Less than half of UK adults are confident they will be able to have financial freedom when they stop work.
Research by Continuum and YouGov found younger and middle aged UK adults were especially fearful about their finances compared to those over the age of 55.
According to the survey, those aged 45 to 54 were the most concerned with just 29 per cent confident they will have financial freedom in retirement.
Those aged over 55 were much more confident with 53 per cent saying they would have financial freedom.
While men were also more confident than women with 46 per cent saying they were compared to 40 per cent of women.
The research also revealed marital status had an impact on people’s confidence with 53 per cent of people married or in a civil partnership saying they were confident compared to 28 per cent of those who were single.
Martin Brown, managing partner at Continuum, said: “As the government and pensions regulators announce their latest changes to workplace pensions our survey shows that there is a lot of work to be done if Britons are to feel confident about their financial freedom in retirement.”
According to the survey, those living in London were the most likely to be feeling confident they would have financial freedom (47 per cent) while those in the North, East and Northern Ireland feeling least confident (42 per cent).
The research also revealed more of a regional disparity when it came to the biggest financial concerns for retirement.
Concerns around the costs of healthcare were more notable in Wales and Northern Ireland, with 21 per cent of respondents saying this was their main concern in comparison to just 6 per cent in Scotland.
While the most common fear shared amongst respondents was not being able to maintain their current lifestyle in retirement, with a third in all regions other than Northern Ireland sharing this fear.
This was particularly notable as 81 per cent of those surveyed said it was important to them to maintain their current lifestyle after retirement.
“Under saving for retirement remains one of the UK’s biggest challenges with many Brits failing to save enough to maintain their current or desired lifestyle.
“Whilst auto-enrolment has boosted the number of workers saving for retirement, there is still a lot of work that needs to be done if the majority of workers are to feel prepared for when they leave the workforce,” Brown added.
alina.khan@ft.com
