A survey by Legal & General and financial adviser search website, unbiased.co.uk, found 12% spend less than an hour arranging their retirement income for potentially the next 25 years or longer but 22% spend a year or more researching their travel plans.

A third of  the 1,005 UK retired adults aged over 55 polled spent less than a week planning their retirement income, while a half spent three months or less. Only 16% spent a year or more planning.

Almost one in seven said they had arranged their retirement income with their employer and trusted they had spent enough time looking at the options.

One in ten, however, said they used a financial adviser and were confident in the income they receive.

Overall, the report found that only 38% of over 55 retirees said they were happy with their retirement income, while almost a third (30%) said they were dissatisfied with the amount.

Tim Gosden from Legal & General said: “While retirement is a great time to enjoy the dreams we’ve thought about during our working days, the amount of time spent planning those dreams, versus the time spent considering our retirement income options, which will ultimately fund those retirement dreams, appears worryingly inadequate.

“Many of us will now live into our nineties and beyond and so taking less than 3 months, let alone less than an hour is unlikely to be long enough to plan ahead. Investing in time, which includes researching options, seeking financial advice and shopping around the market for the best deal can pay real dividends, particularly if it results in a lifetime of extra income.”