Around a third of Britons do not know how they will finance later life costs for themselves or a relative, according to new research.
NS&I's poll of 1223 UK adults also revealed almost half of Britons (48%) do not intend to seek advice regarding their later life financial planning.
Just over a fifth (21%) would approach a financial adviser to plan later life needs, while 13% would ask friends/relatives for advice. A further 9% would consult their parents for advice and 9% would consult the Citizens Advice Bureau.
NS&I retail customer director John Prout says: "With people living well into their eighties, many more of us are likely to need care in the future, and are likely to need to care for others also. Getting the right information as early as possible is vital to making sure you get the best possible care you can in later life."
However, 26.7 million adults in Britain (54%) have started thinking about future needs, while 27% of these adults have started to make financial plans, the research said.
Those who have yet to consider financial planning cite lack of time (23%), not wanting to think about the future (27%) or preferring to take a short-term view of finances (19%.) In addition 12% believe the situation will not affect them or they consider later life planning unimportant (7%.)
Meanwhile, as much as two-fifths of UK adults expect to pay for care needs of a family member. While 44% feel prepared for this, 25% of Britons say they will use pensions and benefits while (23%) would need to make financial sacrifices to fund care for others.
Society of Later Life Advisers chairman Tish Hanifan, says: "This research reflects the experience of many specialist later life advisers whose clients are primarily concerned with being able to both enjoy their retirement and continue to be able to make choices around their care needs.
"Undoubtedly the way to achieve this is to begin to factor the costs of having the kind of retirement you want into your financial planning as early as possible. An important starting point is for the consumer to have access to as much information as possible. Informed consumers are best able to make the right choices."
