In 2018, when my eldest daughter was 13 months old, I quit my corporate job. I couldn't make nursery pick-ups from the city, nobody else on my team had kids, and nobody got it. So one day I just quit.
A month later I landed my first contracting job, and that was that. Over the years since, I've built a consulting career, set up and run two Limited Companies, built a property portfolio, and slowly taught myself everything about pensions, tax, investing, and year-end accounts that nobody tells you when you go self-employed.
For years I left the money side of things to someone else. Then I didn't have that option any more, and it turned out the learning curve was steep but not impossible. I have a SIPP. I started Junior SIPPs for my children after sitting down and doing the compound interest maths myself. I'm currently exploring a SSAS pension for property investing. None of this came from a finance degree. It came from needing to know.
Why I built this site
Pensions Explained exists because I went looking for clear, honest answers about pensions and found mostly jargon, corporate waffle, or content that was technically accurate but impossible to act on. I wanted something better, so I made it.
I write and edit the consumer-facing content here. The technical review and investment expertise comes from Mark Smith CFA, who has over 15 years in institutional asset management and pension fund investing. I get the consumer side. Mark gets the investment inside. Between us, we cover the full picture.
I also run Femme Finance, a separate site helping women become more financially literate. The two projects share a philosophy: make money simple, be honest about what you know and what you don't, and never talk down to people.
A note on advice
I'm not a qualified financial adviser. Nothing on this site is personal financial advice. What I am is someone who has figured a lot of this out the hard way, and I'd rather you didn't have to. For advice tailored to your specific situation, speak to a regulated financial adviser.