It was coincidental but very apt that the day after the Eircom annual general meeting a call was made for greater levels of financial education. Mr Joe Byrne of Coyle Hamilton insurance brokers told an Irish Association of Pension Funds seminar that there was a need for "greater education on pension matters, which might help to solve the problem of inadequate retirement savings".

One of the lessons of the Eircom saga is that many people are not ready for self-directed investing. To say that is not to look down on such people as lesser mortals. People are not required to be investment professionals to be savers, just as they are not required to be tax experts to pay taxes, top musicians to appreciate music, writers to appreciate literature or engineers to drive a car.

But there is something awry, all the same, when so many expectations and assumptions about investing in shares were seen to have been wrongly set, and therefore almost inevitably disappointed. I am not saying that all disappointed investors were naive. Disappointment at the performance of a share does not, of itself, indicate that the investor was badly educated about investing in general or particular shares. Even the most savvy investors and managements get unpleasant surprises.

But professional investors expect the unexpected and the unpleasant, occasionally. It is factored in. Somewhere between analytical, professional investors and the unfortunate naive punter lies a medium ground of reasonably well-informed investors who know something about saving and investments. The very least that they should know is how not to leave themselves exposed financially. Tragically, many people at Eircom's a.g.m. seem to have learned the hard way.

People should also know enough not to end up frustrated about their small degree of influence over management. I would include in financial education some knowledge about the workings of voting rights, the role of institutional investors and the balancing of different shareholders' rights.

Despite its populist appeal, it is not in the interests of small investors to raise the possibility that voting rights will, by law, be weighted specially towards them any time soon, if ever. The less people are deluded, the better.

Leaving aside Eircom, the broad trend is towards greater private savings and investment. This will necessarily involve a considerable flow of private investment into Irish and international shares. It will not be confined to saving for retirement, because both our demographic profile and our growth rate give plenty of impetus to the accumulation of savings.

Saving for retirement was the grounds for the comments by Mr Byrne. It is not just financial institutions in the business of providing financial products that call for higher awareness about savings and investments. The Pensions Board has tried to raise pensions savings awareness. The Director of Consumer Affairs and the Central Bank are increasingly giving attention to savings issues and investor protection.

Institutions cannot do everything. A key part of consumer protection is the consumer's own awareness and vigilance. The question remains as to how to achieve a higher level of financial education among a population set to save and invest more. One can argue that the task begins in school - and that is not a bad thing either, as children pick up rules of any "game" very quickly. Financial services providers have a role in being more customer-centric. The Government and regulators can highlight the issues.

As the Internet is used by more and more people, some enthusiasts assume that financial education can be achieved virtually and remotely, and that robotic programmes will be able to seek out information and provide best advice to each user. Despite the advantages of the Internet in terms of transparency and customisation, it doesn't supplant many forms of human interaction.

It will remain true that many of us will not want to progress beyond a certain level of financial and tax expertise. We are, justifiably, more interested in other things. If we are in business, many of us will not be involved in financial management and will have no desire to train up for that, even for our own sakes.

The result is that the broker or professional adviser will always have a function; at least, the broker who acts transparently in the client's interest. A function, but clearly not a free run, for many brokers will be challenged to raise their game in terms of professionalism, client-focus and fees. The demand for services from a growing pool of savers should force standards up.

One of the lessons from the last few weeks has been that some old advice will remain valid: if in doubt, get professional advice. Oliver O'Connor is contributing editor at Finance and Finance Dublin.

e-mail: ooconnor@indigo.ie