Here’s the conventional wisdom on pensions: you’re a weak-willed and short-sighted fool who isn’t saving enough, and as a result you will spend your retirement in poverty. The US press is loaded with hand-wringing on the subject – largely, although not exclusively, based on “research” from companies who sell pensions and investments. In the UK, the definitive statement was made by Adair Turner’s Pension Commission in 2004: “Most people do not make rational decisions about long-term savings without encouragement and advice.” Ouch.

The sense of impending doom has been deepened by the realisation that both corporate pension schemes and implicit pension promises from governments may have too little cash behind them. That may be true, but it is only indirectly relevant to the question of personal pension saving.