According to the BBC’s flagship current affairs programme, Panorama, individuals in the UK could pay as much as £96,000 in charges on pension contributions of £120,000.

The allegation was part of a damning look at personal pensions in the UK, which covered pension charges, mis-spelling, commissions, and churning, among other issues.

It also used real-life cases to illustrate its arguments, ranging from someone who had seen an annualised return of 3% after 21 years on their pension, to someone else who had been charged 10% in commission for advice on moving their pension pot, built up over many years, from one provider to another.

Panorama produced a couple of investment experts to talk about the effects of a 1.5% annual charge; one said this would reduce the overall fund by 38% over time, a figure which was disputed by the Association of British Insurers, which claimed average charges were lower. Another claim was that £1bn was held in underperforming funds, with high turnovers reducing returns as fund managers traded heavily.

Watching the programme, some interesting points arise. As Panorama said, one solution to the problem of high charges on individual pensions is to place individuals in large, collective schemes which can force down charges.

This is proposed under the National Employment Savings Trust, which is now under review by the new Government. While it wants to cut spending where it can, cutting a scheme that could help individuals save more efficiently for their retirement looks like a false economy.

The more we can save for our old age on our own, the less the burden on the state will be, but then politicians are not renowned for thinking long term.

A second point is regarding fund supermarket platforms which are widely used by financial advisers and others to transact investment business.

Their business model is based around taking a chunk of fund manager fees in return for a place on the platform. If the financial regulator has its way, this may have to change from 2013, with such rebates being made public. However, the fund platforms are understood to be lobbying hard against this, claiming it will lead to higher charges.

Many individual pensions have high charges and poor performance; that has been known for a long time, although TV programmes pointing it out are helping the public.

Perhaps more interesting and more important is what is being done about it. The next few months should reveal if the latest attempts at reform will succeed or not.