Older workers are finding themselves caught in a game of retirement roulette as many are relying on external factors such as a downsizing, an inheritance or even a lottery win to be able to afford a comfortable retirement, Aviva’s latest Real Retirement Report reveals.

A quarter of over-50s are hoping to profit from downsizing to a smaller home or moving to a cheaper area when they retire. A similar proportion are relying on receiving an inheritance to achieve a comfortable standard of living in retirement, which suggests it’s not only younger generations who count on help from family to support their financial needs. More than a fifth are depending on relatives no longer being financially dependent on them with as many as 1.9 million older workers currently have financially dependent parents or children.

According to the report more than one in ten or 1.3 million over-50s workers say they are relying on a lottery win to afford a comfortable retirement. This is despite the odds of winning the National Lottery being just one in 45 million – a sign of their pessimism about their prospects of otherwise being able to retire in comfort.

Over-50s workers say they reached or expect to reach their peak earnings at the age of 51 on average, with this period lasting for an average of 5½ years. Although a third of older workers save more during this peak earnings period, a fifth also say they would spend it on big one-off purchases, such as a new car, kitchen or extension. A similar proportion have or would spend more on everyday living and enjoying themselves. Only 12% say they have or would increase contributions to an existing workplace pension during this time, rising to just 14% among those who expect to retire within the next two years.

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