A reader writes, “I have just lost 70 per cent of my final-salary pension entitlement because my solvent employer has wound up the scheme (with Tony Blair’s blessing).”

This is awful but by no means rare. The number of final-salary pension schemes has shrunk dramatically in recent years.

Employers say they are simply too expensive to operate, because they pay pensions based on members’ final earnings, rather than the pension fund’s investment performance.

Even if the fund does badly, the employer still has to cough up at the agreed rate – and this can be financially crippling.

Of course, this is no comfort at all to anyone who has paid in for years, expecting a decent pension when they retire.

The only thing to do now is to consult an independent financial adviser who specialises in pension provision and start salting away whatever you can afford to minimise your retirement shortfall.

I’m so sorry not to be able to say anything more positive.