RETIREMENT is a milestone many look forward to - now it could be an ambition they have to strive longer to achieve.

We all appreciate the importance of saving for the future, but circumstances dictate fluctuations in our finances throughout our lives.

Putting something aside for that inevitable rainy day isn't always possible if you are struggling to make ends meet on a daily basis, but if we don't then we could be working forever.

According to research from Royal London, workers in some parts of the country face working the best part of a decade longer than others to maintain their current living standards when they retire.

The average earner who starts saving for a pension aged 22 and makes the minimum statutory contributions would need to work until the age of 77 to get the sort of "gold standard" pension enjoyed by many of their parents' generation, the research found.

This is defined as a total pension, including state pension, equating to two-thirds of that person's income before they retired, and it would include protection against inflation as well as provision for a surviving spouse.

Even to get a "silver standard" pension of around half of pre-retirement income, with inflation protection and provision for a spouse, the same worker would need to work until the age of 71, the report found.

But with wages varying across the country, those in high-income areas need to build up much more private pension to maintain their current living standards than people in lower wage areas.

According to the analysis, the average ages at which people across the regions can expect to achieve their gold standard pension age, followed by the silver standard age, in Yorkshire and Humber are 76 and 70; in Bradford, the ages are 75 and 69; in York, 76 and 71 and Harrogate 77 and 71.

David Wheeler, a retired accountant from Bradford, didn't want to work until he was 60 so he put plans in place to save for the future. He was fortunate enough to retire at 59.

But the 71-year-old says he didn't start saving up for his pension until he was 40 as he had worked for smaller firms and wasn't in a company pension scheme.

"I didn't start until I was 40 and between 40 and 60 I put money away to retire. Obviously not everybody can do that but there is more emphasis now on getting a pension when you first start work but because I worked for smaller firms I wasn't in a company pension scheme," says David.

But David says there wasn't as much emphasis on pensions when he started working. "It wasn't talked about when I was younger but now it is much more open, people can think about it earlier."

And his advice is to start doing just that: "I think it is up to people themselves - if they want to retire earlier to plan for it."

Colin Gornall, chief executive of Age UK Bradford, says he believes it is essential that people start to look at their pension statements now to see whether they will have a shortfall.

"It is going to be a challenge," he says adding that, realistically, he thinks the vast majority of people won't be in a position to save enough to give them the amount of money for them to be comfortable in later life.

Whether people will be able to work into their eighties is another debate. Colin says realistically he doesn't think people will be able to work to that age. "How many jobs will there be around? There are no jobs now."

And he worries about the impact this will have on charities such as Age UK who are already faced with funding pressures.

Former pensions minister, Steve Webb, who is now director of policy at Royal London, says: "It is great news that millions more workers are being enrolled into workplace pensions, but the amounts going in are simply not enough to give people the kind of retirement they would want for themselves, and certainly not the sort of pensions that many of those retiring now are enjoying.

"Even in lower wage areas people face working into their early seventies to get a comfortable retirement.

"In higher wage areas, the state pension makes a much smaller contribution so workers in those areas face working well into their seventies."

Even within regions, there are sharp variations in the length of time it takes for people to save for a gold standard pension.

"The best antidote to having to work well beyond normal retirement ages is to start saving early and to increase pension saving."

For more information visit ageuk.org.uk or call the pensions advice line on 0800 169 2081.