Rather than bringing contentment, success and riches create a vicious cycle of false expectations, stress and anxiety, according to Avner Offer, professor of economic history at Oxford.

His research comes hot on the heels of a study by London investment bank Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein, which suggested that an income of £25,000 ( 35,800) a year is all we need to make us happy. Rather than chasing promotion or a pay rise, it suggests we seek "personal growth" instead of material possessions.

In his new book, The Challenge of Affluence, Offer says people have become so addicted to being successful that they forget how to enjoy the simpler things in life.

"The paradox is that success breeds affluence, which creates permanently raised expectations, " he says.

"We become acclimatised to regularly experiencing the 'wow' factor that comes with closing business deals and living the finest life. But by gorging ourselves with the fruits of our success we forget to stop and savour the taste. In the end we lose the ability to enjoy the simple life at all and live entirely in a vortex where we strive after one goal after another, where impatience and anxiety rule."

Save After years of miserable returns in which millions of euro was wiped from the value of their investments, it seems the tide has finally turned for pension savers.

The average managed fund is up 5.5% so far this year, boosted in part by a flurry of mergers and acquisitions on international stock markets. The strong performance followed a bumper 2005 when the average fund jumped 21.6%, the best performance in almost a decade.

Market minnow Oppenheim, which manages the pensions sold by EBS, has been the best place to have your money this year.

Canada Life and Bank of Ireland Asset Management turned in the worst performances, growing the average managed fund by less than 5%.

The strong performance has not masked the pain of the stock market crash of 2000 to 2003. It dragged down the average fund performance to a lowly 5% a year in the last five years.

According to Fiona Daly, managing director of Rubicon Investment Consulting, which compiled the performance statistics, pension savers should concentrate on longer-term returns, adding that returns have averaged 10% a year in the past decade.

"When considering these returns it is important to remember that the investment horizon of most pension schemes is over 25 years, and that equities have historically provided significantly higher returns in the long term than bonds, property or cash, although at the cost of greater volatility, " she said. "Equity markets have performed strongly over the first quarter, with corporate activity being a significant factor."

One to avoid AIB has crumbled in the face of competition and will offer free banking on its current accounts from the end of May. But there are so many conditions that customers would be better off switching to one of the smaller banks, which offer free banking with no strings attached.

To qualify, AIB customers must make at least one transaction online or by phone every three months as well as making payments with their Laser cards.

Bank of Ireland offers free banking with even more terms and conditions.

Customers must keep 500 in their current accounts at all times and make at least three payments by phone or online every three months.

The big two banks are dipping their toes into free banking to stem an exodus of customers to rivals Permanent TSB and Ulster Bank, which have scrapped all fees even when customers are in overdraft. Switching has become a lot easier under a new code of practice that makes the banks responsible for taking the hassle out of moving.

Donal Forde, AIB's managing director in Ireland, is betting that the current offer will be enough to keep customers on side.

"Our research has shown us that a customer's decision to choose and remain loyal to a financial institution is based on a number of factors . . . free transaction banking is just one of these, " he said.

Almost 50,000 people moved their current accounts to Permanent TSB last year, half of them from AIB, so this may be wishful thinking.