This last 2 weeks we have heard FK, EK, Pohjolapankki ja Nordea singing the same song about how people will not have enough income to take care of themselves when they are old and infirm.

They want to scare people into investing into expensive “pension” packages. We saw how they lied twenty years ago about private pension schemes which are no more than costly savings schemes. If you are working full time, you do not need a bank or fund manager to invest in addition to the statutory pension schemes. It is enough to buy your own apartment or house and invest in a portfolio of equal amounts of 15 to 20 shares directly over time. Every bank and broker has this service available at a very low cost. You do not need to buy and sell shares all the time. Just buy 1 or 2 shares every 1 or 2 months and hold on to the portfolio for years. You may have to re-balance it sometime if one share goes up like a rocket. At the moment the dividends from most shares are higher that the returns on deposits and on high quality bonds, so do not buy bonds today.

Remember that when you see those four (the 2 banks and their 2 lobby groups) they are just illuminating the “Wahlroos Effect” which is best described in 3 words – greedy, irresponsible self-interest…