Retirement postponed by 22% of people

Some 22 per cent of people surveyed for Prudential who were scheduled to retire in 2016 have postponed their plans as they cannot afford to give up their job.

Around three in 10 (29 per cent) of those planning to retire this year said they do not believe that their pensions and other savings will give them enough income to support a comfortable life in retirement.

On average, this year’s retirees expect to be drawing their pension for more than 20 years.

The findings also showed that more than half (51 per cent) of those who currently plan to retire in 2016 are either already working past their respective state pension age or would consider doing so when they reach that landmark.

This continues a trend seen for the previous three years, in which more than half of people approaching retirement would consider working past their state pension age.

Of those working or considering working beyond their state pension age in this year’s survey, 29 per cent would change employers to do so. More than a quarter (27 per cent) would stay in their current job but reduce their working hours, while one in 10 (11 per cent) would stay on full-time in the same job.

Many people had non-financial reasons for considering working past their state pension age. More than half of those already working or considering working past state pension age said they wanted to keep their mind and body active.

One in three (34 per cent) said they did not feel ready to retire and 41 per cent enjoyed their work too much to give it up.