Logo
Iona Bain Headshot
Report a problem with this profile
[email protected]

Iona Bain        

Award-Winning Journalist, Financial Expert, Author

Iona Bain is an award-winning journalist, broadcaster, speaker, and author, and is the UK’s go-to voice on millennial money. She is BBC Morning Live's resident financial expert and regularly engages audiences with her insights on financial wellbeing, resilience, and the complexities of the modern financial landscape.

Since founding Young Money, the UK's first website dedicated to young people's finances in 2011, Bain has become one of the most respected financial writers of her generation, known for her accessible yet authoritative approach. Her journey in finance began uniquely as a musician still living at her parents' home in Edinburgh, where her personal experience with theft and her struggle with dyscalculia motivated her to master her financial life and assist others in doing the same. Bain’s early experiences and challenges have profoundly shaped her mission to promote financial literacy and ensure everyone has access to the necessary tools to manage their money effectively.

Bain’s media presence is extensive; she has appeared on programs such as Channel 4’s "Cryptocurrency: Has the Bubble Burst?," "Rip Off Britain," "Newsnight," "Question Time," and "The One Show." Additionally, she regularly contributes to the Metro Newspaper and the Financial Times, along with other significant publications including the Times, the Daily Telegraph, and the Independent. Her book "Own It!" focuses on empowering young people to invest for a better future. She has also reported for Radio 4’s File on 4 on critical social issues.

Beyond writing and broadcasting, Bain is deeply committed to educational outreach. She is an ambassador for the National Numeracy society, tirelessly campaigning for greater awareness of dyscalculia. Her educational contributions extend to collaborating with BBC Social, BBC Bitesize, and Young Scot to produce educational videos that resonate with young viewers. Her role as the youngest-ever governor of the Pensions Policy Institute further underscores her commitment to influencing financial policy and education at high levels.

Throughout her career, Bain has maintained a strong connection with her audience, working with various brands and organizations to enhance public understanding of financial issues. Her work with the Lloyds Banking Academy on the Your Future Finances initiative, notable for being the first UK educational program fully accessible in sign language, highlights her inclusive approach to financial education.

Speech Topics

The Cost-of-Living Crisis and How We Can Respond

This is an overview of the financial challenges facing the public right now (particularly younger people) and how employers, individuals, and society can respond effectively.

  • The cost-of-living crisis and its impact on different demographics
  • Advice for how to navigate the crisis as an individual/employer depending on circumstances/demographics
  • The housing crisis, central bank/government policy and the increasing complexity of digital finance
  • The all-important roadblock between financial independence and settlement
  • The wider social and cultural trends driving young people’s dissatisfaction with their finances, such as high expectations set by baby boomers
  • The biggest myths surrounding millennial finance, from the avocado brunch fallacy to the idea that we’re all self-employed side hustlers
  • The social, economic and financial factors in our favor
  • How individuals and/or organizations can capitalize on technology, expanding knowledge and cultural de-stigmatization of money to improve our financial outlook

NOTE: insights can be tailored to be relevant to clients' fields, e.g. insurance, investment etc.

Financial Education/Inclusion: Why it Matters and How to Make it Work

An in-depth look at how financial education can transform young people’s understanding of money, looking at:

  • The evidence supporting the argument for financial education
  • What’s currently going wrong in financial education?
  • How self-taught money education changed my life
  • My insights gained from 10 years working on various educational projects
  • Approaches and methods that could prove most effective
  • How can organizations use financial education to empower their workforce?

Me, Money & Making It: How I Got Here and What I’ve Learned

An inspirational, fun, and insightful look at how I went from clueless musician to millennial money guru who appears on BBC Morning Live every week, covering:

  • How did a stolen piggy bank change my outlook on money?
  • How you can understand your financial psychology, and change it for the better
  • How I learned to manage my money
  • My challenges with dyscalculia, how I overcame them and my work with National Numeracy
  • My work on BBC Morning Live and the impact I’m having
  • What are the key lessons? From learning about debt the easy way, to setting digital boundaries

How to Own It: Demystifying Savings, Pensions & Investing for a New Generation

A helpful and accessible talk breaking down the modern financial landscape for young people today, looking at:

  • Why long-term saving and investing matters for you and the world
  • How can you set yourself up to invest for the long-term?
  • The basics of pensions, from auto-enrolment to ‘greening’ your retirement fund
  • The three main kinds of investing tech – robo-advisers, platforms and share-trading apps
  • The dangers posed by day-trading, forex, Bitcoin and ‘finfluencers’ promoting high-risk schemes.
  • How to protect yourself against fraud and maximize your chances of achieving your goals.

News

Best of Money Clinic: Flying solo with your finances: managing ...
17 hours ago ... In this Money Clinic episode, Claer is joined by 'Alonement' guru Francesca Specter who champions the single life and Iona Bain, a personal finance author ...

Related Speakers View all

More like Iona