Almost two in 10 (16 per cent) people did not know when they would retire, including 16 per cent of those over 55, research from Hargreaves Lansdown has found.

In total, one third of people said that they expect to retire somewhere between the ages of 66 and 70, while almost a quarter (24 per cent) said somewhere between 61 and 65, and 19 per cent thought they would retire before the age of 60.

The survey also found that just under a tenth (9 per cent) of those under in the 18-34-year-old cohort had no idea when they would retire.

Commenting on the figures, Hargreaves Lansdown head of retirement analysis, Helen Morrisey, noted that over 55s were more likely to be “in the dark” than those aged between 18 and 34 about their retirement prospects, suggesting this could be for a variety of reasons.

“Some could love what they do and have no plans to stop, others may have not yet really engaged. Others may have realised that right now, they don’t have enough and are playing catch up so want to keep their options open,” Morrisey added.

“It might also be young people having confidence in when they want it to happen – before complexities have time to come up – like affordability.”

She also said the data showed the “enormous” importance of the state pension as the foundation of people’s retirement planning, warning that very few people were not reliant on it to some extent.

“The fact that the most popular response given for when people will retire is between 66 and 70 is testament to this given that state pension age is currently 66 and is on its way up,” she said.

“The next most popular response - between age 60-65 – can be the result of some savvy saving but also a long-held perception given that state pension age was once 65."

Furthermore, she said the data showed the importance of savers checking in with their pensions and retirement planning during their working lives and that having an idea of what they want from retirement can help people estimate costs and how much they need to save.

In addition to this, Morrisey emphasised the importance of not losing track of pensions from old workplaces, arguing that these small pensions could grow into a sizable sum and make a “major” impact on how much the saver has and even potentially bring their retirement forward a couple of years.

She also suggested that once the pensions have been tracked down to consolidate them as having them in one place can give a better idea of what the saver has and can improve retirement decision making.

However, she warned that savers should be careful not to incur expensive exit fees and ensure they are not missing out on benefits such as guaranteed annuity rates.

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