Did you take on new debt shortly before moving into a retirement village? It’s a growing trend that has the government worried.

A new report by CPA Australia says that retirees loaded with debt undermine their future savings and leave a dwindling number of taxpayers saddled with funding an increasing pension burden. And with more money being poured into pension payments for an ageing population, there’ll be less available for other services like aged care.

Alex Malley, the chief executive of CPA said that ''lump-sum superannuation benefits are being treated as a windfall. [They’re] being used to pay for the lifestyle that's been lived now instead of being put aside to provide income in retirement.”

The trend comes after a decade in which more Australians have used the value in their homes to fund current spending and borrowing, including buying into a retirement village.

To pay off debts once you have retired, a growing number of people are taking, large lump-sum payments out of their superannuation, and opting to receive the pension instead. To prevent a blow-out in future pension costs, the report calls for a debate on whether people should be able to access their super savings in one hit.