Mr Tovey stopped paying into his pension when he left his career as a solicitor in 1996 aged 43, at which point he had saved £350,000. That has grown to £1.5m with investment returns. He said: “I wouldn’t say I was a particularly successful investor even.”

He estimated his pension would grow to £2.5m-£3m by the time he reached 75, in six years. At that stage, any money that he has not taken will be tested against the allowance and the tax applied immediately.

“I was blissfully ignorant until last year as I assumed the lifetime allowance referred to how much you pay in, not the end value,” he said. “When I funded my pension, none of this existed so it is a totally unexpected hit. The tax rate is scandalous.”

Savers should be encouraged to fund their own retirement, not deterred by “seriously large” tax bills if they prove good investors, he added.

David Stevens, of pension group LV, said the lifetime allowance – initially intended to catch the 5,000 wealthiest people – was becoming a concern for middle earners and young savers.

He said: “The Government should seriously consider scrapping it as it penalises good investment decisions.”

Calculations by Telegraph Money show that a basic-rate taxpayer earning just £41,200 a year throughout their career from the ages of 22 to 65, making the minimum pension contribution of 8pc plus tax relief at 20pc, would breach the lifetime allowance by age 75. This assumes annualised investment returns of 5pc.

Dan Heckles*, 37, from south London, said he was “disillusioned” with pension policy and was not sure whether to keep saving into his pension. Mr Heckles, who works in corporate banking, has already amassed £350,000 over his 16-year career. He calculated that if he stopped saving now he would still breach the limit.

“Even if the pension only achieves a 4pc return a year then I will reach it. But it has returned far more than that in recent years, about 9pc,” he said. “I could easily have a £2m pension by the time I retire so I’m starting to de-risk my portfolio. The threat of this looming has made it all the harder to plan for our future,” he said.