Two thirds worry about money on a monthly basis and majority have negative views of retirement years.

The majority of people in the UK in or nearing retirement are afraid they will not have enough money to continue funding their lifestyle after they retire, according to a study released today by the UK’s first online service allowing them to take control of their finances, RetireEasy.co.uk.

The study1 of those aged 50-70 not only found 79% worry about their financial future, but almost two thirds of them (65%) worry about this on a monthly basis or more frequently: a fifth (21%) are preoccupied about their retirement budget on a weekly basis and one in seven (14%) worries daily.

This equates to approximately 8.2m2 people nationwide worrying each month about whether they have enough money to survive on when they should be relaxing and enjoying their life.

RetireEasy.co.uk, which is being launched today by West Sussex-based retiree Richard Collinson, his wife Naomi and Financial Advisor Mark Soper, aims to free people from this burden: it is the only comprehensive, online tool that gives those in or nearing retirement peace of mind by empowering them to plan for their financial future.

The interactive and easy-to-use service gives users a holistic view of their future income, factoring in a range of assets such as pension entitlements, investments and savings, in order to figure out how much money they have to live on in retirement. The service is independent, secure, accessible3 and can be easily updated in response to external factors, such as changes to inflation and Base Rate.

Richard, who sold his City-based commercial finance business in 2004, said: ‘We found it extremely difficult to formulate a figure that would give us clarity on how much we could spend in retirement without falling short. Once you factor in investment returns, liabilities and tax, this can be an unnecessarily complex process, which we have now provided a solution to.’

Naomi added: ‘Retirement should be a time when you relax and live life to the full. People shouldn’t be spending the best years of their life suffering from unnecessary hardship because they fear financial ruin. This service is all about empowerment and education.’

An insight into the despair felt by those nearing or in retirement is evident from the most frequent word that springs to mind when 50- to 70-year-olds think about their retirement years – ‘worry’. Over half of those polled (56%) think of negative words such as ‘poverty’ or ‘fear’, while only a third (34%) thinks of positive words.

Women in this demographic tend to worry more about retirement income than men; even though the vast majority are in a relationship, men have a wider range of assets under their name. Over a fifth of women at 23% and over a tenth of men (12%) are single and must rely on their own retirement provisions.

If their future was financially secure, the majority of people at 44% would spend more, while four out of ten would divide their extra cash between spending more and giving more to their families.

Even though people aged 55-74 in the UK are amongst the most prevalent older Internet users in Europe4, the survey found only 7% of 50- to 70-year-olds have used an online financial planning tool in the past.

Editor’s notes:

1 All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from 72 Point. The survey sample size was 1,000, with fieldwork undertaken between 14-17 September 2011. The survey was carried out online among UK adults aged 50-70.

2Office of National Statistics, 2011.

3Age UK, March 2011.

 About RetireEasy.co.uk

RetireEasy.co.uk is the only comprehensive, online tool that gives those in or nearing retirement peace of mind by empowering them to plan for their financial future.

Its online planning service, LifePlan, is a highly interactive, intuitive, flexible and easy-to-use web-based program, which is an entirely safe and secure resource. It is completely independent, does not promote products to users or accept advertising revenue.

RetireEasy.co.uk aids multi-asset financial planning by optimising capital and income, factoring in debt liabilities such as a mortgage, along with a range of assets including property, one or more private retirement plans, investment portfolio and cash.

The business was formed in May 2010 and launched in September 2011 by Richard and Naomi Collinson, and Mark Soper.