Simon Read is an award-winning financial journalist and broadcaster with more than 25 years of experience writing for national newspapers and other publications.
He was Personal Finance Editor of The Independent newspaper for seven years and has written for a range of other newspapers, from The Financial Times and The Times to The Sun and The Mirror.
Originally from Essex, Simon now lives with his family in south-west London.
Simon says:
"Money affects everything we do.
I made a choice many years ago not to let money control me, so I took steps to turn things around so money helped me instead.
At the heart of my financial philosophy is choice. Every penny you spend is your choice. If you don’t spend it today, then you have it for tomorrow – or whenever you may need it.
Once you start making the right choices, and they’re often quite tough, then money can help you, not hinder you.”
Simon’s experience:
As well as being a traditional print journalist, Simon writes regularly about finance for online sites, such as BBC News, as well as contributing to a number of blogs and podcasts.
He champions consumer rights and is a commentator on a range of tv and radio shows, such as Watchdog on BBC1, Sky News, Channel 5 News, Radio 5 Live, LBC and Talk Radio.
He was a money expert on three series of the daytime BBC1 TV show Right On The Money and presented a BBC Radio 4 documentary on fraud, as well as battling for fair treatment from companies for a number of years in his Fights For Your Rights column in Moneywise magazine.
