Don't do as we do...

The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has two major tasks: to protect us against bad things like the collapse of Northern Rock, and to give us all personal financial advice. The FSA’s own report tells us that they failed miserably to do the first bit – their grip on the Northern Rock situation was like a small child with a blindfold on, trying to catch a wet balloon. So are they any good at job number two?

…do as we say

Luckily for all of us, the FSA seem to have some quite good people assigned to consumer advice. They have just re-launched this bit of the FSA website under the name Moneymadeclear (motto: "No selling. No jargon. Just the facts."). I’ve had a few dips into the new site, and I like what I’ve seen.

You can go down the paperless route, clicking from page to page getting advice on things like savings, scams and taking stock of your finances. Or you can print off leaflets on all aspects of personal finance. There is a very useful "Life events" section. OK, so you’ve got a new job, but how do you survive financially until your first pay day? Or you are about to start a family. Just how will you cope with buying all the stuff a baby needs while saving for the fees at Eton?

There’s lots of really good stuff here, not too preachy but good on things you can do to help yourself. Amusingly, there’s also a news section, featuring the wonderful things the FSA has been doing to protect our interests. But no mention of Northern Rock…

(From the Gateway to websites, select "Family & personal". Moneymadeclear is under "Personal finance".)

Stay awake

On the same subject, Moneyfacts is a really dull but really useful magazine. Its website has more colour on the front page than in a year’s worth of the print version. But how interesting can borrowing and saving and getting a mortgage actually be? Better to settle for the facts well presented, and here they are very well presented. Sometimes you see a table with the rates and other information, and sometimes you fill in an online form to tailor the presentation to your individual circumstances. There’s a huge amount of material here.

The free stuff is surrounded by adverts. But they are either obvious or, if not obvious, labelled "advert", which is important, since the advertising is fitted to the subject. I was not confused about which was factual and which was would-be persuasive.

The more I explored Moneyfacts, the more enthusiastic I got. Don’t get me wrong – the subject is never exciting, and there aren’t many jokes. But they’ve done the trawling through interest rates and repayment options and all that stuff so that you don’t have to. Be grateful.

(From the Gateway to websites, select "Family & personal". Moneyfacts is under "Personal finance".)