Young people aged 18-34 expect to retire on average at the age of 63 and eight months, whilst one in eight expect to retire by age 55, according to research from Hargreaves Lansdown.

The survey found that those aged over 55 meanwhile, expect to retire on average at 67 and 11 months, with one in five of this subset expecting to retire past 70.

Hargreaves Lansdown also highlighted that over the past three years, the age at which older people expected to retire has increased by 11 months.

More broadly, the research found that the overall average expectation was to retire at 65 and two months, compared to the current average age of retirement of 64 and 8 months.

However, one in five people stated that they have no idea when they’ll retire, including almost one in four women.

Commenting on the findings, Hargreaves Lansdown personal finance analyst, Sarah Coles, warned that despite these "high expectations" of retirement, savers may be in for a "nasty surprise".

She stated: “We see today’s retirees downing tools in their early 60s, picking up their largely defined benefit pensions, and settling in for a comfortable retirement – and we assume we can do this too – at roughly the same age.

“Unfortunately this is far from true. The vast majority of people paying into pensions today will have far less generous defined contribution pensions, which means we’ll retire on smaller, non-guaranteed incomes.

“If we retire too early, there’s a risk we could run low on funds as we go through retirement. The horrible truth about our retirement tends to sink in as we get older."

Coles warned that those under the age of 35 have hopes of early retirement that gradually recedes a "harsh reality kicks in", meaning that by the age of 55, on average we expect to retire at the age of almost 68.

She continued: “The only way to retire when we want is to take control of our pension savings while we are as young as possible.

“This means getting to grips with where we stand, using a pension calculator to understand the gap between where we are and where we need to be, and then taking steps to close the gap – whether that’s saving more, changing our investments or working later in life.”

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