According to the research 41% of workers felt daunted about taking retirement with 26% expressing concern they would not have enough money to retire.
Despite the majority of public sector workers stating they were members of their relevant public sector pension scheme, 15% of respondents admitted they had never saved towards retirement.
The most likely to have never saved were civil servants (19%), whereas the most likely to have saved were teachers (10%).
However, teachers were most likely to consider returning to work with 50% saying they would consider returning to work part time.
Other means of sustaining retirement income included changing their expectations (20%), living frugally (19%) and earning money from hobbies (7%).
When asked about the future 81% of participants said they felt future generations would be worse off in retirement. Three quarters (74%) said they believed government and employer pension contributions would reduce within ten years.
Teachers Assurance head of brand Abby Bowman said: “All of the 508 respondents we spoke to were either retired or within five years of retiring, and so it is worrying to see that so many were worried about the financial aspects of retirement, and concerned that they would not receive a sufficient retirement income.”
She continued: “39% of the public sector workers who were worried about not having enough money for retirement stated they would either live frugally or have to change their expectations as a result of their lack of preparation. This demonstrates that through failing to prepare for retirement early, workers are running the risk of having to compromise the lifestyle they want.”
