'Back-to-basics' may be an over-used term, but the pensions industry is going to have to do just that if British workers are to understand what's going on when they are automatically enrolled in a workplace savings scheme two years from now.

A survey published yesterday suggested few people outside the citadels of finance have any idea about what saving for a comfortable retirement will entail. The government's plan to auto-enrol everyone regardless may be a good one; but if they don't want people to immediately un-enrol themselves again there is work to do.