A survey from Prudential shows that retirement has given a significant number of people a new lease of life. One in four said they are fitter and healthier since they stopped work and almost half of those who have retired since the height of the financial crisis said they are busier and more active than they expected.

The benefits also extend to personal relationships. More than a quarter of retirees believe they now get on better with their partner and their family since stopping work, while one in four has seen an improvement in their social life.

The figures are part of the Prudential ‘Class of….’ research, which looks into the financial plans and aspirations of people planning to retire in the year ahead. The vast majority who gave up work in the last 10 years (86%) said that it had met their expectations or they were happy with how it had panned out so far.

In spite of a trend to later life working, relatively few miss the workplace. Nearly two in five (37%) thought they would have missed work more than they have since retiring, and one in four (26%) wish they had retired earlier.

However, Prudential points out that many of the survey participants are still benefiting from generous final salary pensions, reflected in the nearly two-thirds (63%) who described their financial situation as comfortable or well off.

A recent report by Hymans Robertson said that 55% of FTSE 350 firms had already shut their final salary pension schemes, with the remainder likely to follow by 2027 as increasing costs and regulation made the schemes unsustainable.