One in five workers will never retire

20% of workers in the UK think they'll never be able to give up work, one of the highest percentages around.

One in five Brits thinks they will never be able to afford to stop working, a new report has revealed.

For those who live alone, either through divorce or separation, this figure increases to 36%.

The figures are substantially higher for people living in the UK compared to other countries, according to the HSBC The Future of Retirement report.

Not prepared for retirement

The findings from the latest report paint a bleak picture.

The UK has the highest number of people who think they won’t ever be able to retire compared to 14 other countries covered in the report. Those in the USA are the next most likely to view retirement as impossible, with 18% never expecting to finish work.

Percentage of people who think they can never retire

Two fifths of those who are already retired said they were not prepared for a comfortable retirement. 35% said they had only realised things would be tough after they had given up work. Despite this only 2% in the UK said they would go back to work to cover a financial shortfall, compared to 44% globally.

Another difference between retires in the UK and other countries was the desire to keep on working. Those outside of the UK were more willing to start up their own businesses after retirement, with 27% wanting to follow this path compared to just 2% in the UK.

Money was the major factor for 49% of retirees who said they weren’t able to achieve the retirement they had wanted.  When asked what the best financial advice they had ever received was, 63% said: "Don’t spend what you don’t have", 56% answered: "Start saving at an early age" and 55% replied: "Buy your own home as soon as you can afford to".

The study was compiled by collecting the opinions of more than 16,000 people in 15 countries across the world and 1,050 in the UK.

Regrets in retirement

Nearly two-thirds of those asked said they had been too quick to retire, with many admitting full-time work had kept them active. Therefore it’s important to work out exactly what age you can realistically retire and get a plan in place for when you do.

More than half of those surveyed said they didn’t reduce their outgoings in retirement, despite their income dropping. The main reason for this was that they didn’t plan for things like such as later-life medical care and nursing costs.

Saving enough for your pension

As retirement can last 20 or 30 years, it’s important to start saving as soon as possible. The Government’s new workplace pension scheme is now being rolled-out, so if you’re not currently signed up you soon will be as our article Workplace pensions get off to flying start explains.

You’ll only get the maximum State Pension if you’ve worked for 30 years and made National Insurance contributions during this time. It’s possible to top these up if you fall short. To find out exactly how much you’ll need when combined with a private pension, the Hargreaves Lansdown pension calculator is a good place to start.

Tom McPhail, head of pensions research at Hargreaves Lansdown, says people should ask themselves three main questions:

• Am I saving enough?
• Is my money invested well?
• How will I draw my retirement income?

"Auto-enrolment is just the start of the solution to the pensions crisis. It it vital everyone takes personal responsibiity for their retirement savings," he adds.

Our article How to make sure you have enough money in retirement is also worth a read.

What do you think? Are you confident about your retirement? Or do you think you'll be counting the pennies? Let us know your thoughts in the comment box below.

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