As many as 1.5 million workers aged over 50 could delay their retirement as a direct result of the Covid-19 pandemic, according to Legal & General (L&G) Retail Retirement.

Its research found that 15 per cent of over-50s planned to delay their retirement by an average of three years due to the impact of the virus, while 26 per cent planned to keep working on a full- or part-time basis indefinitely.

One in 10 respondents said that they could delay their retirement plans by more than five years.

Of the 26 per cent of workers aged over 50 that have been furloughed or had a pay decrease as a result of Covid-19, 19 per cent said they would delay their retirement and 38 per cent expected to work indefinitely.

“The financial impact of the Covid-19 pandemic seems to be particularly pronounced for people aged over 50 who are still in work,” commented L&G Retail Retirement CEO, Chris Knight.

“While some people will choose to work for longer, or indefinitely, the key consideration when it comes to this research is that it seems this decision has been driven by the financial impact of the pandemic, rather than personal choice.

“We know this is a key stage in people’s retirement planning so seeing a material impact on your household income will naturally lead to pessimism about achieving your retirement goals.

“While it would be naïve to say that these financial issues will not have an impact on people’s ability to retire, it’s important for people to have a strong understanding of the options available to them before concluding that their retirement needs to be delayed or forgotten indefinitely.”

L&G Retail Retirement urged savers to develop a strong understanding on their total savings, consider the role that different types of products might place and to check what they are entitled to when managing their retirement planning during the pandemic.

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