Britain's highest earners are facing a £64,800 shortfall in their retirement pots, new data shows.
The top 20pc of households - those with a joint income of over £87,000 - have seen the shortfall almost double from £35,786 between 2018 and 2020.
It means they will face a drop in living standards when they retire, according to the analysis by consultants Oxford Economics and investment platform Hargreaves Lansdown.
The figures, first reported by The Financial Times, assume retirees withdraw 4pc from their pension each year.
The trend is being driven by savings rates, pension fund performance and incomes not keeping pace with ever-increasing retirement costs.
According to the Government, high earners need an income which is equivalent to 50pc of their pre-retirement salary to live comfortably in later life. For lower earners, this is 80pc. However, this will be largely covered by the state pension.
Gary Smith, of wealth management firm Evelyn Partners, said: "Many savers over age 55 in recent years have started to access their pension - typically by taking their 25pc tax-free cash - either to pay down mortgages as loan rates soared or to help out younger family members amid the cost of living crisis, or due to fears that the lump sum might be reduced by the Government."
Helen Morrissey, head of retirement analysis at Hargreaves Lansdown, told The Financial Times that the Government needs to "look at how it incentivises higher earners to save so they understand they need to go above the auto-enrolment minimums".
Currently, staff and employers must pay at least 8pc of earnings into a workplace pension, with a minimum of 3pc coming from employers.
Experts have warned that auto-enrolment headline figures may cause higher earners to think they are contributing more than they actually are.
Marianna Hunt, of pension provider Fidelity, said: "Someone earning £80,000 a year might assume £6,400 (8pc of £80,000) is going into their pension each year. However, the crucial piece of information that is often missed out is that these percentages apply to qualifying earnings - not your whole salary.
“Qualifying earnings are a band of earnings that are used to calculate pension contributions. For the 2025-26 tax year it is £6,240 to £50,270 a year. If your employer uses qualifying earnings to calculate pension contributions, the 8pc contribution will only be based on earnings between those two levels.
“That means, for someone on an £80,000 salary, between them and their employer they would only be contributing £3,522.40 to their pension each year.”