The cost of living crisis may be a significant factor in their view, according to research by Canada Life.

Many have found the cost of living crisis has pushed back their retirement plans and in some case forced people to abandon plans to retire altogether.

More than a third (34%) of people say they have changed their retirement plans due to soaring living costs. This figure includes one in four (26%) over 55s (around 2.2m people).

The research also found that one in five (19%) of those aged 55 and over still have no retirement plans at all while a further 45% say their plans are sketchy.

One in 10 (10%) Britons have never thought about planning for retirement and do not plan to do so either. Ironically, more than a third (35%) of retirees wish they had planned for their retirement more thoroughly in advance.

For those who have started thinking about their retirement, the average age is 37.

On average, men start to think about retirement a few years younger than women (35 vs 39), the survey found.

The majority of those who have started to think about retirement have not spoken to a financial adviser about their plans (71%) but among this group 49% would consider doing so.

Tom Evans, managing director of retirement, Canada Life, said: “Worryingly, our research shows that many people are adopting a ‘bury your head in the sand’ mentality."

To improve awareness of retirement planning, Canada Life is an ambassador for this year’s Pension Awareness Week which gets under way next week. Pension Awareness Week encourages people of all ages to engage with their pension planning.

Shelley Greenwood, head of investment proposition, wealth at Canada Life and Emma Napier, consulting director at NextWealth will be joining the Pension Geeks as part of their support for Pension Awareness Week. The talk will be livestreamed at 10am on Friday 15 September. They will be covering how financial advice can help with retirement planning. Viewers can tune in via https://pensionawarenessday.com/videos/how-can-financial-advice-help-me

• Research for the survey was commissioned by Canada Life and conducted by Opinium, with a nationally representative sample of 2,000 UK adults, between 22 August and 25 August.