Almost one in five workers (18%) in Ireland say they will not be able to afford retirement until age 70, according to a new survey.
The annual Retirement Age Financial Feasibility Survey from Royal London Ireland also found that for more than six in ten (62%), retiring before the State Pension age of 66, "feels out of reach".
However, the study of 1,000 adults nationwide said while early retirement remains a distant hope for most, "optimism is rising".
It found that 6% of workers are aiming to retire by 55, which is double the 3% recorded in the same survey last year.
Other findings include one in two (52%) workers who expect to retire either at the State Pension age of 66, or just before that, at age 65.
Fewer than four in ten workers (38%) expect to retire before the State Pension age, but expectations differ sharply by gender.
Almost half of men (48%) believe they will retire before 66, compared with just 30% of women.
Close to one in five (18%) of those nearing retirement said they never want to fully retire, which is up from 13% in 2024, with 15% of the women surveyed stating that they never want to fully retire, compared with 10% of men.
Mark Reilly, Pension Proposition Lead with Royal London Ireland, said the prospect of retiring before the State Pension age of 66 "remains out of reach for most, who say it simply isn’t financially realistic".
"While half of workers expect to retire around 65 or 66, a notable one in five believe they want to or may have to keep working until the age of 70," he said.
"That’s a significant indicator of the financial pressures many households continue to face."
He said on a positive note, there are subtle signs of growing confidence.
"While the numbers are small, the proportion of people who think they could retire by 55 has doubled since the 2024 survey."
"The increase is particularly strong among those aged 45-54, where one in ten (11%) now believes they can achieve this milestone, which is almost triple the number who felt this way in the previous survey (4%)," he said.
Mr Reilly also said there has been an increase in workers considering staying active in the workforce for longer, "whether by choice or necessity".
"Regarding the introduction of auto-enrolment this year, these findings take on even greater significance," Mr Reilly said.
On the issue of auto-enrolment, he said the new system has "the potential to close some of the gaps we see today - particularly for younger workers and women - by ensuring more consistent pension saving earlier in people’s careers".
