With 46% reporting clients still marching toward a properly financed retirement, those advisers reporting clients who have strayed from that retirement glide path said the clients will need one to five extra years to make up the retirement savings shortfall, according to a news release from the Berwyn, Pennsylvania-based Brinker Capital.

Advisers said among those who were off the mark, 63% had “started saving too late,” 55% noted “general procrastination,” and 23% said “didn’t have access to financial advice.”

“We believe this statistic has powerful implications for the importance of good financial advice, staying the investment course and getting an early start to a systematic retirement savings regimen,” noted John Coyne, President of Brinker Capital. “While there may yet be some dark clouds on the economic horizon, overall the Retirement Indicator’s results provided a much more optimistic picture of America’s retirement landscape than we had initially anticipated.”

According to the news release, 91% of advisers said their clients are concerned about effectively managing distributions from their retirement assets, compared to 84% of advisers who indicated they’re concerned about the same issue.

Some 44% of the advisers said “time with family and friends” was their clients’ main retirement focus, followed by 17% who said “work” (second career), and 16% who noted “travel.”

The Brinker Retirement Indicator was conducted online by Brinker Capital in March 2008. Results are based on responses from advisers affiliated with insurance companies, independent broker/dealers, and in sole practice.