Research by financial planning and wealth management firm Towry shows changes to legislation affecting pensions, savings and investments is making retirement planning difficult for over half (52%) of those earning more than £30,000.

A third of respondents stated reforms had left them less confident in their retirement plans, and 31% said they were not saving as much as they could due to fears of further changes.

Worryingly, only 56% of people surveyed said they fully understood the implications of recent and ongoing pension reforms.

Two fifths (40%) said they currently do not have a long-term financial plan, with one in five admitting they ‘wouldn’t know where to start’ and a quarter saying they had ‘never considered it important’.

A further 10% of respondents who have never had a financial plan said this was due to ‘never having access to the right advice’.

Andy James, head of retirement planning at Towry, said that whilst in principle these changes are welcomed and provide savers with greater freedoms, more choice is only a good thing when it is well informed.

“What is needed now is a prolonged period of stability, to allow savers to build their understanding of how the new framework impacts them. Only then can we start to address the culture of apathy that has developed and start to re-engage the nation on the importance of financial planning,” he said.