The majority of working age people worldwide have major concerns regarding retirement, with mortgage payments ranking high among pre-retirees’ concerns, a  new study finds.

Over a third (34%) of working age people doubt that they will be able to maintain a comfortable standard of living in retirement, according to the latest study by HSBC. Many are worried about running out of money (69%) and about having enough money to live on day-to-day (66%).

“A balancing act” is the 10th in HSBC’s The Future of Retirement series and represents the views of more than 16,000 people in 15 countries and territories, including the United States. The findings are based on an online poll conducted by Ipsos MORI in August and September 2014.

“Globally, working age people expect that their retirement savings and investments (excluding pensions) will run out 11 years into their retirement,” the study says. “With retirees on average fully retiring at age 60 and with an average life expectancy of 78 years, pre-retirees typically face a seven year gap when they will be solely reliant on any state, employer or personal pension provisions they may have.”

Paying off a mortgage is one of the key reasons people are not preparing adequately for a comfortable retirement, the study finds.

Almost a quarter (23%) of working age people around the world say that paying off their mortgage is preventing them from adequately preparing for retirement, with those in Singapore (41%), Malaysia (38%), Australia (35%) and the UK (30%) being the most affected. However, mortgage repayments were less of a barrier to preparing for a comfortable retirement for retirees (9%).

In addition, a third (33%) of today’s retirees say their financial situation in retirement is worse than they expected, and 34% say they should have saved more.

Access the study here.

Written by Cassandra Dowell