It might cost something running into billions of pounds, but a proposed new financial advice service would pay dividends for consumers, industry and government alike. The “money guidance” service — the key recommendation of a year-long review of financial advice — would cost between 780 million pounds and 1.67 billion pounds to set up and run between 2009 and 2060, according to the Thoresen report.

That cost, said Otto Thoresen, chief executive of AEGON, should be split equally between the government and financial services sectors. But the outlay would bear significant fruit, with the benefits hugely outweighing costs. Insurers, fund managers, banks, building societies and the like would collectively benefit to the tune of between 3.61 billion and 5.51 billion pounds in the five decades to 2060, the report estimates, as a result of lower levels of bad debt, a greater willingness by consumers to engage with the industry and a reduction in advertising and selling costs. The state, meanwhile, would save something in the region of 4.65 billion to 6 billion pounds by 2060 through reductions in the payment of Pension Credit and other benefits.

And then there are consumers themselves. They could be more than 15 billion pounds better off due to greater access to financial guidance and increased financial awareness. Through better budgeting, debt management, shopping around and improved saving for retirement, the man and women on the street could give themselves a real financial boost. A ripple effect could also spell huge benefits for society as a whole. Fewer money worries could see improved productivity through reduced stress-related absenteeism and reductions in public expenditure attributable to the consequences of family breakdown.

Coming at a time when huge levels of personal debt, the credit crunch and increases in the cost of living - council tax, energy bills and food costs, for example - are placing greater pressure of household budgets, this triple-win situation - although some way off - sounds good in theory, and the report was broadly welcomed at an event at the Treasury on Monday at which the government pledged 12 million pounds to road-test the scheme. Everyone from consumer group Which?, debt charities and other industry bodies gave a cautious welcome of the scheme, to be run by the Financial Services Authority, although many were eager to see the full details of the report.

But, provided the pilot is successful and the service gets off the ground, the real challenge will be in encouraging consumers to use it. Research undertaken as part of Thoresen’s review found that three-quarters of people said they would use a money guidance service — a third of whom said they would be “very likely” to do so. In fact, eight out of 10 people who took part in pilot projects did at least one thing relating to their finances within a week of using the service, and more than half took a specific action such as buying a product or speaking to a regulated adviser.

But whether a widescale “pathfinder” produces equally as encouraging results remains to be seen. If take-up of the government’s child trust fund (CTF) give-away is anything to go by, the signs are not particularly heartening. Latest figures from HM Revenue & Customs show that a fifth of CTF vouchers expire because parents fail to invest them within the allowed 12 months. Then, the government steps in to place the voucher — a free 250 pounds per newborn. But even after that, 60 percent of accounts do not see any further activity. A failure to accept government hand-outs points to a hugely apathetic public and one that, perhaps, has little trust in a financial services sector that has been hit with one mis-selling scandal after another as it focuses on the hard sell and confuses consumers with its jargon.

If anything, then, let us hope that any new guidance service will be governed by the principles recommended by Thoresen: impartiality, supportiveness, crisis prevention, universality and, above all, freedom from any desire to flog products. Maybe then people might become more engaged with the importance of managing their finances and the service stands a real chance of sparking a national savings habit that would lead to a rosier financial future for the masses.