Remember that the original unstated target of the LTA was public sector workers on generous final salary pension schemes.
But it was those with perennially less secure defined contribution pension plans who were quicker to grasp what was happening.
Those in their late 40s and 50s realised that even if their pots only grew at a modest rate, it was quite likely they would be hit by the LTA ceiling.
This realisation would easily dis-incentivise people to save in a pension for retirement at the one time in their lives when they might be able to afford additional contributions. Was there ever a more counter-productive pensions policy?
The removal of the Lifetime Allowance charge this April - to stem the flow of retiring medics ASAP and reduce the immediate NHS salary bill for locums - and the abolition of the LTA from next April has been welcomed by almost everyone other than the opposition.
Obviously. Some will be encouraged to increase their pension contributions immediately while others might wait.
But do not think that the abolition of the LTA means the Treasury has agreed to underwrite an uncapped amount of associated tax relief on your contributions.
It would not be a surprise if the chancellor were later to impose a lifetime allowance on pension tax relief.
This might be mixed in alongside a policy that moves to a flat rate of 30 per cent tax relief for everyone. "Last year we made it easier for people to get back into work and now we want to reward them for staying in work with higher tax relief for the majority, as part of our levelling up agenda,” he might say.
And then there is the matter of the now apparently unfair tax-free lump sum.
By diligently saving into Conservative-inspired defined contribution pension schemes, an entire generation has forgone assured pleasures today for the uncertainty of potential pleasures when they are older.
Since then, there has been so much tinkering with pensions that some people now believe it is only a matter of time before the 25 per cent tax free lump sum is curtailed.
As this is something supported by think tanks on both the left (Rowntree Foundation) and the right (Institute for Fiscal Studies) we cannot dismiss it out of hand, even though it would break the last major long-term contract between the individual and the state.
Although it might sound like an urban myth, the tax-free pension lump sum was apparently designed for British civil servants in India who wanted to retire back home in England.
The lump sum was to provide them with the cash needed to buy a bungalow rather than rent. Funnily enough, things haven’t changed that much. There are still many people who have ear-marked their lump sum to pay off the mortgage.
