These days hardly a day goes by when there isn't some mention of pensions of one kind or another in our morning newspapers. The intensity of discussion shows no signs of abating. It has an added dimension, as the issues being debated and discussed relate to all of us.

It may not seem a reality for school or university leavers, but the ageing process and, ultimately retirement for all of us, cannot be denied or ignored. Changes in life expectancy and the increasingly active lifestyle of pensioners have led to the need for realistic thinking on pension accrual rates and actuarial longevity assumptions.