Weyhay, it's the end of the country's financial woes!

A new service has launched today offering free money advice to everyone. The service, called Moneymadeclear is run by the Financial Services Authority, funded by the money lying unclaimed in bank accounts that people have forgotten about.

The website will provide information on all sorts of things, from how to invest, to how to go about buying a car, getting a credit card or avoiding scams.

Genius. Now we need never wonder about anything money-related ever again.

There's only one tiny flaw in the plan. It's a complete waste of time.

In case the FSA hasn't spotted it, this information is all out there already. If you want a step-by-step guide to anything, or a warning of the latest scams to be doing the rounds, there are a host of websites to help you - not least this one.

The boffins in government have missed the point entirely.

They ran their focus groups and their clever surveys and concluded that the reason people make terrible decisions about money is because they don't understand.

They're half right there.

Then they concluded that the reason people don't understand is because they don't have access to the information.

And they're completely wrong there.

There are two reasons people are bad with money. The first is that they don't understand, and the second is that they do understand but they choose to ignore the little voice in their head that tells them it's not a good idea to spend their entire paycheck on a handbag.

It's the same as healthy-eating. We know chips are bad for us. We know they will kill us in the end. But we still eat them.

While you can cure the understanding side of things, there's no cure for our lack of willpower, we either have to suffer the consequences, or be forced to save by the government - which is never going to be popular.

As for the cure to a lack of understanding, the government thinks its about making the information available, but it's wrong. The information is there, the problem is that most people don't want to read it.

You are different. You are the exception to the rule. You care, so you have come to a website devoted to making the most of your cash. But not everyone is like you. Most people would rather eat their own arm than spend a second thinking about something they consider deathly dull beyond belief.

These people don't need the information to be out there somewhere. They need nothing short of a qualified person forcing their way into their lounge, demanding they take action, and refusing to leave until they have drawn up a will, moved their utilities, got a decent bank account, established a debt-repayment plan, set up a pension, remortgaged and established an investment plan.

This person needs to have no vested interest in the individual doing anything other than the very best thing for themselves, so will need to be paid by the government.

So the solution is enforced financial advice and enforced savings.

It's not a cheap option, and it would be desperately unpopular - at least in the short term - no wonder the government settled for a new website.