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Our UK retirement cost calculator has been updated for 2023/24 to include the lastest State Pension figures and minimum income standards and costs for retirement.
We've created this calculator as a generic tool to help give you a 'ballpark' figure to start planning your retirement. Whilst this calculator has been created with the help of retirement experts, it is absolutely not a susbsitute for personalised expert advice and shouldn't be seen as such.
What it does include is up-to-date pre-populated costs for popular activities and purchases, which will help you:
- understand the rough numbers around your retirement based on your expenditure
- use our simple calculations to help you budget accordingly
- gain the confidence to make the right decisions for your future
- have the opportunity to receive further, in-depth and tailored advice from our team of investment specialists
How our couples retirement cost calculator works
You want to enjoy the retirement of your dreams; we want to help you get there.
We’ve taken the hard work out of retirement planning with our free calculator. It’s based on up-to-date industry figures and average retirement spending for couples - alongside our own research - to deliver straightforward calculations that will help you budget for your golden years.
Simply run through each step and tell us your financial and lifestyle commitments. We’ll cover the rest.
Why should you use this retirement calculator?
Control your financial future
It’s been suggested that two-thirds of couples aged over 40 don’t know how much they will have at retirement, with almost a quarter never having the discussion in the first place. This calculator will put the control back in your hands, kickstarting the process in an easy, empowering way.
Get excited about retirement
Our retirement calculator allows you to handpick all the activities you want to enjoy in retirement… It's designed to be a fun tool to help you gain an exciting picture of what your retirement could look like. Because we believe your retirement should be a cause for celebration.
Put a Plan B in place
Our calculator will help you understand how much you’ll need in retirement so that you can start planning. If you’re worried that you won’t have enough time to hit your goals, it gives you the prompt and opportunity to speak to a financial adviser and put a new plan in place.
Arrange a virtual coffee with a specialist
No hard sales. No obligations. Just an open, honest chat with a retirement specialist to help you understand your current position and hopes for the future.
How Couples Can Use a Retirement Calculator
A survey by Prudential found that two-thirds of couples aged over 40 don’t know how much money they will have together at retirement and almost a quarter of couples admit they have never discussed how they plan to fund their retirement.
Our simple retirement calculator has been designed specifically for couples to help make your retirement planning easier. You can select the kinds of activities you want to enjoy in retirement either together or separately and get an estimated cost for your retirement plans.
The calculator is supposed to be a fun tool that you can use to start planning your retirement together as a couple.
How much does a couple need to retire?
There's no definitive answer to this question. The truth is, the experts can’t agree on what constitutes a ‘good retirement income for couples’.
Estimates on a good pension vary between around £34,000 and £54,500 per year (PSLA Retirement Standards 2023), but this doesn't take into account your personal circumstances, lifestyle aspirations or the type of retirement you hope to enjoy together.
If you want to know how much you'll need as a couple to retire, then you can start by using our dedicated couples retirement calculator to start building a retirement budget, or you can speak to one of our retirement planning advisors for tailored retirement planning advice.
Average retirement income UK
The average retired household income in the UK is £26,780 (Office for National Statistics, 2023). This figure is well below the £34,000 the Pensions & Lifetime Savings Association says a couple needs to enjoy a moderate-income standard and is less than half the £54,500 that research suggests a couple needs for a comfortable retirement.
As anyone who's ever found themselves in their overdraft or facing a hefty credit card bill will attest, income doesn't necesarily reflect how much you're spending. In fact, the latest research by Which? Showed that spending levels vary greatly between pensioners.
On average, the research shows that couples enjoying a 'comfortable' retirement spend roughly £28,000 a year, whilst those enjoying a more 'luxurious' lifestyle with long haul holidays and a new car every five years were spending around £44,000.
When it comes to saving for your retirement, it’s best to overestimate how much you’ll need when it comes to money, it’s always better to have more rather than less than you need. As you may not have the earning ability in later years to top up your income.
How much should a couple save for retirement?
How much you need to save as a couple for retirement depends on
- How much you've already saved for retirement
- Your desired income in retirement
- What age you want to retire
- What other assets you have to fund or partly fund your retirement
- Whether you're both eligible for the full state pension
The good news for a couple is that there’s two you that can save towards retirement.
As a general guide, Which? estimate that a couple aiming for a comfortable retirement at state pension age will need around £169,175 in their pension pot and those wanting a luxury retirement will need about £456,500.
So a couple in their 50s with no pension savings will need to save around £647 a month to enjoy a comfortable retirement but those in their 40s would only need to save £384 between them to hit their target.
If you want a luxurious retirement a couple in their 50s with no pension savings would need to save £1,735 between them.
However if you're a couple in your 50s with £100,000 in pension savings already, you would need to £1,311 a month to hit the target.
How we worked out couple retirement costs
Our couples retirement calculator is designed to be used a general guide, it can be a useful tool for retirement planning but it’s not designed to replace professional, tailored advice. We used part research, part average figures to work out these costs details of which can be found here:
Frequently Asked Questions
According to research by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, The minimum recommended income in retirement for a single person in 2023 is £16,996 a year so if you retire at 55, you'll need at least £186,956 to last until your state pension kicks in at 66.
But that's based on the current state pension age being paid at 66 and some of us won't receive our state pension until we're 68.
It's also assumes you'll be comfortable living on the minimum amount recommended for retirement, but if you're hoping to enjoy a comfortable retirement experts estimate you'll need between £23,300 and £37,300, a year.
You'll still need to budget to top up your state pension once you get to state pension age.
*all of these assumptions are based on you depleting your pension pot and don't allow for you to pass wealth on.
Read our Full article here: How much do I need to retire at 55
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