People are less confident that their pensions and savings will see them through a comfortable retirement.
Britain's over-50s are facing a rising threat of unemployment - which could wreck their retirement savings plans.
A survey of older people, conducted by Age Concern and Help the Aged, found that 28 percent fear that their age will see them lose their jobs in the current downturn. This comes following latest official unemployment figures, showing that 7.1 percent of the workforce is currently out of a job - the highest proportion for well over a decade.
Age Concern and Help the Aged also cited government figures showing that the total number of unemployed people aged over 50 has risen by 47 percent in the last year.
Job loss has a direct impact both on the amount that older people can put by in cash savings and investments - as well as workplace and personal pension plans. The sense of crisis among over-50s appears to be deepening, with 47 percent telling the pollsters that they are "less confident" that they will be able to afford a comfortable retirement now than they were six months ago.
Michelle Mitchell, charity director for Age Concern and Help the Aged said: "These figures paint an extremely bleak picture for millions of over-50s whose working lives are at risk of being cut short by the recession. Those who do lose their jobs will face significant obstacles to getting back into work, leaving them financially vulnerable as they approach retirement. For many over-50s, one of the lasting legacies of this recession will be a retirement blighted by poverty."
The charity also issued a call for the government to make policy moves to alleviate the financial crisis for older people, including the launch of a skills package for unemployed over-50s, financial incentives for firms to take on older workers and the removal of the legal default retirement age of 65.
