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Rolling out the pipe and fleecy slippers is not the only thing that retirees should be considering when it comes to retirement.

With the impact of longevity, the arrival of stakeholder pensions, Sipps, the A-Day simplification process and now counting down to personal accounts, the retirement planning melting pot looks set to affect what the pension and investment sector can offer for retirees.

In March, The European Court of Justice ruled that British businesses could continue to force employees to retire at age 65 without breaking EU rules, leaving the population pondering over what this may mean for them.

With many up in arms saying they cannot afford to retire, this has had a great impact on what action should be taken in the run-up to retiring.

Philip Brown, head of retirement and care product development for Partnership, he said a two-prong attack from the regulator and the government will help steer people in the right direction.

He said: “The regulator could do more than it does around the education of individuals. It is just woefully inadequate. Plus, the government needs a coherent social policy around pensions and stop tweaking or change the rules.”

In taking into consideration the fact that people are living longer, Mr Brown also said that people need to adapt alongside this.

He said: “Longevity reinforces the need to be sure that retirees know what they are doing. It is a third and more of people’s lives. As longevity changes, people need to compensate for that.

“Going for a flat level pension is not necessarily the right thing to do for everyone, as it depends on personal circumstances, health and lifestyle.

“If money is already in a pension, they need somebody to help them with that. It is not a foregone conclusion that what you pay in is what you get back, and relying on other sources like websites will only incur risks.”

By starting early enough, regularly reviewing pension plans and keeping tabs on state pensions, Mr Brown emphasises that these are the key factors to jump start retirement planning.

Nigel Barlow, head of Retirement Income Solutions at Just Retirement, agreed and pointed out: “Retirement planning is a huge area. For those people who are far away from retirement, the most important thing is to do something as soon as they can.

“As life expectancy increases, you need to contribute more to a savings plan or pension. It really is that simple.

“The legislation and state benefits put people off, as you cannot predict what this will be in 30 to 40 years time. People need to engage in their pension and pay attention to it.

“It can make a huge difference, because you can be contributing the right amount, but if you are in the wrong assets or annuity rates have declined or are volatile, so it’s about monitoring what is going on.”

Mr Barlow added that with the impact of the recession, many people are also being more cautious.

Taking this into account, he said that this will lead to a significant decline when considering all the options available within retirement planning.

He said: “People do not seem to take interest in their pension until it is time to draw them, and by that time they are so confused with all the information they are given, it is unclear.

“The bulk of people are more cautious in this recession. It makes it more likely, especially for people with medium-sized funds, will buy annuities, and are less likely to look at alternatives.

“People have to be careful of being too cautious and being frozen by fear that they will inevitably cut back on their contributions.

“In terms of almost forcing people to contribute to a pension, with regards to the personal accounts, in principle it is a good thing. It will help, but the degree to which it will do so, is open to debate.”

Mr Barlow reiterated the central point which Partnership’s Philip Brown highlighted which is that vital interaction is need from the government to help improve engagement and encourage people's understanding of pension funds.

He said: “From the attitude we have seen, it is that all these things will be monitored, and will need to change certain aspects of how it can encourage people to plan for retirement as early as possible.”

Colin Parkin, director for Lincolnshire-based IFA Ample Financial Services, backed the sentiment but said the government is well aware of what it needs to do to enforce this.

Mr Parkin said: “The government knows it has a massive shortfall in the state scheme and will possibly be looking to move the age back, having already done that by moving females from 60 to 65.

“It cannot fund the economy, so by having the personal pensions auto-enrolment, perhaps these two schemes will be merged together.

“Something most definitely needs to be done correctly, as the big changes on A-Day that was supposed to simplify the pensions regime, but all it has done is made it more complicated.”

But Mr Parkin said it is down to those who are coming up to retirement, to consider how planning will benefit them and what they need to organise.

He said: “It is still an important part of proper financial planning and what people need to do, is to allocate a fair percentage of their wage to pension provisions.

“Many clients are unaware of options available, for example income drawdown, alternative secured pension, so there are many options available under the market and around 90 per cent of the public are not aware of them so cannot consider them.

“Because of this, somebody can be losing a huge amount of benefits over the year. The pots that people have are not really big enough because we do not put enough money in our pensions.

“People are living longer and the number of people who are retiring is growing, so by 2020, it will represent a massive amount of the UK population.”

Mr Parkin said that the pending changes in the industry will have a ripple effect within the retirement sector.

Mr Parkin said: “With the retail distribution review coming into play, there will be a mass exodus, as around a third of advisers will want to retire rather than play to what the government wants to do.

“So for the advisers that are left, this could result in picking and choosing which clients to have and putting their costs up accordingly and pay more for advice whether they like it or not."

So while the government and regulator is still chopping and changing its policies to further confuse consumers, experts in the industry said that all is not at a loss when it comes to retirement planning.

The earlier the better, say some, while it is better late than never, say others. It is really dependent on circumstances and lifestyle though say all.

But what has been noted, is that the role of the government and regulator needs more than just a token gesture of help. Providers, advisers and consumers are still confused, which could lead to inconsistent knowledge, lack of advice and pulling back on planning for the future.

Now is really the time to blow away that retirement pipe smokescreen and take action.

Girlie Garduce is a former senior features writer of Financial Adviser