A survey suggests that far more people aged 50 or over talk about the need for retirement planning than actually do it.

Many people over the age of 50 have not begun financially planning for their retirement, according to a survey by Barclays Stockbrokers.

The survey finds that UK persons aged 50 or more are far more likely to talk about the need to plan their retirement than actually do anything about it.

According to a poll of 2,006 persons aged 50 or more, one in five have not started planning for retirement but 98 per cent say it is important to do so. 

“It is extremely concerning that so many people approaching their retirement have not put in place the measures necessary to ensure that they are able to look after themselves financially in their old age,” said Catherine Penney, vice president at Barclays Stockbrokers.  

While the survey did not focus on high net worth individuals, the issue of pensions and retirement planning has becoming increasingly important for the wealth management industry in the UK because of changes to pension savings rules and tax changes enacted by the current and previous governments. For example, UK finance minister George Osborne freed up holders of defined benefit pensions from certain restrictions on how they can invest their money at the age of 55, and also changed inheritance tax treatment of retirement savings. (For more on this topic, click here.) Recently, investment firm Seven Investment Management launched a “gaming”-style app to give clients more clarity on their future retirement planning needs. (See more here.)

In last week budget’s speech, Osborne made a point of focusing on retirement savings as a policy objective, although he has also been criticised for presiding over an overly-complicated tax code.

In the Barclays Stockbrokers study, 22 per cent of over 50s said they have not begun retirement planning, while 50 per cent of these respondents said this delay had been caused by their having more immediate demands on their money. 

One in five (18 per cent) of the individuals surveyed said clearing their debts and having more money would encourage them to either start saving or increase savings towards their retirement. A further 16 per cent said they would start saving or increase their retirement savings if they got a pay rise. 

“The unfortunate reality is that, with so many people facing much more immediate demands on their money, such as mortgage repayments or paying for university, it is only natural that these later life concerns can often fall by the wayside,” Penney said.

In recent years, UK policymakers have fretted about the so-called "savings gap”, relating to fears that citizens have insufficient savings for a comfortable retirement at a time when lifespans are increasing and market returns have been weak. A number of countries such as Australia and Singapore have compulsory savings regimes, while the UK does not at present do so, although it has adopted policies such as "auto-enrolment" for employees. A major trend in the UK has been the demise of final-salary, or defined benefit, pensions, particularly in the private sector.