74% of advisers believe Brits are not tackling their long term financial planning early enough, ranking it as the biggest threat to financial security in retirement, according to Aegon’s new Adviser Attitudes Report.

The report, which tracks attitudes and concerns of the UK financial adviser market, reveals that with t78% of advisers’ clients aged over 45, they are looking to engage clients earlier to break the cycle.

11% of advisers are already looking to close the advice gap and target younger people so that they understand the benefits of investing early. However, 33% of advisers say that they find it a real challenge to reach this younger group.

A factor making the challenge increasingly difficult is the current economic environment and rising inflation. Recent Aegon research revealed that 62% of those aged 18 to 30 reported rising prices have left them with less money at the end of the month than they had six months ago, and they are also far more likely than other age brackets to be diverting money away from savings. 52% of those aged 18-30 have had to reduce their monthly savings to help with the increased cost of day-to-day living.

Steven Cameron, pensions director at Aegon, said: “There have been huge strides in getting more people saving for retirement with nearly eight million people now saving for retirement through auto-enrolment. This includes younger age groups and while many under the age of 45 are now saving regularly, they may be doing so without fully understanding how best to meet their long term financial goals.

“Advisers have a key role to play, providing valuable advice on a wide range of elements, including setting appropriate contribution levels and advising where to invest to meet long term aims.

“By engaging with savers early in their financial journey, advisers can put them on the right track. Advice needs differ with life stage so it’s important to offer relevant and timely insights and support, with technology offering new opportunities. Advisers also believe ‘streamlined advice’, which focusses on a particular need, has a role to play in attracting a younger client base, with nearly seven out of ten (68%) of advisers considering it a useful way of attracting younger clients. Advisers also see streamlined advice as appropriate for helping auto-enrolled clients make fund choices within their employer’s scheme.”