Half (47%) of UK savers see their retirement finances as controlled by forces beyond their control, according to a new report.

One in 10 savers (10%) say they feel too overwhelmed to even look at their pension, with a quarter (26%) having no idea how much they have saved, according to the report from Standard Life.

Close to half (45%) of those surveyed said the ongoing cost of living pressures have caused them stress and they are focused on day-to-day survival rather than long-term planning.

Mike Ambery, retirement savings director at Standard Life, said: “It might feel frightening to face your pension, but the real horror is ignoring it. People often tell themselves they’ll ‘deal with it later’, but that can mean storing up a fright for their future selves.”

Separate research from Fidelity earlier this week found that one in three (35%) savers over the age of 50 were facing a retirement savings shortfall of at least a decade.

By 2050, around 3.67m people are expected to reach the age of 100, however three quarters (74%) of UK savers are unprepared to live this long.

However, Britons were better prepared than some foreign counterparts, with 81% of people globally under-prepared to live to 100.

UK savers remained positive about the outlook for their retirement. Three quarters (74%) of UK retirees described their outlook as positive, compared to just 56% of pre-retirees. This compares to 68% of global retirees who described their outlook as positive.

• Opinium surveyed 2,000 UK adults on behalf of Standard Life between 12 and 15 August.