Research from Baring Asset Management reveals that, on average, UK savers expect to be retired by the time they are 62.

However, the research found that, of those adults yet to retire, just over nine million (24 per cent) have made no pension provision at all, highlighting the fact that millions of Britons are failing to plan seriously for their retirement.

The target age for retirement is particularly low among younger age groups, with those aged 18 to 34 expecting to be able to retire at 61. This is despite Government recommendations that the age of retirement for UK adults was set to increase to 66 by 2024, 67 by 2034 and 68 by 2044.

An incredible 46 per cent of people planning to retire before they reach 50 years of age do not even have a pension. 21 per cent of people expect to be able to retire before 50 with a Defined Contribution (DC) scheme, and 17 per cent expect to be able to retire on a Defined Benefit (DB) final-salary related scheme.

Baring's Head of European Sales, Rob Lay, says, ‘People are increasingly expected to live longer, which is a major issue facing our society. At the same time, the way adults plan for retirement is changing – we can’t rely on DB schemes or a state pension any longer. It is absolutely vital for people to start considering how best to build their pension fund from the day they start working. Unless they make the correct provisions now, that target age for retirement will slip further and further away.’

However, nearly six million expect to have to work much longer and do not plan to retire until 65 or later. The number of people planning on working until they are at least 75 is just 371,385.

Lay is urging people to plan more carefully for their retirement: “People have to start taking a more proactive approach to planning for their retirement. Relying on a DB scheme is no longer an option for many UK adults and relying on your property as a pension is a very risky strategy to take. These figures reveal a worrying trend of UK adults assuming that they will be in a position to retire without having made the necessary arrangements for funding that retirement.