Some 40 per cent of UK retirees have some form of retirement regret and would have approached it differently.
Research by Canada Life found 15 per cent of retirees said they would have increased their pension savings.
While 12 per cent said they would have made lifestyle adjustments while working to save more for their later years.
Some 8 per cent said they wouldn’t have left work when they did and should have chosen to retire later.
Tom Evans, managing director at Canada Life, said: “What this research highlights is the need to have a plan and seek advice at the earliest opportunity.
"A regulated adviser will tell you if you are on track, and keep you keep your plan on track as you navigate through the myriad of choices around investing, generating a replacement income, the tax system and estate planning and inheritance.”
Previous research from Canada Life revealed that 79 per cent of over 55s retired without financial guidance or advice, instead opting for a DIY approach to managing their finances.
It also found 11 per cent of retirees did not anticipate just how much money they would need in retirement and are finding life after work more difficult than they expected.
This comes as Greg Davies, head of behavioural finance at Oxford Risk said the technology to support advisers working on retirement income has been “sorely lacking”.
Speaking at FT Adviser’s retirement strategy event last week (April 30), he said: “There are a lot of products out there but the problem you have is in the technology to support these products.
“Financial circumstances are changing as you move from accumulation to decumulation.
“There are tools to measure risk capacity and apply it to a client’s balance sheet over time but it is an area the industry has been sorely lacking up until now.”
He added, with renewed focus on vulnerability from the Financial Conduct Authority, profiling tools should be used by advisers.
