One in five workers expect to work until 70 to afford retirement
Survey finds women more likely to delay retirement as financial pressures and pension gaps persist
Thursday 8th January 2026 | 📧 editor@ipropertyradio.com
Almost one in five workers in Ireland believe they will not be able to afford retirement until the age of 70, according to new research from Royal London Ireland. The findings point to persistent financial pressures facing households, alongside clear gender gaps in retirement expectations.
The annual Retirement Age Financial Feasibility Survey 2025, based on a nationwide survey of 1,000 adults, found that 18% of workers expect to keep working until 70 because retiring earlier does not appear financially realistic. For more than six in ten workers, retiring before the State pension age of 66 feels out of reach.
Half of workers expect to retire either at age 65 or at the State pension age of 66. Fewer than four in ten expect to retire earlier than this, underlining the limited scope many workers see for early retirement based on their current finances.
Despite this, the survey indicates modest signs of growing optimism. Six per cent of workers now believe they could retire by 55, double the proportion recorded in the 2024 survey. This increase is most pronounced among those aged 45 to 54, where around one in ten now see retirement by 55 as achievable, suggesting greater confidence among mid-career workers with a clearer view of their long-term finances.
The research also highlights marked differences between men and women. Almost half of men expect to retire before the age of 66, compared with just 30% of women. Women are more likely to say they will have to work until 70, at 20% compared with 16% of men.
Attitudes to retirement itself are also shifting. More than one in ten workers say they never want to fully retire, rising to almost one in five among those aged over 55. Women are again more likely to express this view, with 15% saying they never want to fully retire compared with 10% of men, reflecting concerns about financial security and smaller pension pots.
Royal London Ireland said the findings show how financial necessity, alongside changing attitudes to work later in life, is reshaping retirement expectations. The company pointed to the introduction of auto-enrolment this year as a potentially important step in addressing long-term pension adequacy, particularly for younger workers and women, by supporting more consistent pension saving earlier in people’s careers.
