Research from Alliance Trust Savings reveals that the closer people get to retirement, the more they fear the impact of potential inflation movements on their retirement provision.

Alliance Trust’s annual Retirement Confidence Index shows that inflation movements are the biggest retirement worry for people nearing life after work, while the very same factor is listed as low as tenth place for people at the beginning of their working career.

The index reveals that for working people in their 60s, the top three threats to having a comfortable retirement are inflation movements (28%), followed by falling ill and not being able to work (24%) and a stockmarket crash (21%).

However, only 16% of 50-somethings worry about the impact of inflation movements and their top three worries instead are falling ill and not being able to work (28%), not saving enough for retirement (25%) and losing their job (21%). This compares to 33% of 40-49 year-olds who state job loss is their main retirement concern, followed by not saving enough for retirement (32%) and falling ill and not being able to work (30%).

Hyman Wolanski, head of pensions at Alliance Trust, said: “It is only natural for people nearing retirement to worry more about the impact of inflation than younger generations.

“The important thing to realise is that there are many different pension investment products on the market that can help savers to protect their pension savings from the ravages of inflation. Pension planning is an ongoing process, and it is vital people take their changing circumstances throughout their life into consideration when choosing the right pension arrangement for them.”