A survey has revealed that middle aged people in the Generation X age group, those born between 1965 and 1980, are the least confident about their retirement savings.

Less than three in ten (28%) of this group believe they are on track to meet a savings goal that would ensure a comfortable retirement. This confidence level is significantly lower than that of younger generations such as Gen-Z (50%) and Millennials (47%), as well as the older Baby Boomer generation (37%) who sit just above Gen-X.

The study was commissioned by the Get Britain Pension Ready campaign for Annuity Ready – a lifetime annuity comparison service and part of the Legal & General Group.

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The researchers behind the study suggest that Gen-X faces a more complex retirement planning process compared to other generations. While some older individuals may have had salary-based pensions to rely on, 65% of Gen-X reported that a final salary pension scheme is no longer available to them, despite nearly half (45%) indicating it was an option when they first started working.

Furthermore, while many younger individuals will be automatically enrolled into a workplace pension early in their careers, 30% of Gen X respondents stated that the auto-enrolment workplace pension initiative was not introduced in time to significantly impact their overall pension savings.

Some 17% of Generation X members have voiced concerns over possibly never being able to retire, a OnePoll survey of 2,000 individuals in the UK during December has revealed. Beyond just a shortfall in savings, two-thirds (66%) of those within Gen-X are losing sleep over living expenses and 59% are worrying about the reliability of the state pension when considering their retirement prospects.

Sarah Lloyd, spokesperson for Get Britain Pension Ready, said: "Brits across the board are feeling the pressure, with an alarming number of people worried they might never be able to retire."

Nevertheless, there's hope as Lloyd suggests practical steps: checking your state pension forecast at gov.uk, locating any unclaimed pensions with the help of the Pension Tracing Service, and considering increasing their workplace pension contributions.