Many people are failing to prioritise retirement planning until age 55, according to a new report which paints a worrying picture of late or poor preparation.

Planning for a “comfortable” retirement tops the country’s to do list over the next six months but the peak age for taking retirement advice is not until age 55.

Wealth manager St James’s Place surveyed nearly 12,000 individuals about their advice plans and says many are leaving retirement planning far too late.

The top three advice priorities in the UK over the next six months were retirement planning advice, general investment and savings advice, and better budgeting.

The study found a generational divide with younger people, stretched by recent cost of living rises, pushing retirement planning “down the line.”

Only one in ten (12%) Gen Z and two in five Millennials cite retirement planning as an advice priority in the next six months.

The findings are contained in the fifth chapter of SJP’s Real Life Advice Report which is being launched today.

The report looks at where the nation is likely to look for financial advice in the future and people’s advice priorities for the next six months.

The study found that 1 in 5 people (19%) would find retirement planning advice the most beneficial in the next six months, ahead of general investment and savings advice (17%) and budgeting (14%).

Other priorities include:

• Wills planning – 13%
• Putting an overall financial plan in place – 11%
• Keeping my financial plan on track– 11%
• Getting a better mortgage deal – 10%
• Inheritance & estate planning – 10%

SJP’s says its own analysis makes clear the dangers of putting off retirement planning. It found that if a 30-year-old made a gross investment of £5,000 each year into a pension scheme, they would have a projected fund of £268,000 at 60. However, just a five-year delay would result in a £67,000 reduction to that retirement fund, and a fifteen-year delay, starting contributions at age 45, would reduce it by £169,000:

Calculations assume an average annual investment growth before charges of 4.60% each year and investment charges of 1.96% each year. Contributions are invested on the same day each year in a pension and are shown before charges are taken into account. Source: SJP Real Life Advice Report.

SJP’s study also highlighted the growing importance of Financial Planning due to the demise of Defined Benefit pension schemes and challenges of home ownership mean future generations face very different challenges to predecessors.

Claire Trott, divisional director of retirement and holistic planning at SJP, said: “Whilst it is perhaps unsurprising that advice on budgeting better, investments and savings, and managing debt is more pressing at a younger age, now that individuals have more responsibility for their retirement finances, it’s more important than ever to start planning early.”