Almost three million UK adults over 45 years old have been forced to delay their retirement due to the recession, a financial emergency, or as a way of building up a bigger pension pot, says Prudential.

New research by the group shows that nine per cent of people have put retirement on hold because of financial emergencies and the recession's effects, and seven per cent are choosing to boost their pension pots.

Of those who have delayed their plans, 24 per cent fear they will never afford to completely retire because the economic slowdown or their financial emergency has had a devastating effect on their retirement savings, says Prudential's Class of 2010 study.

When it comes to timings, the recession has forced 17 per cent of people to delay retirement by at least five years, and a further 51 per cent believe they will be pushing it back by between 12 months and five years.

Martyn Bogira, defined contributions solutions director, said: "It is imperative for people to realise what is at stake before they come to retire. Do you really want to work an extra five years beyond the date you could retire? It's one thing to want to continue to work, but quite another to be forced to as a result of not having saved enough money to be able to retire.

"Anyone earning an income should try to begin putting money into a pension, or other savings product, as soon as possible as the cost of delay is potentially a delay in when you can retire."

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