More pension planning needed

The failure to plan for retirement is said to be pushing Britons into working well after retirement age, a new report has revealed.

Research carried out by Zurich shows that two thirds (64%) of Brits are currently considering working beyond their retirement age, with half of these claiming that the decision is born out of a financial need.

Crucially, however, the research noted that 74% of this group has never sought advice regarding retirement planning.

Former Conservative MP Michael Portillo said: "The combined impact of the rising cost of living, rising inflation, fears of recession and the constant media coverage of the credit crisis has created insecurity for a huge number of people approaching retirement concerned about their financial future."

However, the impact of such obstacles to retirement could have been lessened by critical retirement planning, which would have created alternative ways of dealing with such high costs, in order to protect a retiree's long term outlook.

While the low planning rates among 25 to 34 year olds is to be expected - recent figures suggest only 6% has planned for retirement - the shockingly low figure of just 31% of over-55s has created some concern over willingness to face the problem.