They let you down, your mum and dad

Sometimes, however, people really don't help themselves. If you're one of more than a million parents who have not yet bothered to invest your free Child Trust Fund (CTF) vouchers, I'm sorry to say I've run out of excuses for your apathy.

I do my best. On Tuesday, BBC London Live asked me to come on air to comment on why so few people understand the basics of personal finance - a Prudential survey had apparently found that one in 10 Britons thinks an ISA is an energy drink.

The presenter, Vanessa Feltz, was less than impressed when I said the financial services industry, with its love of jargon, was partly to blame for this kind of ignorance. While I added that many people felt intimidated by the big bad banks and their friends, she urged people to take more personal responsibility for their finances.

Thank goodness the Government had not published the latest CTF take-up figures by the time I appeared on Vanessa's show. Since January, 1.9 million families have been sent savings vouchers worth £250 or £500 (low-income parents get more) to invest on behalf of children born since September 2002. On Wednesday, the Government announced that less than 900,000 families have so far got round to opening an account with their vouchers.

Parents with a new-born baby can be forgiven for not stopping off at their local building society on the way home from hospital. It's bound to be a few weeks before you have time to use your CTF vouchers. But a good chunk of the million uncashed vouchers were issued months ago - they've simply been forgotten.

This isn't rocket science. The Government has given you free cash to invest on behalf of your child. Along with the vouchers, it sent you a booklet on how this simple scheme works, as well as a list of providers. It has even designed a stakeholder CTF - a recommended model - for parents who aren't sure what sort of account to choose.

The whole scheme is so easy that there's just no defending parents who don't use their CTF vouchers. They're letting down their children. It's true that after a year, the Government opens default accounts on behalf of children whose parents have done nothing, but by then, a year of interest will have gone begging.

There's no jargon to worry about here. And you don't have to be concerned about cowboy advisers ripping you off. This is a something-for-nothing deal. All you have to do is take advantage of it.

For goodness sake, pull your finger out.

National Savings & Investments is finally to join the Financial Ombudsman Service, the independent scheme that considers unresolved complaints against almost all other savings account providers. About time too.

For too long, NS&I has used its status as the Government-backed savings bank to claim an exemption from the scheme. Complaints have until now been considered by a much less accessible service run out of Parliament.

Now all NS&I has to do is to improve its interest rates. Trading on the fact that its Government guarantee means savers cash is absolutely safe, it consistently offers a poor deal compared to accounts from private sector banks and building societies.