The Employee Benefit Research Institute (ERBI), a nonprofit Washington D.C.-based organization, found that worker expectations for retirement withered in the face of high unemployment, government budget problems, rising health care costs, lower investment returns and other factors.

But the authors of the ERBI study said the findings suggest workers are finally facing up to the harsh realities of retirement.

“These are positive findings, said EBRI research director Jack VanDerhei, a co-author of the study. “People’s expectations need to come closer to reality so they will save more and delay retirement until it is financially feasible.”

The study showed that 27 percent of workers are not confident about having enough money in retirement. It is the highest percentage since the survey began 21 years ago. Only 13 percent were very confident about retirement.

Workers who are already retired don’t share the gloomy outlook of pre-retirees. Roughly 60 percent of those who have left work said they felt at least somewhat confident that they had enough money to live comfortable through the rest of their lives.

Roughly one in five workers said they intend to work longer than they had originally planned and almost half of current retirees said they were forced to retire earlier than they had planned, either because of health problems or because they were laid off.

More than half of workers said they had less than $25,000 in savings and investments, not counting their homes or defined pension plans, according to the report.

It also showed that the younger workers are, the lower their savings tend to be. EBRI reported that 20 percent of workers over the age of 55 said they had less than $10,000 saved for retirement.

The study, conducted annually by EBRI and consulting firm Matthew Greenwald & Associates, is funded primarily by financial firms that sell products and services related to retirement investing.

But it is not exhaustive because although it asks about savings levels it doesn’t include home equity or defined benefit pensions, which can boost the retirement lifestyles.

The survey of 1,000 people aged 25 and older includes the effect of the recession, the housing market decline and other issues that have profoundly affected workers’ behavior and retirement plans.