Over half of people think they’ll have to work beyond retirement age

The gap between when people want to retire and the amount of pension savings they have has worsened finds a new report.

Most Brits would like to retire by the age of 62, however, 54% think they’ll need to work longer than they would like, on average by seven years.

As many as 27% said they don’t believe they’ll be able to retire at all.

The Scottish Widows’ 20^th annual Retirement Report found that the percentage of people not on track for even a minimum retirement lifestyle has worsened, from 35% to 38% since 2023 (equating to an extra 1.2m people).

Pete Glancy, Head of Pensions Policy at Scottish Widows, said, “The growing gap in retirement outcomes and people’s quality of later life, between those who are currently retired and those who will retire in the future, is of great concern.

“However, people are starting to think about how their private pension pot might interact with their State Pension Entitlement to plan their retirement.

“But, there is still a real reliance on the State Pension, and while some will be able to use their private pension pot to give them the flexibility they are looking for in terms of retirement age, it’s only starting to dawn on others that they may end up working for much longer.

“It is likely to be a long time before Britain has been saving enough to give future pensioners the outcomes they hope for. In the meantime, helping people to make the very most of what they have is going to be critical.

“It’s the right moment for the new government to take a holistic view on people’s financial resilience throughout life, paying particular attention to those whose retirement outcomes are predicted to be much lower.

“At present, only the wealthiest tend to rely on professional support from a qualified financial adviser. As an industry, we need to find a way to give people better support in making good financial decisions at a price more savers are willing and able to pay.”

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