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FOOL'S EYE VIEW
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Here at The Motley Fool, we obviously think money is pretty exciting but, let's face it, we can always do with a bit of help to make it even more fun. The City regulator, the Financial Services Authority, is trying to do just that by launching a free CD Rom which is designed to help people take control of their finances. Their research found that only one in three people claimed to be on top of their financial affairs, checking their savings and investments on a regular basis. The rest of the population say they check only occasionally, with one in eight people saying they don't review their finances at all. The one in three of us who keep a regular eye on our financial matters are clearly good at behaving Foolishly but it looks like this CD Rom has come along not a minute too soon! The idea of anyone pottering happily through life without ever reviewing their finances is simply astounding. Whilst a few people may be so wealthy that they can employ someone to keep an eye on their moolah, I'd imagine most of the rest are probably doing that ostrich/head/sand thing. According to further research carried out by MORI for the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (a branch of the FSA), consumers rate the safety and security of their money as one of the most important factors when taking out investments, insurance or placing deposits. Yet 63% of them wouldn't know who to turn to or whether they would even be entitled to compensation if it all went terribly wrong. The survey showed that consumers expect protection and compensation when financial providers go out of business but haven't a clue about what's available and have little awareness of where to get independent advice. Far too many of us are still turning to our high street banks for in-house products without checking to see what else is on the market. It seems that although the safety and security of our money is incredibly important to us, many of us can't be bothered to take the precaution of doing a little research to make sure it is. At any rate, the FSA is hoping that their CD Rom will be so easy and simple to use that people will find it a doddle to carry out a simple financial health check. I've already ordered mine to see how it works and it seems I can look forward to: The idea is to get you to think about your priorities and to get a grip on what's going in and out of the household accounts. It's also self-loading so even technologically incompetent people like me should find it easy to use. Personally, I like the sound of the interactive quiz and I suspect others will too. If it makes us sit down and really think about what we're doing with our money, that can only be to the good. FREE copies of the FSA Financial Planning CD Rom are available from the Consumer Helpline on 0845 606 1234.