Well said bristlelad!

You'd think we'd all realise what was going on. The trouble is very few of the general public really understand any of it - and rather than learn and do something, they bury thier heads in the sand.

So the few can't make the difference and end up doing the "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em"!

Usual short-termism in this country has contributed considerably to the problem, but it is not just a governmental phenomenon. The pension industry, I seem to recall, in the good times, allowed 'pension holidays', reducing fund pots for the leaner years in the cycle and now causing misery for the many.

Funny that you never hear of any entity or individual contacting the FS Ombudsman or trawling through the High Court when their pension fund has outperformed or their endowment has issued an extra large terminal bonus for them.

The system has failed to cover the troughs in the cycle during the peaks and government has failed to monitor,adjust and tweak the system to reduce the amplitude of the peaks and troughs, which would have afforded greater certainty for all parties concerned, especially 'Honest Joe' (and Josie) in society. (IMHO)

Nam

Thanks to all the contributors today. Very interesting.