Last updated:
02 July 2026
You’ll need retirement income of at least £13,900 a year, or £22,500 if you’re in a couple – according to the Retirement Living Standards. This covers your essential costs and a week's UK holiday, but not your housing costs. Find out how much you need to save and what you’re on track to get.
Our new pensions dashboard will help you see your pensions, all in one place.
That includes your State Pension, workplace pensions, and some you might have lost track of over the years.
Find out what they’re worth, and how they could support you in retirement.
Try the dashboard before it launches.
The Retirement Living StandardsOpens in a new window estimates the cost of three different types of lifestyle, based on things like how often you’d like to go on holiday, eat out and change your car.
Just be aware that:
the figures do not include housing costs, as they assume you’ll own your home
you’ll need a higher income to cover these costs, as tax is usually taken off before you receive your pension.
|
Standard of retirement lifestyle |
Cost for one person |
Cost for a couple |
|
Minimum – all your basic needs (like food and clothes) and a week’s UK holiday |
£13,900 |
£22,500 |
|
Moderate – higher cost allowances, 2 weeks abroad and a UK weekend break |
£32,700 |
£45,400 |
|
Comfortable – more luxuries, like 2 premium weeks abroad and 3 UK weekend breaks |
£45,400 |
£62,700 |
The cost for a couple is not double the amount for one person as many bills can be shared. For example, the cost to heat a home usually depends on the property rather than the number of people living there.
Government researchOpens in a new window looks at average salaries before people retire and estimates how much they’re likely to still need after they stop working.
For example, if you currently earn £30,000 a year, the research suggests you’ll still need around £20,000 a year in retirement.
This is because costs are often less after you retire. For example, you might have no or lower:
housing costs if you’ve repaid your mortgage
travel costs if you do not travel to work
pension contributions if you stop paying into a pension.
| Your current salary | Amount typically still needed in retirement |
|---|---|
|
Up to £15,900 |
80% |
|
£15,900 – £29,000 |
70% |
|
£29,001 – £42,000 |
67% |
|
£42,001 – £67,000 |
60% |
|
£67,000 or more |
50% |
For a more exact and personalised target retirement income, try to forecast all the costs you’re still likely to have in retirement.
Our Budget planner can help you list everything out, including essential costs and luxuries you might want to have enough money for.
How much money you’ll need for your full retirement depends on how long it lasts. For many people this is over 20 years – or much longer.
You can use the life expectancy calculatorOpens in a new window on the Office for National Statistics website to see the average age that someone of your age and sex will live to.
This is just a rough guide, it’s always a good idea to plan on having a longer retirement than you expect – so you avoid running out.
For example, if you expect to retire at age 65 and hope to live until 90, you might plan for your retirement income to last 25 years. But, if you need to stop working earlier due to poor health or live longer, your income might not last.
For more information, see our guide How much money do I need for my retirement?
Once you’ve estimated how much you might need to cover your costs, you can check how much you’re on track to get to see if you’ll have enough – or if you need to save more.
You can use our Pension calculator to see:
how much all your pensions are likely to pay you, including the State Pension
what would happen if you saved more each month.
This can help you estimate how much you need to save for the retirement lifestyle you’d like.
You’ll need to know your latest pension income estimates, which you can usually get by logging in to your scheme’s online account.
Remember that you’ll usually pay Income Tax to receive your pension, so your income needs to be able to cover your costs after tax.
For more information, see our guide How to calculate your estimated pension and retirement income.
If you have different pension schemes, you might find that each one is designed to pay out at different ages. This might affect when you can afford to retire.
Always check when you can start taking each one, if you can take it earlier or later and what happens if you do.
For example, you can usually take a private pension from age 55 (57 from April 2028), but you might get less if you do. The earliest you can claim the State Pension is your State Pension ageOpens in a new window
For more information, see our guides:
Even if your retirement savings look healthy, always check if you can boost them further – there are often low-cost ways to do this.
For example, if you:
have an employer, check if you can increase your contribution and receive a higher amount from them too
are unlikely to qualify for the full State Pension, check if you can claim free National Insurance credits or pay to fill gaps in your record
have a low income, make sure you’re getting everything you’re entitled to
have lost pensions, track them down for free.
For more information, see our guide Ways to boost your pension.
Join our private Pensions and planning for the future Facebook groupOpens in a new window to share ideas and get support from our pensions community.
One of our pension specialists will be happy to answer your questions. You can:
We’re open between 9am and 5pm, Monday to Friday. Closed on bank holidays.
