Simon Read
Simon Read reports on how pensions and personal finance policy play out in real life, turning business and regulatory developments into clear stories about what they mean for savers, retirees and advisers. He writes for Financial Planning Today on business and money, with a particular focus on pension withdrawals, retirement choices and the wider financial planning market. His coverage reflects long experience on the personal finance beat, combining official data, industry reaction and consumer impact in concise news pieces.
Pensions withdrawals and retirement behaviour
A central strand of Read’s work is the way people access their pensions and the risks that flow from those decisions. In his reporting on the sharp rise in pots being taken in full after the introduction of pension freedoms, he highlights figures on how many additional people are cashing in their pensions each year and explores what that means for long-term retirement security. He regularly anchors stories in data from regulators and government bodies, using numbers to show shifts in behaviour rather than relying on anecdotes alone. The lens is practical: he looks at how rule changes, tax treatment and market conditions encourage or discourage full encashment, drawdown or annuity purchase, and what that implies for financial planners advising clients.
Across these pieces he treats pension policy as a live experiment with real consequences, not just a technical subject. He gives space to warnings about sustainability of income, tax pitfalls and the danger of people running out of money too soon, often by quoting industry voices who work directly with retirees. His coverage links complex regulatory or statistical updates back to everyday decisions, such as whether to leave money invested, take lump sums or restructure retirement plans in response to inflation and market volatility.
Adviser businesses, regulation and the planning market
Read also covers the business side of financial planning, tracking how regulatory changes, market consolidation and new rules affect advice firms. His recent work includes pieces on shifts in the advice and planning landscape following new conduct expectations, consumer duty requirements and supervision from regulators. He reports on mergers, acquisitions and strategic moves among advice and wealth firms, but stays close to what those moves mean for clients and front-line planners rather than treating them purely as corporate deal news.
In these stories he often draws out tension between commercial pressures on firms and the expectation that they deliver better outcomes for consumers. He reports on compliance costs, changing charging models and technology adoption, but links them back to accessibility of advice and the viability of serving mass-market clients. The tone is analytical rather than promotional, with brief, fact-driven accounts of what has changed, who is affected and how the market is responding.
Consumer protection, scams and household money pressures
Consumer risk is another recurring theme in Read’s coverage. He writes about frauds and scams targeting pension savers and investors, often using warnings from regulators, ombudsman cases or industry alerts as news pegs. These pieces foreground the tactics used by scammers and the vulnerabilities of people approaching retirement or looking for better returns, explaining in straightforward language how readers can recognise and avoid harm.
Alongside scams, he covers issues such as rising living costs, tax changes and savings trends where they intersect with financial planning advice. His business beat gives these stories a planning frame: he looks at how advisers are reworking retirement and savings plans in light of higher inflation, rate changes or new allowances. He tends to avoid sensational language, focusing instead on the practical implications for household finances and the responsibilities of firms that communicate products and advice.
Data-led, accessible business reporting
Stylistically, Read favours short, information-dense articles grounded in official numbers and clear sourcing. He often leads with a key statistic or regulatory finding, then layers in context from industry commentators and trade bodies to explain why it matters for the planning community. His writing is direct and free of jargon, even when dealing with technical pension or regulatory topics, which makes his pieces easy to brief from and to use as background for more detailed client-facing material.
Beyond Financial Planning Today, he has a long track record in business and personal finance journalism across national media and broadcast platforms. That experience shows in his choice of angles: he is quick to connect policy announcements and corporate developments to everyday money questions about retirement income, saving and protection. For story ideas, he is a fit where there is a clear link between business or regulatory change and its impact on pension savers, investors or the advice profession, especially when there are robust data or case studies to support the narrative.
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