One in five (20 per cent) people aged between 40 and 60 (midlifers) have concerns about their future retirement finances that are affecting their ability to do their job, according to research by Hymans Robertson Personal Wealth (HRPW).

Its study of midlifers found that many were worried about how they were going to finance their retirement, which HRPW said underscored the need for midlife financial health checks.

Nearly half (41 per cent) of 40-60 year olds were not confident that they will achieve their retirement plans.

However, 15 per cent admitted that, rather than taking action to alleviate these concerns, they “have their head in the sand” or have no approach to planning their finances.

More than a third (35 per cent) of respondents said that worrying about their retirement finances as having a negative impact on their mental health, while 27 per cent revealed they were losing sleep due to their concerns.

Furthermore, over a fifth (22 per cent) were avoiding social situations and interactions, and 18 per cent said it was causing ‘friction’ with their partner.

HRPW managing partner, Julie Hammerton, stated the research highlighted that worrying about future finances was having a negative impact on mental health, as well as physical and social wellbeing of many workers at the ‘midlife’ stage.

“Our research shows that this really is the ‘sandwich’ generation: A quarter said they were bearing the financial responsibilities for both their children and elderly parents,” Hammerton continued.

“This is also the generation that’s been squeezed on retirement savings, as most were born too late to benefit from generous defined benefit (DB) pensions and born too early to fully benefit from auto-enrolment. A significant number of those we surveyed know they’re not on track, as 41 per cent are not confident they’ll achieve their retirement plans.

“As a society, and as employers, if we wait until someone has the lightbulb moment that they don’t have enough to live off in retirement, by then it’s often too late. We need to intervene earlier, to give people time to course correct. Ideally this should be earlier than the midlife point.

“There are different ways in which midlife financial health checks could be delivered in the workplace, ranging from interactive webinars through to one-to-one guidance and financial coaching. The key thing is having access to an expert who can not only help people prepare for the future but also reduce the impact of stress on their ability to work today.”

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