Nearly a third (31 per cent) of 58-75 year olds want to work beyond the state pension age of 66, a Dunstan Thomas report has revealed.

Of those still working, 71 per cent plan to continue to do so beyond state pension age, a 15 per cent increase since Dunstan Thomas' previous survey in 2017.

The 2022 report found that of those working, 24 per cent wanted to stay, or were already remaining, in paid full-time work and 47 per cent in paid part-time roles beyond age 66.

According to the Exploring Baby Boomers’ Lengthening Journey to Retirement report, the average length of time the working Boomers surveyed wished to continue working beyond state pension age was 4.3 years, bringing their expected retirement to 70.3 years old.

The survey of 1,272 58-75 year olds found 44 per cent of them to still be in work, down from 59 per cent in Dunstan Thomas’ 2017 report. However, the 2022 report stated that some Boomers were being “pushed out of full-time work earlier than they wish to”, as the average actual retirement age of Boomers in the study is 63.4 years old.

Retirement numbers may have been boosted by the uncertainties of the pandemic, Dunstan Thomas suggested. Just over one in every 10 (12 per cent) of Boomers surveyed reported that the pandemic had influenced their decision-making on the timing of retirement.

A quarter of those surveyed (24.5 per cent) had retired or planned to retire at some point between 66 and 68 years and a further 17 per cent estimated they would retire or had retired at a spread of ages from 69 upwards.

A third of this late retiring group (4 per cent of all respondents) never planned to stop full-time work.

The survey also found that the annual pre-tax household income amongst all UK Boomers that were still working in early 2022 was £44,711, dropping by a third to £30,259 for fully retired Boomers.

The survey found that 48 per cent of respondents had DB schemes and 19 per cent had occupational DC schemes.

According to the report, Boomers with DC pension schemes expect to get an average of 37 per cent of total retirement income from them and those with DB schemes expect to receive 50 per cent of their total retirement income from them. Respondents expected to receive 57 per cent of their total retirement income from all pensions, including the state pension.

A quarter of Boomers plan to or have already used regulated financial advice to gain more knowledge about pensions before they fully retire, the report discovered, and a further 15 per cent plan to use, or have already used, guidance services from the likes of Citizens Advice Bureau, MoneyHelper and Pension Wise services.

Six per cent stated that they use digital services including ‘live chat and other PC-based communications techniques such as online planning tools and platforms’ and just under 15 per cent derive their pensions knowledge from reading the personal finance pages of the national newspapers.

However, 40 per cent of Boomers aged 58 or over (with DC pensions) did not remember receiving a Wake Up Pack and a further 30 per cent confirmed that they had ‘not received the pack from their provider’. Of the 30 per cent that did remember receiving it, the average age of receipt was 60.5 years.

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