RESEARCH has showed that nearly half of Britons expect to be able to fund their current lifestyle during retirement but one in three is failing to save any money into a pension.

Despite people claiming that 24 is the ideal age at which to start saving towards retirement, 48 per cent of people under 34 are failing to save, according to the Department for Work and Pensions.

Things improve only slightly as people get older, with 40 per cent of people under 44 still not saving and more than a third of people aged up to 54 not paying into a pension.

But 55 per cent of people still expect to be able to afford to go on holiday abroad once a year when they retire, while 54 per cent expect to have meals out or visit the cinema or theatre once a week.

Six out of 10 people think they will still be able to afford to run their car, 55 per cent expect to be able to treat their grandchildren and 54 per cent think they will be able to buy new clothes when they want to despite their lack of pension savings.

People also think they will still be able to afford satellite television, gym membership and to carry out home improvements.

Young people are most likely to expect to be able to continue funding their current lifestyle during retirement, with 61 per cent of the under 24s expecting to be able to do so.

Paul Banfield, of Best Advice Financial Planning, said: "This survey shows young people have the greatest expectations of later life, hoping to still afford their gym membership, satellite TV and foreign holidays as standard.

"But this doesn't come cheap and young people will miss the boat if they don't start saving as soon as they start work.

"This is a wake up call - pensions are a young person's issue.

"Leave it too late and they will pay the consequences for many years to come."