The survey asked pre-retirees over 60 years old about how well they understood the pension changes announced in George Osborne’s 2014 Budget and more than half of female respondents said that they would seek professional advice when the time came to sort through retirement options. Just 36 per cent of women were confident in their understanding of the new rules.

Conversely half of all men surveyed were confident they understood the changes and only 37 per cent said they would seek advice.

Alan Higham, retirement director at Fidelity Worldwide Investment, said: “While women are lacking in confidence about their understanding of new pension rules, this isn’t necessarily a bad thing. As we can see from the research, women are more likely than men to be honest with themselves about their financial future and admit that they need the help of an expert.”

Women are also more likely to worry about whether they have enough saved for a comfortable retirement. While two-thirds of men were confident in their ability to draw a decent income in retirement, 58 per cent of women worry that they will not.

Their fears may be well-founded. Close to half of men had £30,000 or more saved compared to just 20 per cent of women. Some 40per cent of women did not know how much they had saved.

Maike Currie, associated investment director at Fidelity Personal Investing, said: “It is increasingly important for women to have financial plans in their own right and make sure they are prepared for retirement. If you are raising children and managing the home it is unlikely your existing pension benefits will be vast and, given the issue of rising life expectancy, it is even more crucial to make sure you have enough towards your retirement.”

According to Office for National Statistics figures 37 per cent of women between the ages of 55 and 64 have no private pension wealth at all, double the number of men.

Currie continued: “A good starting point for women to ensure some financial independence in retirement is to remember that even if you are not working, you can still contribute to £2,880 a year into a pension and receive a £720 tax relief top-up from the government.”