A significant number of people over the age of 55 do not have sufficient savings to retire, a survey has found.

The Scottish Widows poll found that 26 per cent of people over that age expect to be unable to retire at the state retirement age.

And 34 per cent - around 1.5 million people - say that they simply do not have enough money in the bank to stop working at state retirement age.

Nearly half also said that the state pension allowance will not be enough to live on comfortably.

Ian Naismith, head of pensions market development at Scottish Widows, says the over-55s can be divided into the "haves and have-nots".

The former have "good employer pensions, often based on their final salary" while the latter "are discovering that they will have to work for longer than they might have expected just to make ends meet".

Meanwhile, Northern Rock has reassured its customers that their savings are safe after chancellor Alistair Darling said the Bank of England would underwrite all its obligations.


© Adfero Ltd