Almost four in 10 (39 per cent) people say they are not confident they could afford to retire, research from Hargreaves Lansdown has revealed, prompting concerns over a dip in retirement confidence.

The research, which was conducted by Opinium on behalf of Hargreaves Lansdown, found that this represented an increase of 5 per cent on the previous year, when 34 per cent of those surveyed reported they were not confident they could afford to retire.

This drop in retirement confidence was attributed, by Hargreaves Lansdown, to rising costs that risk undermining peoples’ retirement planning leading to people needing to work longer and even return to work having already retired.

Hargreaves Lansdown’s research additionally found a gender disparity in retirement confidence, as 44 per cent of surveyed men stated that they were confident about retirement compared to just 26 per cent of women.

More broadly, the research found that 27 per cent of those surveyed thought it was realistic to think they wouldn’t have to worry about money in retirement and just over four in ten (41 per cent) thought having enough in savings to cover emergencies was a realistic goal.

Commenting on the findings, Hargreaves Lansdown senior pensions and retirement analyst, Helen Morrisey, stated: “The cost-of-living crisis continues to wreak havoc on our finances with people feeling less confident about their ability to retire.

“According to a recent survey, almost four in 10 people said they were not confident they could afford to retire -this compares to just over one-third just a year before.

“There’s a solid third of people who remain confident in their ability to retire over the past year -these could be people with some level of defined benefit (DB) pension or other assets that give them some degree of certainty as to their long-term income.

“The real shift has come from people who were unsure if they had enough to retire who now seem to know they definitely don’t as their costs rise and their investments took a pounding."

"Obviously, the younger you are then the more time you have to boost your pension contributions to make up any potential shortfalls, but for those coming up to retirement age the prospects look bleak.

"This is the key reason why we are seeing signs of an “unretirement”, where people who have previously retired are now looking to make a return to the workforce.

"Many believed they had enough set aside to see them through retirement, but the enormous hike in the costs of essentials such as fuel and food is making many revisit their plans. Though we expect inflation to start falling this year, it is likely to remain a squeeze on peoples’ plans for the foreseeable future.”

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