Ultra-low interest rates on retirement accounts may force many Americans to delay their golden years, according to a new survey.

One-third of investors say they may have to put off retirement because low rates are preventing them from earning enough in retirement accounts, according to the poll by Wells Fargo and Gallup being released last week.

Would-be retirees are compensating by working longer or scaling back their retirement dreams.

Some people are taking more investment risks. Slightly more than one-quarter of pre-retirees, and 19 percent of current retirees, say they are making investments they otherwise "might have avoided," according to the Wells Fargo-Gallup Investor and Retirement Optimism Index Survey.

The survey demonstrates the significant effects that low interest rates on bank accounts and many types of bond mutual funds are having on the retirement expectations of Americans.

"Some people may feel like they're pushing mud uphill," said Karen Wimbish, director of retail retirement at Wells Fargo.

The survey of 1,018 investors nationwide was conducted May 4-12. It has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

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Low interest rates hampering retirement plans, survey says