Sunday Herald, The: Small change : in a financial battlezone, take heed of Dad's Army

FORGET about war in Iraq: the real dangers lie much closer to home. Deep in my bunker (a cosy little place on Glasgow's leafy south side) I spend most of my free time trying to figure out how to survive in what are times of great strife for anyone with even a passing interest in their personal finances.

You have to be very careful. First of all there's that nasty pensions timebomb (kills the old, leaves the young nervous). Then there's the investment minefield - one wrong move and your savings are blown to pieces and the remains eaten by bears. Finally there's the equity collapse - an implosion in the southeast, with the aftershock hitting the rest of the country.

With all these worries it's actually very difficult to focus. Forget the Dunkirk spirit - this is more like the Blitz. An underground shelter is perhaps the best place to be until the world becomes a safe place in which to earn and spend money.

For those poor souls who spend their weekends (when they're supposed to be relaxing) feverishly scanning through a blizzard of personal finance sections ripped from the newspapers, there is little respite. Most people will get the distinct impression that you can't possibly make the right move. Should you sell your house? Remortgage and go for a tasty fixed-rate deal? Play a game of stock-market roulette and hope the bottom doesn't fall out of the FTSE as more financial services professionals highlight their inadequacies? So many options, so little time.

You know things are volatile when a nice high-street savings account has more kudos than a handful of market-tracking Isas. Suddenly keeping things simple makes a lot of sense.

And fundamentally this is the problem with the whole financial services sector. There is just too much choice. Mis-selling of personal pensions and endowments is one thing - and a very bad thing at that - but we should actually be more concerned about over- selling. Too many products, too much hype.

Yes, we have all benefited from a better range of products and more competitive deals - but the idea that financial services companies are our friends? Don't make me laugh. Baffling you with detail and small print while simultaneously dazzling you with flashy stories about about superb returns and a life lived to the full, these Sirens don't really have to worry when you are dashed against the rocks of financial misfortune. They'll just step over your broken body and keeping on singing. That's the business they're in.

The industry is not to blame for the apathy and stupidity that affects too many people when it comes to dealing with their finances - but it spends precious little time taking it into consideration when trying to shift the latest innovative product to an overcrowded marketplace. But what can you do? Sit tight in the bunker and avoid the timebombs, minefields and implosions? Or dash out and try to win the Victoria Cross for bravery, all the while building up a savings and pensions pot to be proud of?

My advice? Be careful about whose advice you take. Now is not the time to be pressured - not by financial advisers offering best guesses, not by financial services players who claim to know of safe ports where you can escape the storm, and not even by personal finance sections full of sage advice.

If you are not one of the unfortunates close to retirement whose savings have been depleted, then relax. You're one of the lucky ones. Stay calm and consider all the options carefully. Time is on your side.

Teresa Hunter returns in two weeks