This bank holiday weekend I had the good fortune to spend a day at the races with my family, it’s an annual event, and spent many hours ploughing through the race cards and timeform forecasts in a vain attempt to pick a winner. And that is in addition to using the ageless methods of ‘that sound like a good name’ and ‘I’ll stick a pin in the paper’ none of which proved to be very fruitful.

The Treasury Select Committee has called on the Government to monitor the effect of the removal of higher rate tax relief on pensions contributions and consider an alternative if it has a negative impact on pension savings.

In 2012 the government is proposing to introduce personal accounts as a means of filling the pension savings gap we have in this country. However around 80% of employers intend to keep their existing pension scheme in place with only 2% planning on offering a pure Personal Accounts option, research by Punter Southall an actuarial consultancy has revealed.

 We may just have believed the promises of the politicians, who pledged a cleaner and more transparent financial system, one that operates for our benefit rather than the profit of a super-wealthy few.

In today’s political climate it is relatively easy to snipe at the powers that be for their failings as we struggle to comprehend how out of touch with ordinary people our MP’s are. Similarly in the financial services industry we struggle to comprehend how out of touch the regulator, the Financial Services Authority, is.