This report evaluates the case for developing a national advice resource to provide impartial, generic financial advice targeted at people on low to moderate incomes. It is based on modelling commissioned from Deloitte & Touche LLP to assess the impact of receiving financial advice on financial outcomes for individuals in this income group and the implications of this for public expenditure on Pension Credit. The modelling highlights the benefits financial advice could deliver to individuals in this income group by improving their financial decision making.

It also shows the significant savings in public expenditure it could deliver over the coming decades, as improved financial decision making lifts people off pension credit. The report further illustrates how providing financial advice would support key public policy objectives and deliver benefits to the financial services industry. By improving financial outcomes and promoting self-reliance, a national advice service would:

• Strengthen strategies to improve financial capability
• Support pension reform - encourage a more preventative approach to tackling debt 
• Reinforce strategies to tackle poverty

By helping to facilitate a more effective interface with consumers, providing financial advice would also deliver benefits to the financial services industry, including:

• A better functioning market
• A reduction in high distribution costs
• An expanded market and a reduction in the cost of dealing with complaints