Brits believe 'retirement' is dead

Almost three-quarters of Britons think traditional retirement is no longer a realistic prospect, a survey reveals.

Of 1,000 people interviewed for a BBC Newsnight poll, 70% said it will not be feasible for people to leave work and live on a pension for 30 years. A significant 72% are also worried they will not have enough income to live as they would like in retirement.

Even more (77%) believe the retirement situation will be worse for younger people, and around half think this is unfair.

Despite plans to raise the state pension age to 66, and the recent move to scrap the default retirement age by October 2011, 50% of those polled expect to have retired by the age of 66. A total of 18% expect to have retired by 75, but 8% believe they would never retire.