Personal financial fears may help to shape the outcome of next week’s historic EU referendum, with many voters holding apparently contradictory attitudes.

With the polls predicting a knife-edge result, wealth worries and their effect on wider political views may be a critical factor in the privacy of the polling-booth.

The latest Disposable Income Index published by savings and Isa provider Scottish Friendly shows 54per cent of Scottish households are anxious about the impact of the referendum on their finances. The main reasons cited are the possibility that a Brexit may cause prices to rise (47per cent), lead to job losses (39per cent), or result in falling business investment (23per cent).

Calum Bennie, savings expert at Scottish Friendly, said: “Our study continues to suggest that people are feeling financially fragile. Uncertainty caused by the forthcoming EU referendum is also leaving many UK families feeling concerned. The possibility that prices may rise, that jobs could be lost or that rules around maternity leave or paid holiday may change are clearly important points affecting many people considering the impact of the referendum on the pound in their pocket.”

Young people, who surveys suggest are far keener than older voters on the status quo, are the most worried about the impact of a Brexit on UK housing, according to a survey by alternative lender Wellesley Finance. Over a quarter of 18-24 year olds think that it would lead to property prices going up and becoming less affordable.

By contrast, only one in ten of those aged 65 or older think that this would be the case, and 18per cent believe affordability would improve.

One in five Scots who are worried about a Brexit effect on house prices – that they would fall - believe their home would never regain its present value.

Graham Wellesley, founder of Wellesley Finance, said: “These figures show that people across the UK are deeply worried about how their properties will be affected if Britain votes to leave the EU.”

According to investment service provider Willis Owen, 64 per cent of investors favour a Brexit – up from only 50 per cent in a similar poll in March. Managing director Jason Chapman says: “Our customers are mainly older savers and investors, and this poll shows they’re still very much in favour of Britain going it alone.”

Yet it is investors who may have to take a Leave vote on the chin, at least in short-term volatility and uncertainty for markets.

Adrian Lowcock, head of investing at Axa Wealth, says: “A vote to leave the EU will have a much more significant impact on markets than a remain vote, creating uncertainty and unsettling investors. It will likely cause sterling and UK stock markets to fall as international investors look to reduce their risk and exposure to the UK by selling shares and other investments. Predicting how much the FTSE 100 may fall by is not easy, but 10per cent falls in stock market values are common enough to make that a reasonable expectation. Markets have already fallen as the vote nears and the possibility of a Brexit has risen.”

But he adds: “If a Brexit vote is confirmed there will be a lot of noise and speculation around what it means and what happens next. Markets will sell off in the short term but I expect any sell-off to be relatively short lived. Few events have lasting impact on the stock market. So investors should focus on their long term goals and use any weakness as an opportunity to invest.”

Savers and investors are already downright confused, according to Elaine McInroy, tax partner at accountants Saffery Champness in Edinburgh. “Firstly they didn’t know if Scotland was going to get independence or not, then the Scottish tax situation added to the unknown, then the LBTT (Land and Business Transaction tax) caused a stir in the property market, then the government clamped down on tax avoidance, outlawing previously accepted practices,, and now Brexit is casting a shadow of doubt over the future.

“Add to that the confusion and perplexity of tax changes such as the introduction of a new personal savings allowance and new dividend tax rate, then it is no wonder that they are bewildered.”

On pensions, Tom McPhail, head of retirement policy at Hargreaves Lansdown, says: “The Treasury paints a fairly apocalyptic picture of widespread reductions in retirement incomes. The key assumptions they make are of higher inflation and lower economic growth, both of these assumptions may be open to challenge by the Leave campaign. Change the underlying assumptions and you change the outcomes.”

Even with higher inflation, McPhail notes, the state pension would still increase in line with it, rather than run ahead of it. “Pensioners would maintain their standard of living, they just wouldn’t be moving ahead of inflation and the rest of the population quite so quickly.”

He adds: “Some final salary pensions and many individual annuities do not have full inflation-proofing. Higher inflation could therefore undermine the real value of these incomes. However we also note that a rise in bond yields following a Leave vote could equally have a significantly beneficial impact on final salary scheme deficits.”