Have you got a definite day pencilled in for when you “clock on” for the last time? Large numbers of us don’t… and new research shows that many of us can’t see it happening before they are 70.

The last few weeks have definitely seen the spotlight trained on how long people expect to carry on working. The new pope, Robert Prevost / Leo XIV will be assuming his new post at the age of 69 – taking over from Pope Francis, who was 88 at the time of his death. Investor Warren Buffet, meanwhile, is planning his retirement for the end of this year… at the age of 94.

Denmark, meanwhile, is proposing to raise the country’s official retirement age to 70, leading to questions about how long the UK can stick to its current timetable for state pension age rises.

Not all of us have the desire / need / ability to keep on working that late, as new research carried out by Opinium on behalf of Hargreaves Lansdown has shown. So how does that look across the UK population – and how does it compare with your plans to retire?

The new figures show that exactly half of the people interviewed were planning to retire at some point in their sixties, with 23% planning to do so at some point between the ages of 61 and 65 and a further 27% earmarking the period between 66-70.

This makes sense given that most will plan to retire at some point around their state pension age. But how about those either side of the 60-70 band?

Some 16% of people were targeting retirement before the age of 60… while a further 14% thought that might not happen until they hit their 70s. This could be because they love what they are doing and don’t think they will want to stop… or because they don’t think they’ve got enough put by to afford the retirement they have planned.

The good old “don’t knows” accounted for slightly more than one in five of those interviewed.

Taking control of your future

Quite how many of those answering the questions will need to change their minds in the years ahead is open to question: further data from HL’s Savings and Resilience Barometer shows that just 36% of households are currently on track for a “moderate” retirement income as defined by the PLSA: that’s £31,000 a year for an individual and £43,000 for a couple.

Says Helen Morrissey, head of retirement analysis, Hargreaves Lansdown: “Having a plan for what you want your retirement to look like is vital. For some it will include lots of travel, while others will want something more modest.

“Once you’ve got an idea of what you want, then you can begin to estimate how much that might cost. Using an online pension calculator will give you an idea of how much you are on track to receive. If it’s enough then that brings real comfort, if it isn’t you still have time to do something about it.

“Taking actions, such as increasing your pension contribution every time you get a pay rise or new job can be a good way of boosting how much goes into your pension. Checking in to see if your employer is willing to pay in more if you do through an employer match is another way of increasing your retirement pot without necessarily having to put much more in yourself.

“Taking actions like this on a regular basis means that whether you plan to stop work at 60 or work into your seventies and beyond you have control over that decision and can retire on your own terms.”

How can the RetireEasy LifePlan play a part in determining YOUR retirement age?

The RetireEasy LifePlan is the most sophisticated online calculator available to consumers, allowing you to feed in all of your data and then see precisely when you can afford to retire… and how much (on your current trajectory) you will be able to spend in each year of your retirement without running out of funds.

You can then run different scenarios to show the impact of a range of potential events in the future – for example, downsizing, receiving an inheritance, helping a family member, enjoying a major holiday or taking out a lifetime mortgage.

And, of course, you can keep abreast of any changes (for instance, to interest rates or inflation) by checking your plan on a regular basis.

All this for just a few pounds a month!