively promoting his business'.

GMTV also disputed that moneysavingexpert was a 'sales business' but Ofcom said: 'Irrespective of whether or not the site generated revenue as a result of the deals promoted within the programme, Ofcom considers that this third party website is nevertheless a commercial business.'

Although GMTV was found to be in breach of Ofcom rules, a financial penalty has not been levied and the announcement merely acts as a warning. "

......and don't even get me started on Dom Littlewood.... The sad thing is people think they are listening to experts.

Annuity Rates could drop further if you put Solvency 2 into the equation. Daybreak & Lewis should have prepared better, its not all about annuities! If anything it will drive more people to advice.....

Crikey, inbetween logging in to make a comment all the above appeared! I'm clearly not alone in finding this man an irritating jumped up t***t. I hope he carries on making gaffs - it might be one way to get him to shut up.

He's certainly stirred up you lot hasn't he? He's just another media guy and by definition, transient. When he's gone, there'll be yet another so-called 'champion of the people' to quickly take his place. Just keep talking to clients and spreading the message as we've done for years and as 'Wage Slave said above, 'get a grip'!

Not sure if I want people who watch Daybreak as clients anyway..............

If I had made such comments to a single client I could have been sued to death if the clients acted on my advice. He makes this comment to the whole country and is unaccountable. It makes no difference that he did'nt pick up on the a crucial aspect of what Chiles said. How would the FOS react an adviser offering such an excuse?

Bonkers!

the interview related to the potential removal of pricing based upon sex for any insurance based contract........to try and turn this into a cheap points scoring exercise against Mr Lewis for his knowledge/lack of in connection with drawdown seems futile....

as for Brian Hill's immediate call to Ofcom...i could think of a 1000 things to do before that became top of the list.....

This is the same Martin Lewis who says the following on his web site

"Pretend you want a warranty

Sales staff have weekly, monthly or quarterly targets on the amount of warranties they can sell. Reaching this target's often crucial to them, so it gives consumers a real bargaining tool on products they're likely to flog warranties with.

The best bit's you're legally free to change your mind within 45 days of purchasing the warranty, so cancel for a full refund. Comet, Dixons at PC World are especially good for this loophole, with one MoneySaver getting a Sony LCD TV reduced to '750, from '1000 at Comet."

He has also promoted this view in newspapers.

It may be legal but ethical?

Sounds like Chiles the Brummie was on the case though. For anybody watching daytime TV business must be quiet today.....Cut to Parky advert for the 50plus plan!

@wage slave --- to be fair when I saw the headline I was thinking along the lines of "Pensions are sold by greedy advisers etc etc...." Was Stephen Gay any better a couple of weeks back on the Beeb.

Basically the media don't get Financial Services? They are not alone....thinking Canary Wharf etc etc.....

I have to agree that on general money issues (i.e. bank charges, utility tariffs, money off coupons etc) he appears to know his stuff - and a quick look round his site reveals many clever money saving tips. The issue is his cult-like following.

He regularly exceeds his brief (investments, mortgages and now pensions) and does more harm than good with sensationalist, hyperbolic generalisations.

This is the same guy who recommends that his 'fans' pester a mortgage broker to seek out the best deal then walk down the high street and getting it for themselves.

This is the same guy who regularly recommends taking out a 0% credit card, maxing the balance and putting it into a high interest savings account (Icesave? Kaupthing?)

Useful in small doses, and with care, but smacks of irresponsibility.

Robert Peston (Father: Labour Peer) and Stephanie Flanders both spent night after night telling the country our economy was going to turn into cheese. Meanwhile, the stock market, from its low in March 2009, has gone up over 80%.

The problem is, people do listen to these people and it costs them dearly.

Lewis has always had too much to say and little substance to what he is saying.

I agree with Raef.

He isn't a qualified financial adviser yet manages to generalise a whole industry making everyone believe they should adhere to the same rules.

Financial advice is at its best when it's given on a case by case basis and not by another media driven guy.

Can anyone define between information and advice, its a thin grey line, Martyn Lewis is allowed to promote himself on TV but without the liability. He will apologise and all will be forgiven, its harsh reality of this business if you know very little and uses the TV Media then everyone listens to him, why doesn't someone who has taken his advice and its gone wrong take it to the FOS.

Neil Fyfe

Glad to see Raef is aware of the differences. Sadly so many people are influenced by the over enthusiastic journalists who are simply looking for a story with which to hype up society. So many of them are self opinionated and positively decisive writing and speaking for impact. Lets hope the more decerning consumers see through the Martin Lewis's and Robert Peston's of this world.

Hopefully this will just reiterate the point, you have to seek advice from a qualified, competent adviser if you want to know the real pro's n cons etc of what is becomming an even more complicated technical subject. (pension complification didn't help)

I appreciate he got 4 mins to get his point across, so just stick to what you know you can deliver in that time.

Petrol prices, credit cards, loans, inflation, food costs, Asda v Tesco.

Can eating KFC really make me skinny?

How does Demi more at 48 still look awesome? these are the things we need answering please Mr Lewis.

@Simon,

the economy and the stockmarket are not the same thing.

The economy certainly resembles a ripe piece of stinking bishop, but the FTSE is all roses, at least for now until inflation goes even higher.

Anitaki - that would be the Nigerian bank with a UK authorisation and therefore covered by FSCS. Your point?

Financial journalism is a very much fish and chip paper thing, Various issues over the recent past has brought the status of the reporter under question. If this individual can offer generic advice without more knowledge than what he has read on the subject in the last 24 hours then this sort of thing remains exceedingly dangerous and potentially very misleading.

Surely anyone who has a following, re his thoughts and advice, must have the qualifications to give that advice, generic or otherwise.

Its amazing what you can get away with on TV but would result in a complaint against you anywhere else.

Slightly over the top I think. His site, and all the interviews I've seen/heard him do, focus on consumer advice on saving money, claiming back money owed to you etc. And the advice on these matters is very good. However, if somebody asks him a question in an interview he's going to answer it in the way he feels he can and the question deserves. Why not complain that he didn't go into the positive use of ISA's as a retirement fund instead of using a pension and then annuity/drawdown? Or that people could put off taking their annuity to increase the income gained through it? But a 4 minute interview is a 4 minute interview.

He should have mentioned it, as an option, but for the vast majority of people a drawdown is something they wouldn't consider; not that that means it should be ignored, but all this "outrage" is a little over the top.

Generic advice is one thing, but regulated pension advice is quite another.This has to better policed in the future.

@neil is the difference between information and advice about £200 an hour.

This does raise the question, should complex subjects such as investments and pensions ever be covered on consumer television shows such as Daybreak? They clearly don't have the time or expertise to cover the subject in sufficient detail or provide a good enough explanation of the advantages and disadvantages of each route.

Rather than attempting to provide soundbites, 'experts' like Martin Lewis should stick to their knitting (consumer issues such as getting cheap flights, 2 for 1 pizza deals, etc) and refer anything complex to appropriately qualified and experienced independent financial advisers.

All this shows just how complex pensions are and how people with pensions pots face really difficult issues when they reach retirement age. It is probably true to say that most people will not have sufficient money in their pension pots to make draw down a sensible option for them. Those who have significant sums will probably have more knowledge, but their financial adviser or insurance company should be informing them of what they can and can't do. Finally in answer to a question "Can't people just draw the money out?" on Daybreak television, with very limited time, then Lewis's answer is not unreasonable.

"I didn’t even pick up on the drawdown part of the question. It’s not what I heard, I didn’t have a clue he was talking about drawdown," said Lewis.

"There are lots of "what-ifs" but I’m not going to play that game to defend myself. This is a complete red herring; this is Daybreak, not Citywire. I have got four minutes to get my point across."

And the moral, Martin, is: if you've only got 4 minutes, stick to the price of beans, and leave retirement income planning to the experts!

I think everyone is being unfair here. Martyn Lewis is a supporter of independent financial advice and does a lot of good work in educating the public at large. He claims to be a Money Saving Expert and to be fair he has saved me a few bob over the years. I do however agree that there is a thin line between information and advice, and drawdown/annuity is not a suitable topic for a 4 minute slot on a breakfast TV show. Perhaps this is a lesson for Martyn Lewis and a situation where he should defer answering and advise people to seek suitable advice from a professional.

The provision of generic information about products is not regulated so everyone can go out 'educating' consumers with the incorrect information and the FSA do nothing about it because it's unregulated.

The media in my opinion are one of the biggest reasons why consumers do not save. It is about time that they had some accountability so that at the very least they would learn about their subject more fully before given consumers the wrong information. Sensationalised cases of Madoff schemes I can cope with but get the basics right please.

I love clients who visit me after advice from 'family' experts and the Daily Mail!!

I think he is Great,I saved 2p per week for 26 weeks on my shopping bags at Tesco's until they broke,and the broken bottle of scotch mist decimated my profits

I believe he should be removed from tv. He makes consumers believe that every financial company is out to cheat them if they cannot do that then what he says should be regulated!

In 2008 both GMTV and BBC were contacted expressing corporate concerns that publicly recognised figures were spouting suggestions and opinions using our trading name. Whether the advice line was crossed requires clarification.

What is very apparent is that the celebrity/media personalities dispensing thoughts need careful selection.

Steven Gay (formerly of AVIVA) of AIFA might consider it as a positive to put together a panel of IFA's representing the various regions of UK who could contribute to these ongoing television shows.

Perhaps if we were to present our public image we would not incur ongoing irritations from marketing opportunists and assist the UK public.

Can you all relax for goodness sake and get on with work ....

If he only has 4 minutes to get his comments across, perhaps he should be commenting on other matters, like the weather, perhaps!

He does offer some good money off vouchers on his site though!!

If you actually watch the clip you will hear that he didn't actually give any advice on pensions at all, he just commented on the subject. However, it's so good to know that we have so many other perfect financial gods out there to help us.

If you haven't read his blog entry then it might be instructive as he does defend what he said reasonably well. Whilst what he said on TV was not 100% technically correct, it was not an inappropriate comment to the target audience (except Mr Hill clearly!)- i.e. your pension is to provide an income in retirement and is not a savings account, as Chiles question seemed to imply.

I seem to remember only very recently a number of prominent politicians discussing the end of forced annuitisation at age 75 and there was not the ensuing outrage and subsequent blog at this factual inaccuracy .

Whatever you think of him personally, Martin Lewis provides mostly sound advice targetted at a large section of the population that, let's be honest, the vast majority IFAs would barely entertain.

And as for complaining to Ofcom, wow! Clearly he had nothing better to do.

I like Martin Lewis, nothing wrong with the man.

That said surely all of these nedia outlets to the public should hire an IFA to listen to all comments so they can quickly correct any errors, even an IFA could get a wrod association moment and say something in their head rather than the words they meant to say.

All of these tV programmes, including panarama etc, all of the financial newspapers should pay an IFA to check what they are releasing, it isnt difficult and it would help the situation.

I heard someone say on breakfast TV that no pensons can be accessed as a lump sum. Had an IFA been in the studio or watching from home, they could have corrected the statement through the presenters.

Over to you Steve Gay of AIFA

Let us be proactive not reactive

Taken from his biography----

Martin has a postgraduate degree in Broadcast Journalism from Cardiff University, and is a graduate of the London School of Economics, where he was also General Secretary (President) of the Students' Union.

( I wonder what degree he got at the LS of E)

See he's a "Smart talking, economist with attitude!!

Lewis said he did not pick up Chiles was asking about drawdown, adding drawdown was not a savings issue but an investment matter. He has apologised for confusion caused by his comments in his blog.

Dont see what all the fuss is about really as it is obvious he picked up the question wrong, so what, given he has around 3 minuites per item/subject and generally has a lot of subject to cover, he surlely cant be condemned for this.

Let he who is without sin etc....

Anyway, after RDR who is going to advise the masses ?

"Anyway, after RDR who is going to advise the masses ?"

The Holy Ghost is my guess

Martin made an honest mistake, answering a question he wasn't prepared for. He has since apologised for the mistake.

Martin gives excellent advice to a lot of people, and save people a lot of money. For a lot of city folk, with their huge bonuses, this is simply something that you cannot comprehend. For Joe Average, he does a great job.

For an industry that managed to bring down an entire economy and still haven't apologised, lets put his small error into proportion.

And for the record, Martin is indeed regulated and authorised by the FSA. I do however question where the FSA regulations where when countless sub prime dealings were being done.

No, I don't work for Martin, and I do not work in finance, I am just an average person living in the real world.

The alternative view point is that perhaps pension legislation and then subsequently the products, should be made simple enough for Martin Lewis to be able to explain. Or is that a bit cheeky?!

re le

Please dont include us with banks.

No Life company even Equitable Life, required a tax payer handout.

No financial advice firm required a handout.

Banking is totally seperate to us.

We agree with you regarding banks. We always get lumped with them by everyone.

It is like having a surname such as Hindley.

Right, tin hat on and hunker in my corner of the trench for this comment....When you first advise a client about a pension, what concept are you putting forward other than for it to produce an income in retirement. Martin might have used the word annuity, but I bet if you asked 1,000 members of the public you'd get 950 who understood annuities and only 50 on drawdown, so he wasn't alone in his comments and remember that annuities can still be a viable option.

I don't get the self righteous vilification that has been poured out in this thread as if we as an industry are all perfect, all of the time. We aren't, and we can never hope to be. Out of all of the posters here having a go, how many of you in 1999 were telling clients that 10 years later the ftse 100 would be 15% down on that level? And that it would basically halve along the way before recovering? Or actually predicted the massive falls in property accurately? Or that cash would massively outperform equities from 2000 to 2004? How many of you sold all of your and your clients bank shares before things started to slide?

Lets hope none of us are ever under the lights in a TV studio and say something partially, but not wholly correct. I am sure that we often utter words to this effect, but get away with it because no ones listening who knows the full facts.

Grow up everyone! Oh and if you are perfect, who can tell me with any guarantee where I can achieve inflation +6%, year in, year out over the next decade!

The man isn't perfect, but as far as I can see, his middle name isn't Beelzibub either.

Awe, boo-hoo for the poor financial advisors, they're so hard done to.

Maybe people listen to the TV "experts" because they think they are being given an opinion which is not driven by self interest.

Your low public esteem (obviously not your self esteem) is 100% a result of your profession’s greed and self interest. And what’s with the “advice” anyway, it’s (biased) opinion at best and hard sell at worst.

And “unethical”, don’t make me laugh. I’ve never seen so many pots calling kettles!

Put your own house in order before bleeting on about others short-comings … or just go and use your skills to sell some houses or cars instead.

I refer to a previous comment which states "And for the record, Martin is indeed regulated and authorised by the FSA" I have checked the FSA register and he is not on there and neither is the company he represents!

I have also checked his biography "Martin has a postgraduate degree in Broadcast Journalism from Cardiff University, and is a graduate of the London School of Economics, where he was also General Secretary (President) of the Students' Union"

Based on that we can all be assured that he has no credibility whatsoever, nor does he have the permissions to advise or comment on any regulated products!

Case closed!!!!

1. We all make mistakes

2. I agree with the comments from both Martin Bamford & Ron Jones (and several others)

I don't think the level of criticism is justified, but what does come to mind is the old saying "engage brain before opening the mouth". And as someone else said earlier, the moral, Martin, is: if you've only got 4 minutes, stick to the price of beans, and leave retirement income planning to the experts!

I've just done a recovery and emergency care, first aid course for one of my hobbies and one of the other attendees was technically better than me (very impressive), but he didn't allow himself any thinking time. SLOW DOWN and THINK....

I feel the comment left by Archie is someone who has obviously been incorrectly advised in the past and has sadly taken a very blinkered view of our industry and assumes we are all the same. As an IFA who has never done any of the things Archie has stated I feel very sorry for him that he has not found an adviser who has gained his trust and treated him fairly.

Well it looks like Paul is the only one to have taken the trouble to do some basic research. Indeed it was the Queen who visited the LSE post credit crunch as asked all those very bright economists "how is it none of you dudes saw this coming". Back of the net Lizzi

In fact, economists are on record of having accurately predicted 6 out of the last 3 recessions.

It does seem a bit strange that someone is giving advice to the population when in fact they don't seem to be suitably qualified either by way of practical experience or otherwise.

Would they be dishing out advice on heart surgery if the commentator was a nurse?

In reply to Paul Davis.

Unfortunately your forecast of me having been incorrectly advised is not correct.

And if you were to remove your own blinkers maybe you might see the point of my little rant, rather than being so dismissive in assuming sour grapes.

And finally on the subject, please don't feel sorry for me!!

Being a 'financial' site, I made the assumption that not everyone commenting works in just insurance or life products. Apologies if that is wrong.

As for the FSA regulations, Martin states at the bottom of his weekly emails that he is regulated and authorised by the FSA, again apologies if this is also not correct, although i'm sure he wouldn't be stupid enough to write this if it wasn't true.

Martin was hardly offering financial advice, he was telling people that changes in discrimination laws could affect peoples annuities in the future. When asked about drawing money out (not drawdowns) Martin said that this was something that you couldn't do. maybe this is wrong, I don't know, but surely anyone looking into buying an annuity would do some research of their own. To impy that a member of the public who is making such a huge decision in their life would take Martins 2 second comment as gospel is fankly quite insulting.

Martin offers truly impartial advice about how to save money & to help look after finances to those people who do not know all the terminology, options etc etc. Give the man a break

For all his faults I think Martin does a good job pointing people in the right direction generally with regard to financial stuff. In the context of the interview he is right, you can't just draw all your pension out. Yes, technically there is all sorts of other stuff (25%, income drawdown, etc) but as a general rule it is right about pension access.

I like a comment elsewhere in this that he should stump up for the FSCS etc but he often labours the point he doesn't give investment/financial advice.

I agree, one rule for them (in the media) another for us (in the profession)

Martin S Lewis Limited was an appointed representative of Fundraising Innovations Limited which owns energyhelpline.

http://www.fsa.gov.uk/register/firmAppRepsPrev.do?sid=149766

http://www.fsa.gov.uk/register/firmBasicDetails.do?sid=149774

energyhelpline has been Lewis' top recommendation on his website for energy switches for many, many years, through an affiliate link.

Is there anything more up to date on the FSA's register?

His sales business moneysavingexpert.com was granted a credit license on 11 January 2010 by the OFT for Credit brokerage, Provision of credit information services, including credit repair, on a commercial basis, Provision of debt-counselling on a commercial basis License No 0632664

Storm and teacup comes to mind.

Give the man a break - it was 4 minutes on Daybreak and certainly not worthy of all this comment.

Martin Lewis is getting into dangerous ground - he has the banks and IFAs watching what he says, waiting for him to slip up. Wonder if the FSA is checking him as what he says is getting close to advice?

If annuity rates for men go down , perhaps this will be a cross susidy to women living longer. Perhaps sexist as men on average will get less out of the pot during their retirement life. Can see the FSA fining advisers after death of male clients for misselling them an annuity. You have been warned!!!

Archie, bitter, bitter man.

Let me guess, an IFA or Bank Adviser recommended a product because you told him/her you were a long term investor and the evidence showed that you did not need the money in the short term. After 6 months however it fell in value, you panicked and sold the holding making a loss, therefore quite obviously your advisers fault. Dont tell us you haven't a grudge, that just aint gonna wash sunshine.

I like to think that my clients value my advice and listen to me. I can think of only one client who paid attention to the panorama program, and that was a 30 minute peak time TV rant. I therefore doubt Martin Jones's 4 minute segment on a breakfast show is going to influence many. I think what he does on the whole is actually useful for the consumer, in bringing certain things to light.

Archie - your comment is at best unuseful and at worst slightly insidious. There are of course those in every industry who are driven by self interest and greed, however in my experience their shelf life is limited. I've worked in financial services from a quote producer in an admin team, to an IFA account manager for a well known provider and now as an IFA, and in my experience those IFAs who survive and thrive have the clients best interests at heart, offer informed and educated advice and charge the client for that advice and not for flogging a product.

RDR for all it's sins is actually helping to push our industry in the right direction. However the complete mess of the FSCS and resulting financial burden I fear is going to force some advisers in the run up to RDR, to take a step backward toward remuneration biased products if only to survive.

let me first say that I am broadly supportive of MSE in terms of helping consumers understand money matters.

Martin made 3 errors in quick succession on National TV during the 30sec or so he discussed annuities, the first being that you have to buy an annuity, that it pays out for life and that you cannot draw from your pension fund. In my opinion these were errors that strongly indicate that this is not his area of expertise or experience, whether or not he has relevant qualifications.

That is not necessarily a problem in itself. However, if you view many of the comments on his facebook site http://goo.gl/bfTpD you can clearly see that many people believe he is a money saving expert and that they take his advice.

When programmes are being televised I believe the producers should ensure to the best of their ability that consumers see the relevant disclaimers.

My suggestion to Martin is that in the same way he steps back from advising on investments, he should do the same with pensions, until such time as he does have the relevant experience and expertise.

Blimey people, get a grip. I'm assuming from most peoples responses that no one has actually watched the offending clip (except for Brian of course). It was a 4 minute segment on how the expected court ruling over discrimination in insurance is going to affect all insurance polices - car, life and annuities. He never once offered any advice on any type of policy. He was suggesting that if people have policies expiring soon, they might want to look into renewing them before 1st March. How is that advice inaccurate?

He never once offered any advice on Pensions or other insurance products!

Personally Brian, I am offended that you think that so many people would somehow be affected or impacted by Martin saying that you can't just withdraw money from a pension fund.

Yes, I have read your facebook link, and people do take his advice - his advice on looking to see if you can get cheaper energy, his advice on how to save money at the supermarket, his advice on the bank accounts offering good savings rates, and his good advice on taking in to consideration the fact that annuities for men might fall come 1st March.

Are you all really so threatened by someone that many people trust, who, on the whole, offers good, sound advice about MONEY SAVING, and exposes some of the, errrr.....shall we say not such nice practises in the financial industry.

Brian, I'm also interested to know what you think the impact of Martin Lewis saying that people "buy an annuity that pays out for life and that you can't just withdraw money from a pension" actually is.

Re le, I realise that you are judging others by your own standards, honestly believe me there are thousands of people out there, I only deal with the most highly educated in society, who pick out a financial guru then hang on to every word they say and they do take financial action on what they read.

I regularly answer questions from the floor at seminars and at least 50% of that time is allocated to explaining why something in the press or on TV is not relevant to them, honestly.

I have also have seen many, and I mean in the order of 20-50 real cases (lost count) where I have picked up a client after a major financial planning decision and they have made a selection due to information they 'heard' which was detrimental to the tune of a min £30k in every case.

All for the sake of not paying £100 to £200 for a chat with an IFA.

I caught one case on the day the form was going to be posted and the difficulty I had in overcoming their pre conceived ideas was horrendous and the advice I gave in that area was free!! To prove what I was saying was true I had to present an illustration from a life company to show the extent of their loss with that particular option. The answer? 'but it said in the paper that it was 'always' the right thing to do.

There is a huge swathe of people out there who are used to retail shopping, picking up something for free, ie pricing something on shopping internet site then looking for it elsewhere cheaper, trying to find out how to do something and then saving themselves money by using this information, it is virtually impossible for people to switch off this way of working when it comes to financial advice, unless they have had a lot of experience of real financial advice.

It would be brilliant 'fly on the wall' TV if a financial adviser who deals with a cross section of the public was followed in their every day routine.

Money is such a taboo subject that only advisers and others who deal with money know how the public are, everyone just assumes from their own personal view, your eyes would be opened to the reality.

Thanks Rinm I think you have answered Le's question.

sorry, Ron!

@ Ron Jones

'but it said in the paper that it was 'always' the right thing to do".

This is SO true. l came across this many times and though only time would prove me right, the blame will always be attached to everyone else but themselves (and the newspaper).

This inaccurate financial drivel that incessantly appears in our "newspapers" is perhaps something the FSA should turn its attention to rather than hunt down IFAs who don't print garbage for the masses to act on and have no financial resposibility for the consequences of what they have written. IF they were made financially accountable, much of it would stop overnight

Seems he should stick to saving people a couple of quid on their car insurance

Ron, I don't doubt for one minute what you say is true, but we are not talking about media as a whole, we are talking about Martin Lewis. His 'advice' was that people may find their insurance premiums and annuity payouts may change as a result of the possible March 1st ruling. Don't know about you, but my wifes car insurance is up for renewal on 10th March, and she has not received anything from our IFA or our insurance company suggesting that she might want to secure a deal before March 1st as her premiums may well go up.

Martin did not suggest any products to buy or invest in. He very briefly explained the overall picture of what an annuity was in the 10 seconds he had as most people perhaps wouldn't know, especially those no where near retirement age. His description didn't explain all the loopholes, or all of the possible options, but this description did fit the situation most of the population will be in.

Anyone cashing in a pension to purchase an annuity would receive information and should be made aware of their options, from any company they are looking to purchase an annuity from, therefore my point is, that in this case, there really shouldn't be any damage done from Martin Lewis's gaffe. However, he does appear to have beared the brunt of quite a few grudges.

I think we need intelligent people like Martin to run the FSA

Fanclub - Most people at the FSA can be said to be intelligent and are highly qualified. The problem is that many of them appear to lack common sense , relevant qualifications and relevant experience to the job of advising.

Many advisers on the other hand have a lot of common sense, relevant experience, relevant qualifications (soon to be forced to have irrelveant ones or retire)

RE Martin, he is NOT Beelzebub, but I have regulalry done presentations and seminars to individuals and groups and make sure I don't get drawn on subjects for which I am not qualified, my CPD is not up to date OR more importantly "authorised". The comment about the effects of the sex decision in the EU on annuity rates was an acceptable general observation, but to have made the other comment about how pensions work (or not in this case) was silly, I would have simply declined to comment on that explaining it was not my area (were I him).

I hope it is lesson learnt and no need for a slap on the wrist even, but these sort of comments need to stop.

Re Le,

I was responding to your statement ' To impy that a member of the public who is making such a huge decision in their life would take Martins 2 second comment as gospel is fankly quite insulting.'

Just passing on my experience to you, maybe not so insulting considering what I said?

As far as an IFA and your wife goes, only life assurance will be cheaper, if you werent going to buy it before that date why would they think you would purchase it due to a slight price increase?

It is you who they would contact if they knew you were about to take an annuity income, income protection plan or critical illness plan for instance. However bringing a retirement income from an annuity a year earlier or more while someone is still working would be an extreme move.

General insurance is not our business so I could not comment.

I apologise if I misinterpreted your comments. My understanding of car insurance is that if this ruling goes ahead, women are going to see their car insurance rise as companies will not be able to offer them lower insurance based onthe fact that they are a women. Reading figures (yes, from the media), for average male and female car insurance prices, this could be an average increase for women of up to £700, so it could be well worth renewing early. My insurance company has not made me aware of this, but Martin Lewis did.

I don't disupte that there may be occasions when the media do more harm than good, but for Martin specifically, he does not offer advice, he just makes people aware of things that the general public are probably not aware of.

When people retire, they will have to approach a company for an annuity or other pension options. That company will (or should) explain to them the products they offer and the options open to them, thus negating Martins incorrect comment before any 'damage' is done.

As this original story (which seems so long ago now), was about Martin Lewis specifically, my opinion is that if IFA's have issues with the media, that's fair enough, raise those issues with the FSA or whoever, but to make a complaint to OFCOM about one man or one programme, when really, no damage has been done, seems rather extreme and unneccesary.

Unlike many people commenting I don't have any problem with Martin Lewis or Robert Peston. They are trying to shine a light in an area surrounded my mysticism and where some people would like it to remain that way because they make plenty of money from ignorance. There have been numerous examples where unsuspecting individuals (most of the general public are poorly educated in financial matters as you well know) have been given rotten deals by financial advisers eg banks which should have a wealth warnings pinned over the doors. No doubt many will say but these weren't independent ones but my response is the public don't know the difference.

What they end up eventually paying in fees for products sold to them would cause them to think more than once, if they knew of course. I don't just mean the IFA fee or the kickbacks but the charges over the life time for the products sold. Personally I wouldn't go anywhere near an IFA. It is unfortuante but they are a bit like the construction industry it is difficult to know who is really any good at their job and who isn't and should be avoided like the plague. May be Mary Portas should be sticking her nose in as well. Howls of what qualifications has she got. What right to question us and the service we provide. We don't think any thing is wrong with what we do despite the evidence of deep seated mistrust.

Shouldn't you all be looking after the interests your clients rather than wasting time with this nit-picking.

We are because if we succumb to bystander apath and failt to challenge comments like this from the likes of Ed Balls, the architects love child will carry out his teachers plans and we'll have the same "no more boom and bust" as we've just not had!

Sorry, wrong article. Martin's comments are a storm in a teacup, he does need to be careful re commenting on regulated areas as people do follow what he says in off the cuff remarks and DO then act without seeking advice. The insurers provide factual information on retirement options and people fail to read it properly and proceed to misbuy based on comments like Martins which I accept were well intentioned.

Cut the guy some slack. The standard of financial education in this country is truly appaling. I see it everywhere. People don't have the basic understanding required to be able to sift through what is good and bad advice. We need people like Martin Lewis to bring awareness of financial decision making to the masses.

Irrespective of the perceived lack of or abundance of qualifications, I think that Martin Lewis through the website moneysaving expert, is doing a great job at raising awareness of financial matters, customer protection etc and offering impartial advice in a format that is customer-friendly.

I have cut him some slack..... I don't want to hang him.

But he does need to slow down and think before he speaks as the non IFA posters here do hang on his everyword (nothing wrong with that as he does some helpful stuff), but it is important his words are carefully thought (or he works to a script or agenda) as it has implications for hundreds of people every time he speaks unlike me as I only speak to individual clients about advice and restrict what I say in front of groups of employees of staff pension schemes we operate so that they do NOT act solely on potentially off the cuff comments that I might otherwise have made.

this thread has been going on a few days and I find it a little sad that there are people wasting their time ponitificating over a mistake that someone has made. For goodness sake, haven't you got other trhings to moan about!

I would respectfully suggest that Martin Lewis is doing an excellent job as a people's champion, helping them to avoid a lot of slight-of-hand from sales people and companies selling products. Martin's work saves the consumer money, which means it doesn't go into the pockets of probably most of the people making comments on this Citywire article.

Seems these comments are made more out of fear that the consumer is finally being armed with the knowledge they need to defend themselves against sometimes manipulative or heavy-handed sales techniques.

He saves them spending unnecessary amounts of money on over-priced products. This is all part of business, except business people don't seem to like it when the consumer starts to know what they're talking about. If you can't take the heat, get out of the kitchen. P.S. I do takes the points though that maybe Martin shouldn't dip his foot into the grey area of "advice" regarding financial products that the FSA are very strict with IFAs about.

Having said that, his site has saved me a lot of money.