Paul Lewis: People confuse me with Martin Lewis – but he’s the rich one

Financial journalist and broadcaster Paul Lewis, 74, is best known as the presenter of BBC Radio 4’s Money Box and Money Box Live.

He has also appeared regularly as a financial services expert on BBC Breakfast and BBC News and Radio 4’s Today and World at One.

He also writes regularly for The Daily Telegraph, Financial Times, Radio Times and Saga magazine and has written several books on personal finance. He lives in west London with his wife, Emma, and has three grown-up ­children.

Where did your head for figures come from

I inherited my love of numbers from my father, who worked as a maths teacher at a secondary modern school. He was very innovative and devised demonstrations to help his less interested pupils grasp the principles of maths. He often shared them with me.

I was used to doing arithmetic from a young age and he taught me logical thinking. I grew up in Maidstone, Kent, the youngest of three children. We weren’t poor, but my father worked extra hours on local farms during the summer holidays to earn more money. He was quite enterprising. He kept bees and moved his hives to the farms’ orchards to help fertilise the fruit trees, for which he would be paid. My mother worked as a peripatetic teacher, helping young children with learning difficulties.

What was your first job?

At Stirling University, where I read psychology, I supplemented my grant by selling alternative magazines such as Private Eye and Oz to fellow students. I had an agreement with a magazine distribution company and bought the publications wholesale. In Scotland in the late 1960s it was difficult to obtain national newspapers, never mind Private Eye. I remember asking a newsagent if she had a copy of The Times. She said: “Do you mean The Times of London?” It didn’t arrive at her shop until 3pm. It was a different life.

Did you struggle to find work after you left university?

I left with two degrees and no clue what to do with them, so I applied for a job as a maths teacher. In those days they were so desperate for maths teachers that, as long as you could do maths, they would take you on without any teacher ­training. I stuck at it for six months, but I was hopeless at maintaining discipline.

What jobs did you do next?

I got a job as an information officer at the charity Age Concern [now Age UK], providing financial information to pensioners. Poverty was a big problem for pensioners back then because the state pension was low and there were few benefits.

This was when I began to realise that there were millions of people who would never dream of talking to an accountant or financial adviser but needed help with their money. In 1984 I also started writing a financial advice column in my spare time for Saga magazine. I’ve written for every issue since.

Why did you become a freelance journalist?

The turning point came when I won a consumer journalism award in 1986 for an article I’d written in Saga magazine. After studying government data, I’d discovered that married women who had worked during the war were entitled to a state pension. As a result, thousands of women received extra money. I thought: “If I can win a prize doing this in my spare time, I’m going to give up my stressful job and go freelance.” [By then he was director of a policy organisation called Youth Aid].

I also started writing for the Saturday money section in The Daily Telegraph. I found a niche in the market because back then personal finance columns focused on investments and property. There wasn’t much advice available for people who didn’t have much money and wanted information on tax, pensions and benefits. We had a huge postbag so it definitely answered a need.

How did you break into broadcasting?

I was asked to do the odd spot on radio, sometimes as a guest contributor on Radio 4’s Money Box. This led to television work; then in the 1990s I took over as the presenter of Radio Five Live’s breakfast show, Wake Up To Money. I loved it, but it was very tiring because I had to get up at 3.45am.

When, three years later, I was asked to present the Radio 4 phone-in show Money Box Live, I jumped at the chance. Within a few weeks I also accepted an invitation to take over the main presenting job on its sister programme, Money Box.

Are you comfortably off?

It’s only in the past decade that I’ve felt financially secure. Even in the early 2000s I still had a mortgage and did extra work to make ends meet. When I was younger, with three children to support, life was difficult. I never got into financial difficulties but I did worry about how I was going to pay the next bill. I often had an overdraft and credit cards that weren’t paid off in full – all the things I now advise people not to do.

Do you invest in the stock market?

No, it’s a gamble. The pain of losing is so much greater to me than the joy of winning. Share prices have been tumbling. People write to me saying: “My pension fund has gone down by 30pc. What can I do?” I secretly think: “Mine hasn’t because my adviser keeps it in cash.” Cash can be as good as investing. If you move your money to the best-­paying accounts, there’s no risk and you can do as well.

I’m also a fan of Premium Bonds, but you have to buy the maximum – £50,000 – if you can afford it and then you get a regular tax-free income. I’m not saying people shouldn’t invest, because over 20 years investments probably do better than cash. But in the short term – over five to 10 years – they may not. At the moment you can get nearly 5pc over five years on your cash. You try finding a financial adviser who will guarantee that sort of return.

What are your income streams?

About a third is writing for magazines and newspapers, 40pc is broadcasting and a fifth is public speaking, hosting and chairing meetings. I’ve just written a book that details the financial information you need to know at every stage of your life.

Are you confused with financial broadcaster Martin Lewis?

People do sometimes mix us up, even though our styles are very different. I sometimes say Martin’s the rich one because he turned his Money Saving Expert website into a very profitable company. He’s much higher profile than I am and more consumer orientated, but on most things we agree.

What is your greatest luxury?

It’s not really a luxury but my indulgence is collecting letters written by the Victorian novelist Wilkie Collins. I didn’t enjoy reading literature when I was younger, but then a friend recommended his most famous book, The Woman in White, and I was hooked. I started collecting his letters and I’m now guardian of the database that lists all his known correspondence. When I die I’ll leave my collection to the British Library.

Money Box: Your Toolkit for Balancing Your Budget, Growing Your Bank Balance and Living a Better Financial Life by Paul Lewis is out now (BBC Books, £16.99)