The coronavirus pandemic has forced nearly a fifth (19 per cent) of workers aged between 65 and 74 to delay their retirement, research by Close Brothers has found.

Furthermore, it revealed that 14 per cent of workers aged between 55 and 64 have also had to delay retirement due to the pandemic.

Close Brothers’ report, Expecting the unexpected: a spotlight on preparing for a crisis, analysed the extent to which the past year has altered the financial plans of UK workers.

It found that 20 per cent of over-65s did not have an accessible savings fund for an emergency, such as the Covid-19 crisis.

Although just 5 per cent of those aged 65 to 74 said that they were financially unprepared for Covid-19 and the first lockdown, this figure more than tripled to 16 per cent of 55-64 year olds.

The Covid-19 crisis appears to have persuaded some workers to improve their level of financial preparedness, with 38 per cent and 43 per cent of those aged 65-74 and 55-64 having made or planning to make changes to their financial preparedness, respectively.

Younger workers were found to be more likely to make changes prepare their finances, with 73 per cent of those aged between 18 and 34 saying they had done so or were planning to do so.

“The Covid-19 pandemic risks being a ‘sliding doors’ moment for UK employees and their employers,” said Close Brothers head of financial education, Jeanette Makings. “It has impacted financial health in a multitude of ways, with some suffering hardship, some having to postpone long held plans and others benefiting and adding to savings.
 
“At the forefront of those best able to help employees improve their financial health are their employers; they are trusted, they can reach large numbers of people via the workplace, they already offer rewards and benefits that can be used to improve financial wellbeing and both employee and  business performance will benefit from improved financial health.
 
“Understanding employees financial health as a whole, and knowing those that need most help, has to be the starting point to ensure that an inclusive, effective, and targeted financial wellbeing programme is implemented. A single channel, ‘one size fits all’ financial wellbeing approach is likely to fail many.”

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