The future of retirement around the world is revealed in a new report that suggests that for many people, traditional retirement is a thing of the past. Eighty per cent want to scrap mandatory retirement while just 14 per cent equate financial independence with old age.

Entitled The Future of Retirement, the study from HSBC examines attitudes in the UK, Brazil, Canada, mainland China and Hong Kong, France, India, Japan, Mexico and the USA - countries and territories which contain over half of the world’s people and combine to give a representative sample of the global population.

Sir John Bond, group chairman of HSBC Holdings plc, said: "The ageing of the ‘baby boomer’ generation, declining fertility rates and increasing lifespans are combining to create new and complex demographic pressures across the globe."

"The resulting changes will in many cases be very positive but they also create real challenges, not least with regard to the funding of retirement. Even in Canada, the nation our research found to be the best prepared for retirement, just 24 per cent now equate later life with financial independence."

However, the study found that the people of the world are already creating their own solutions. For example, it found that three in every four people said that working would be part of an ideal later life, while there is a growing acceptance that we will retire later to ease the burden on pensions and taxation.

But people are not simply expecting to work longer, now they want to mix work and leisure, learning and rest.

In six of the 10 societies surveyed, alternating work and leisure was seen by the majority as the ideal ‘later lifestyle’ - already a major shift away from the notion that later life is dominated by a passive retirement. Even in India and the UK, the most sceptical about flexible work arrangements, more than 25% want to take on some work in their later years.

Just as the research shows a willingness to reject traditional models of retirement, so it is apparent that what people want is greater choice in when and how they retire.

Just 17 per cent felt employers should have a mandatory retirement age while 80 per cent felt that people should go on working as long as they are able, if they wish to. Only 29 per cent thought avoiding stress was important to a happy later life.

Less than a quarter (21 per cent) said that never working for pay again would form part of their ideal retirement.

The median age of the global population will increase dramatically by 2040, straining the funding of retirement. But given the choice between increasing taxes, reducing pensions or raising the retirement age to ease this burden, 45 per cent chose the latter, emphasising the desire of many to make their own decisions. Just 26 per cent said they would accept higher taxes. Only 15 per cent opted to reduce pension benefits.

However, while the research uncovered a growing desire to redefine how we traditionally think about later life, it also found that people in many countries are unsure of where to go to find appropriate advice. Almost two-thirds (63 per cent) of those surveyed said they had begun to prepare for retirement but most of this was restricted to reading up on the subject and discussion with family and friends.

"This new way of thinking highlighted by the research should change the way governments, companies and financial institutions deal with ageing and retirement," said Dr Ken Dychtwald, president of Age Wave, the US-based consultancy practice which managed the research for HSBC.

"Instead of adhering to the traditional model where individuals go to school, spend many years working and then retire we need to think about a truly blended life plan where people can cycle through periods of work, leisure and education," he said.