The Association of Christian Financial Advisers (ACFA) is calling for greater tax relief on savings after a survey by HSBC found that one in five people in Britain do not think they can afford to retire.

The global Future of Retirement Survey questioned more than 16,000 people in 15 countries. It concluded that the UK has entered "the age of the unretired", with 19% believing they will not have sufficient income from their savings and pension to stop working.

According to the survey, fewer than 40 per cent of Britons are adequately prepared for the comfortable retirement they hope for, and upwards of one in three will only come to terms with the size of their savings shortfall once they give up work.

The ACFA said it was time for Britain to "get real about retirement" and shift from a nation of spenders to savers.

While many people look forward to spending more time with family and travelling after their retirement, ACFA spokesman Aidan Vaughan suggested people were not being realistic about how much they would have left to spend at the end of their working lives.

Mr Vaughan said he wanted to see a new type of regular saving ISA with tax relief set at around 10 per cent to encourage people to set more aside for their futures.

"The hard fact is that there is too much reliance on meagre state pensions to provide the levels of income people have come to expect and hope for," he said

"It's time for us to 'get real' about our retirement needs and get our heads out from under the bedclothes.

"To address the worrying pensions gap, we need good planning and a healthy dose of realism. And the government must act now to change our culture of spending on the wants of today to one of saving for the growing needs of tomorrow."