A third (33%) of retirees have said they don’t have enough money for a comfortable retirement, Rathbones has found.

The investment manager’s research comes ahead of the Budget, which will be announced on Wednesday (30 October).

Rathbones said that "inevitably", it is the less well-off who are more likely to believe they do not have enough income, with 49% of those who estimate their total wealth is less than £100,000 saying they cannot afford a comfortable retirement.

However, the study of 1,034 adults which included 246 retired people, also revealed that 15% who said their wealth is over £1m do not have enough money for a comfortable retirement.

On average, Rathbones found that those in retirement believe they need another £700 a month to live a comfortable life, but over a quarter (28%) questioned estimate they need upwards of £1,000 extra a month.

Furthermore, the study revealed that 20% of retired people have taken action to supplement their retirement income ranging from relying on credit to selling valuables.

A further 9% of retired people said they have run up debts on credit cards to boost spending while 8% have sold valuables.

Senior financial planning director at Rathbones Group, Faye Church, said: "Struggling to meet personal financial retirement goals is a major concern for many and sadly a reality for a substantial amount of people. They will be looking ahead to the Budget and worrying about any potential measures which may affect their standard of living.

"A major issue for many has been that while you can plan for the effects of inflation in retirement, price rises have been higher than expected in recent months and along with frozen tax thresholds and allowances, it is hard to readjust budgets for retired people who are no longer accumulating wealth and have finite resources."

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