The goals of two-pot are admirable. The implementation somehow both rushed and drawn out. The promises – of decreased unnecessary financial hardships, fewer self-defeating decisions, and improved long term savings rates are dazzling.

The nagging fear though, is that whatever institutions and professionals and government departments may learn from Chile and Peru, individuals will inevitably make their own decisions based on their own local circumstances. And due to limited economic progress for a decade (both in total and in distribution of wealth) those circumstances are too often dire.

We’ve learnt enough about behavioural finance and hyperbolic discounting to know that humans (you and me included) tend to undervalue the future and make short term decisions with too little regard for the long term.