interactive investor launches Great British Retirement Survey 2026

Today, interactive investor, the UK’s leading flat-fee investment platform, launches its Great British Retirement Survey 2026 – its seventh iteration of the survey. With the pension landscape constantly evolving, the survey gives a bird’s eye view of the retirement landscape in the UK.

The survey polls almost 8,000 savers across the UK* – 5,000 nationally representative UK adults, and 2,500 interactive investor customers.

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Camilla Esmund, Head of Investor Campaigns at interactive investor, says: “Our flagship retirement report is back with the same goal – getting to the heart of what is troubling pension savers across the UK and the barriers they face. As always, we want these findings to help shape how our industry serves pension savers. At ii, we’re never complacent and remain committed to helping every investor save for their retirement with confidence. As challenges for pension savers continue to evolve, so do we at ii.

“Without urgent action, many people across the UK are at risk of significant shortfalls in retirement and being dangerously financially exposed more broadly. We can see this across generations in our research. Uncertainty dominates the years leading to retirement, with more people now working into later life. The rising state pension age is pushing up retirement ages and more people over 65 are now working than in previous years. Most retirees are living on only modest incomes, and many are unsure if their retirement savings will last the distance.

“However, we want this survey to inspire action to help encourage people to engage with their pension earlier in life, and to help inform and educate.”

Key findings

Retirement realities

• Workers are retiring later: one in five (19%) of those aged 66+ are still working, compared to 12% three years ago.
• Heavily reliant on the state pension: the state pension is the main source of retirement income for almost half (48%) of retirees.
• Younger workers plan to retire earlier, while older workers are pushing back their retirement: those under 30 expect to retire at 60, while those nearing retirement (55-65) plan to retire at 67. On average, current retirees finished work at 61. Additionally, over one quarter (26%) of Gen X have no planned retirement age – up from 19% in 2025.

Finances under strain 

• Uncertain if retirement savings will last: four in 10 (39%) are unsure if their retirement savings will last throughout retirement, mainly due to rising living costs (45%) and not having saved enough (22%).
• Rising debt in midlife: 45% of Gen X carry unsecured debt compared to 41% in 2025.
• Retirees are spending down their pension: of those taking a pension lump sum, almost one third (31%) of Gen X spent it on repaying debt and 18% spent it on daily living costs, compared with 24% and 13% respectively in 2025.

Expectation versus reality

Most people expect a fairly frugal retirement. But the reality could be an even larger shortfall than expected as workers anticipate falling £100,000 short of what they think they need to live comfortably in retirement. On average respondents expect to have just £250,000 in their pension by retirement, despite thinking they need around £350,000. Crucially, they currently have just £35,000 saved on average.

Retirement expectations by generation:

Gender wealth gaps and divorce

• The gender wealth gap persists:
  • The average level of cash savings is £7,500 for women, and £17,500 for men.
  • Almost three quarters (73%) of women aren’t confident their savings will last through retirement, versus 58% of men.
  • Over one third (37%) of women are living on a personal income of below £15,000 in retirement, compared to 18% of men.
  • 29% of retired women say they know nothing about pensions, compared with 16% of retired men.
• A £130,000 shortfall in retirement: the average DC pension pot is £45,000 for women and £175,000 for men.
• Divorcees expect lower pension wealth: divorcees expect pension wealth of £75,000 in retirement, compared to £150,000 for single people, and £350,000 for married people.
• Pensions are left out of divorce discussions: only one quarter (25%) of divorcees discussed pensions as part of their divorce proceedings.

Inheritance tax changes

• Savers are still largely unprepared for 2027’s change to bring pensions into IHT calculations: only 28% consider pensions as part of their estate planning – though this is up from 25% last year. However, interactive investor customers seem to have a greater awareness, as four in 10 (39%) consider pensions as a part of their estate planning.

The rise of AI for financial advice

• More than one quarter (26%) use AI to help with financial decisions, rising to 45% among Gen Z.
• Savers are asking complex questions: common topics people use AI to help with are investing decisions (37%), accessing a pension (25%), taking their tax-free lump sum (24%), pension consolidation (20%), and inheritance tax (19%).
• Savers are following advice without checking: of those getting advice, seven in 10 (71%) followed the advice given by AI.
  • Over one third (36%) checked with other online sources first.
  • Almost one quarter (23%) checked with family or friends.
  • 9% didn’t check with any other sources at all.
  • Only 17% checked with a qualified financial adviser.

You can visit the full Great British Retirement Survey 2026 here.