The key to a comfortable retirement is making suitable preparations for your future.
The first step is to get a feel for how much you’ll need. It’s probably far more than you think.
Multiply how much you’ll need each year by a typical retirement length (around 20 years if you were to retire at 65).
Don't just rely on the state pension or mandatory employer pensions. They may not be enough on their own.
Please note, the information presented in this page is for illustrative purposes only and does not constitute tax advice or recommendations.
How much money will you need each year during your retirement? A recent study by Loughborough University came up with the following figures:
| Single | Couple | |
|---|---|---|
| UK | £10,200 | £15,700 |
| London/South East | £12,400 | £19,800 |
| Single | Couple | |
|---|---|---|
| UK | £20,200 | £29,100 |
| London/South East | £24,100 | £33,300 |
| Single | Couple | |
|---|---|---|
| UK | £33,000 | £47,500 |
| London/South East | £36,300 | £49,300 |
It’s easy to work out the amount of money you might need during your retirement: just multiply the length of your retirement with the annual income figure shown above (depending on the sort of lifestyle you want). To help you, the average retirement is around 18 years for both sexes according to The Office of National Statistics.
Yet that information is crucial when it comes to deciding how we should invest today to ensure a decent standard of living tomorrow.
For example, imagine a single person, living away from London/South East, ready to accept a moderate standard of living during retirement. The table above shows they’ll need £20.2K a year. Assuming they qualify for a full state pension at 67 and live for 18 more years that means they’ll need a private pension of around £195K. That should be their pension investment goal.
The chances are they’ll receive some level of state pension to help toward this. Unfortunately, at a maximum of £8,750 per year it’s a top-up at best.
To make matters worse they won’t get anything until they’re 65-67 (depending on their age now) and they’ll need a full 35 years’ National Insurance contributions to qualify for the maximum amount.
Any employer pension(s) would help toward their target income of £20.2K a year, but not everyone has one. Mandatory employer pensions weren’t introduced until 2017 - which means they’re not much help for older workers - and they don’t cover the self-employed, one of Britain's fastest-growing work demographics.
The key point is that you need to plan ahead and make sure you’re prepared. To find out what all this could mean for you, try our calculator above or get in touch. That’s what we’re here for.
It's the easy way to understand all the financial stuff you feel you should know but somehow missed.