To think that Martin Lewis

[Aserena]

often comes across as condescending?
Especially on his podcast.

I’m no financial whizz and I’m genuinely grateful to him for breaking things down simple. It’s his manner rather than the content that I find irritating. AIBU?

That said he's not always right, I remember just before the energy crisis really kicked off he was advising people not to fix to a (hugely increased) new deal. I had just done so and when I saw his advice I was furious with myself but it proved to be absolutely the right thing as I was fixed at a manageable level for the worst of the crisis

To be fair, no-one would have expected prices to rise as they did at that time, and the advice to fix or not would have been caveated with 'fixing will probably be more expensive, but you'll know what you pay' vs 'not fixing is currently much cheaper but we don't know what will happen in the future'.

Plus in the end, due to the Government price cap, a lot of fixes had to be reduced because people had fixed at rates way above what people ended up having to pay, which would also have meant that they overpaid in the period before prices went up compared with people who stayed on variable.

Love MSE but I find Martin a bit heavy on the ego.

Confirmed by a colleague who's had dealings with him, prone to throwing his toys out of the pram if he doesn't like particular press coverage (him personally, not the companies he's taking on).

I think he's done a fantastic job with the website and making personal finance accessible. Can't fault him there. But his delivery is far too quick and shouty and I feel he's become a tad smug and precious (I used to read his blog a lot).

You are being very unreasonable. IF he comes across as condescending it's because he's trying to explain financial stuff to a population which is extremely financially illiterate. I work in the sector and trust me, I'm taken aback daily by the lack of education and knowledge in this space.

I do find him a bit frantic and he talks too fast for my liking but I think he's helped so many people that I can't pay too much attention to the couple of negatives. I think he's brilliant

Martin Lewis is a genuine authentic guy, he's real & good at what he does

Martin is our King

Ah, there we go then. IABU.

Not trying to ‘launch a character assassination’, and as you read in my OP I don’t deny that what he does is great.

I just find myself getting annoyed without fail when I listen to him, and, seeing as I have never heard anybody say anything even slightly negative about him in any way whatsoever, I wondered if I am literally the only one who feels this way. Clearly the answer is that I am very much in the minority.

The UK likes to shit on people who try and help people get ideas above their station, see also Jamie Oliver. MN absolutely shat all over him, and it felt like MN don’t want the plebs and chavs to see any improvement, which would destroy their smug sense of superiority.

I think he's great. I think sometimes we forget how poor financial literacy is in this country. Some people genuinely understand almost nothing to do with finances, they don't know what a mortgage is, they don't know how interest works, etc. He has to cater to those people as well as everyone else.

I’m pretty sure I remember reading something about him being on the autistic spectrum and having to overcome awkward / nervous feelings to do his work or public appearances?

I agree with those who love him. I like the way he speaks. His mortgage advice really helped me.
I am terrible at maths.

Blimey, some serious cult of personality stuff around here.
No-one can have any negative thoughts about something, even the tone of it, unless one can do it better? Better close all the consumer complaints departments then.
🙄back atcha

He’s saved me thousands of pounds so I’m happy to take that advice any which way it’s provided.

Some people have asked for examples, I could give plenty but I’m not going to because, contrary to accusation, I’m not out to ‘bash’ him and am not trying to persuade anyone. I was just putting out feelers to see what you all had to say.
If you’re curious, then listen to his podcast a few times and decide for yourself.

Ignore the mob especially the "how can I make you out to be an ableist bigot" effort. If you find his manner annoying you find it annoying. It's neither reasonable nor unreasonable.

Criticism of his manner seems particularly petty especially when it's your applying an arbitrary negative interpretation to his intent

I mean why not critique his dress sense whilst you are at it

Both completely irrelevant to what he does ( brilliantly ) which is communicate clearly and accurately

@BarbaraofSeville that's the point, the advice wasn't caveated - what you've described is the nuanced message he gives on mortgage rates but on this he was quite clear that we shouldn't fix, which is why I was so gutted I had just done so. And then very soon afterwards people lost the ability to switch as the market effectively shut down.

I'm only mentioning this because his advice is normally so strong, it's noteworthy only because it's unusual. But as you say, the circumstances were fairly unprecedented.

I think the problem with that is that he has so much information to pass on and the program isn't long enough. He could do with a much longer program. You can tell that he is desperate to tell you everything that he knows.

I think you are mistaking condescension for abrupt delivery. He talks super fast, because he wants to impart as much information as he can in the amount of air time he's given. Frankly, the man deserves all the medals. Unlike politicians, he actually gives a shit about people living in poverty and does everything he can to help. It's thanks to him we as a family dodged the soaring energy bills and mortgage rise crisis because we fixed well before on his advice.

I couldn't care how he comes across, as long as he keeps doing it.

@determinedtomakethiswork I agree his show should be longer and he has so much to impart to us. It's a me thing rather than a him thing I guess. ☺️

I wish we had someone like Martin Lewis in Ireland.

He’s trying to serve the lowest common denominator whilst also appealing to the masses and giving the right information.

so yeah he’ll come across as condescending, a bit rude etc it’s a tricky place to navigate.

for those who think he talks fast. YouTube his shows and slow the replay speed down 😜

No hes fab

Actually, I felt he was slightly condescending to Nehal in this week's podcast.

I don't have any issue with him, and I know he has to simplify complex issues, so that side I'm fine with. And the audience has a wide base of understanding.

Funnily enough, most of my financial knowledge came from a website he's not very keen on.

I just find myself getting annoyed without fail when I listen to him, and, seeing as I have never heard anybody say anything even slightly negative about him in any way whatsoever, I wondered if I am literally the only one who feels this way. Clearly the answer is that I am very much in the minority

You're not the only one. You can appreciate his crusade without necessarily liking him personally.

Good for him, he's earned his millions on a good cause and he deserves it. But I gather he wasn't easy to work for and prone to shouting at people (friend of a colleague stuff so perhaps should be taken with a punch of salt).

I think he's just quite full of himself, and his blog comes across that way too, 100% support the cause he's pushing and he's done a tremendous job making personal finance more accessible.