Independent financial advice website Citywire Money has published the results of a survey which show that around ten per cent of people have failed to set aside anything for their retirement, with the figure rising to 12.7 per cent for 26-34 year olds.

Worryingly, 15 per cent of this age group had no idea how much they would need to save in order to obtain a £20,000 a year pension, while 11.8 per cent of 35-44 year olds revealed a similar lack of knowledge.

Gavin Lumsden, editor of Citywire Money's new website The Lolly, claimed that the results show that many people have a "blind spot" about saving for retirement.

"There is so much negative news about pensions and everything is so complex that it's easy to be put off," he said.

"But the fact is if people don't start planning and changing their expectations they're in for a real shock when they retire."

The survey also revealed that 29 per cent of respondents would like to retire aged between 61 and 64, despite the state retirement age set to rise to 66 by 2018.