Four in ten people do not do any Financial Planning before stepping back from work with one in ten men and almost one in five women (17%) saying they had no time to plan, according to a new report from retirement firm Just Group.

Although State Pension income is the biggest source of income for around half of retired households, a similar number of people fail to check their State Pension forecast before stepping back from work, according to the research.

Among those who did check, 14% said their forecast was less than they had expected with about half of them saying that it was £500 per year less than they had anticipated.

Around a quarter (24%) of those who said their State Pension forecast was not what they were expecting, a third said it was between £250 and £500 less, a quarter it was more than £500 less, a third it was £250-£500 more, and for one in ten it was £500 more.

Once receiving their State Pension, 85% said it was what their forecast had led them to expect.

Stephen Lowe, group communications director at Just Group, said these shocks are earlier to deal with where people have considered their Financial Planning for retirement from their early 50s at the latest.

He said: “Ideally, people should know exactly what their income is going to be before making the decision to retire because that’s the only way to ensure giving up work is affordable.”