The number of people in full-time employment who believe they will never be able to afford to retire because of the impact of the rising cost of living is on the rise, according to new research.
Rising costs meant that 32% of 2,019 UK workers surveyed by Wealth at Work were looking to delay their retirement, up from 21% last year.
Nearly two in five (39%) of respondents worried that they would never be able to afford to stop working, up from 33% last year. Those aged 35 to 44 are the age group most likely to believe they will never be able to afford to retire, the research showed.
Jonathan Watts-Lay, director at Wealth at Work, said: “Many are concerned if they will ever be able to afford to retire or believe that they will have to delay their retirement, but the research has found that the most concerned are people aged 35 to 44.
“Most of this group will not have benefited from a full working life of automatic enrolment and are less likely to reach retirement with generous defined benefit pensions than some older generations.
“In fact, pre auto-enrolment, many in this age group may not have saved into pensions at all, therefore missing a number of years of contributions and growth on those contributions.”
Watts-Lay added that many people did not realise how significant increases to pension contributions could be, particularly for younger workers.
Wealth at Work’s study also found that 81% of people were concerned that they will be less comfortable in retirement due to a shortfall in savings, with the same proportion saying they would have to work longer to make up for the shortfall.
In addition, 41% said they did not feel supported in their workplace when it comes to getting help to understand their finances. Only 14% said they would speak to their employer for help with finances.
