For some, receiving an inheritance has gone from a “nice to have” to something more like a necessity – with many people now saying they think they would need an inheritance to have enough income to live on in their retirement years.

New research from Hargreaves Lansdown has shown that almost one third of people – 32% – think they will need an inheritance to have enough income to live on in retirement.

A further 24% said they were unsure while less than half – 44% – were confident they wouldn’t need one.

A growing dependence upon intergenerational reliance was also evident, with marked variations in the responses depending upon age – and younger people were more likely to think they would need an inheritance than their older couterparts. 39% of those aged 18-54 said they would be needing money passed down from family members, compared to one in five (21%) of those aged over 55.

Hargreaves Lansdown is warning that it can be challenging relying on an inheritance to fund retirement as people’s plans and wishes may change.

Said Helen Morrissey, their head of retirement analysis: “Inheriting money can go a long way towards plugging gaps in our finances: receiving a lump sum can help you pay off your mortgage, pay for travel or give you a bit of extra money in retirement.

“However, there are all kinds of challenges in relying on an inheritance.

“For a start, you may think that your elderly relative has more money than they actually do and so the inheritance you receive may not be what you were expecting. This can particularly be the case if the elderly relative needs to go into a care home which can drain people’s savings quickly.

“People’s circumstances can also change over time – and the arrival of new spouses, children and grandchildren later in life may mean priorities shift and money needs to be allocated elsewhere. Relationships can also ebb and flow and you may find bonds that were once close are weakened over the years.”

The key, she maintains, is to take control of your own retirement planning as much as possible.

“Having a good idea of the kind of lifestyle you want in retirement means you can be more targeted and plan how you are going to get there. Using online calculators will give you a sense of how much your pension will give you in retirement and this gives you the chance to put a plan in place to fill in any gaps.

“Having a robust plan in place for your retirement gives you the confidence of knowing you are on track and will make you much less reliant on any kind of inheritance to help you fund your lifestyle.”

How the RetireEasy LifePlan can help you plan your retirement… with or without an inheritance

One of the unique features of the RetireEasy LifePlan is that it allows you to run a series of scenarios to see just what difference it would make to your retirement finances if, for instance, you should receive an inheritance at some time in the future.

That way, you can also see at a glance whether your plans remain resilient if that inheritance is delayed or does not happen.

Remember: a RetireEasy LifePlan costs just a few pounds a month… and you can end it at any time.