Those retiring now and in the immediate future will, for the most part, have a "fantastic" retirement, Prudential said today.

According to the financial services firm, the majority of people who will leave full-time work in the coming year will be retiring early and on a final salary scheme.

However, Ali Crossley, retirement insurance director for Prudential, commented that those who do not have the chance to become involved in a final salary scheme should begin saving for their retirement as soon as they can.

She added that this does not mean that people should put everything into a pension.

"But they should start to put some money away into individual savings accounts, into property, into a whole mixture of assets, so that when they come to retirement they have a number of different income baskets that they can call on," she concluded.

Figures from the firm suggest that the average age for men to give up work is 60, while it is 58 for women, in comparison to the respective statutory ages of 65 and 60.