Too many individuals are grossly ignorant of how best to run their long term finances, an expert has warned.

Will Self, managing director of Self Financial Planners in Stratford-upon-Avon, said the situation could not go on if people were to have an acceptable standard of living in retirement.

He called for financial information to be taught in schools and short, sharp courses to be made available by firms to their employees.

His comments followed a report from HSBC Insurance which found that more than half of UK residents had never accessed financial education.

The report showed that 56 per cent of people had not sought any financial education, while more than a third (37 per cent) had never accessed any form of professional financial advice.  

And, just one in four feel 'very well prepared' for retirement.

The report also highlighted the fact that many people are not taking adequate measures to prepare for later life. Only 21 per cent of people have cut debt as a priority in order to ensure they are better financially prepared for the long term, while 14 per cent are reducing retirement savings or stopping saving for retirement altogether as a result of the economic downturn.

HSBC is calling on people to review their finances with a professional, reduce their debt and outgoings and regularly contribute to their savings for retirement.

Mr Self said: "I would completely endorse what HSBC is saying. It is a message we have been pushing strongly for months now.

"This really is developing into a crisis. People are simply failing to save enough for their old age and with an increasingly elderly population it seems the state will struggle to bail them out, particularly given the current state of public finances.

"There is a real prospect of pensioners living in semi-poverty.

"It is vitally important that younger generations get up to speed with financial information and understand the demands of the future. Unless we get to grips with this we are storing up big problems."