The origin of savings connected with human life was not a particularly happy one in France. A certain Neapolitan named Lorenzo Tonti submitted to Mazarin, the Finance Minister of ‘Sun King’ Louis XIV, a savings plan, the profits from which would help to replenish the sadly depleted royal coffers of this grandiose monarch. The plan was called a ‘Tontine’ after its originator and provided for a lump sum to be divided amongst the survivors of those who had contributed after a period of say 10 to 15 years. The ‘sales psychology’ was good as the individual is normally of the opinion that he will outlive his contemporaries. Unfortunately the results were disastrous as Parliament refused to ratify the royal edict of 1653 and Mr Tonti was clapped in the Bastille.