A quarter of people planning to retire this year are not ready to stop work, research indicates.
Prudential's research also found 13% of those who had been scheduled to retire have chosen to delay their plans because they do not want to give up working life just yet.
Some 54% will consider working past the state pension age in an attempt to make their retirement more financially comfortable.
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Nearly a quarter would consider working full-time while 31% would weigh up the idea of working on part-time.
Respondents said they would prefer to continue in their current job with reduced hours, with 32% of those considering working past the state pension age suggesting that option is the one that would suit them best.
Stan Russell, a retirement income expert at Prudential, said: "Increased life expectancy and improvements in general health are changing how we think about retirement.
"For many people retirement is now a gradual process rather than a watershed where you simply stop working one day and become retired the next, and that is reflected in the change in attitudes shown by our research.
"However, there is no one size fits all solution to retirement and many people will be looking forward to leaving work as soon as they can.
"Working past traditional retirement ages is not solely driven by financial pressures and the research shows growing numbers of people wanting to carry on working because they enjoy it and because it keeps them stimulated mentally and physically."