Providing good advice

The Guardian reports on a proposed UK program to make financial advice available to lower-earning workers:

A former insurance broker who made millions when his company merged with a rival earlier this year will today call on the financial services industry and the government to create a national network of advice centres to help lower-paid families make better financial decisions...

According to Mr Cowdery, most advice from the state caters to the needs of the unemployed, while the financial services industry ignores those earning less than the average because they are simply not profitable. "We all have four or five big financial decisions to make in life. Basic-rate taxpayers have the most to gain from getting these decisions right and the least access on doing so," he said.

I'm not entirely in agreement that the focus should be on "four or five big decisions": it seems to me that while making the big decisions wrong can be fatal to one's financial standing, so too can enough small expenditures easily undo the good of a solid overall plan. And any effective financial-advice program should take that fact into account. But aside from that quibble, the idea is one which we too should strongly consider.