Planning to achieve a comfortable retirement tops clients’ financial advice ‘wish lists’ over the next six months, but the peak age for it being an advice priority is not reached until the age of 55, according to research from St. James’s Place (SJP).

Its study showed that the top three advice priorities in the UK were retirement planning advice, general investment and savings advice, and better budgeting.

However, SJP found there was a “large generational divide” as cost of living and budgeting pressures resulted in younger generations pushing retirement planning down the line.

Around one in 10 (12 per cent) Gen Z respondents and 18 per cent of Millennials named retirement planning as an advice priority over the next six months, compared to 30 per cent of Gen X respondents.

Across all age groups, 19 per cent of respondents said that they would find retirement planning advice the most beneficial in the next six months, ahead of general investment and savings advice (17 per cent), and budgeting (14 per cent).

Other priorities included wills planning (13 per cent), putting an overall financial plan in place (11 per cent), and keeping their financial plan on track (11 per cent).

While SJP found that retirement planning was the top advice priority overall, it highlighted that this most often became a major focus only later in life, leaving less time to improve retirement outcomes.

Millennials ranked better budgeting as their top advice priority (22 per cent), followed by investment and savings advice (21 per cent).

For Gen Z, advice on how to budget better was the priority for 26 per cent, also followed investments and savings advice (18 per cent).

“Whilst it is perhaps unsurprising that advice on budgeting better, investments and savings, and managing debt is more pressing at a younger age, now that individuals have more responsibility for their retirement finances, it’s more important than ever to start planning early,” commented SJP divisional director of retirement and holistic planning, Claire Trott.

“The more time you have to build up your savings pot, the more time it has to compound, resulting in a larger pot when you retire. If you leave it too late, it can be difficult to make up the deficit.”

The study also highlighted the importance of planning amid the decline of defined benefit (DB) pension schemes and the challenges of home ownership, which it said would result in future generations facing “very different circumstances” to their predecessors.

SJP anticipated this to change inheritance trends in the future, with 45 per cent of people yet to retire expecting to pass down property to their families through inheritance compared to 65 per cent of current retirees.

Similarly, 60 per cent of current retirees plan to pass down cash savings, compared with only 40 per cent of future retirees who share the same intention.

“The retirement landscape is unrecognisable to what it was only 20 years ago,” Trott stated.

“Future generations of retirees are grappling with unique economic circumstances, compared with their parents and grandparents, which will impact their retirement finances. It’s therefore important that individuals do what they can to take as much personal control for their future as possible.

“Making an early commitment to retirement saving is vital, and putting money aside for the future must be seen as a necessary expense and an integral part of budgeting.”

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