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Published

25th September 2024

What Kind of Lifestyle would you like in retirement?

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What Kind of Lifestyle would you like in retirement?

Preparing for retirement may feel daunting, but knowing what you need to live the lifestyle you want when you retire can help you understand what steps you need to achieve it.

Some helpful questions you may want to consider are:

  • How long do you want to keep working? The younger you are when you take your benefits, the more time your money will be paid for. This is likely to mean accepting a lower starting retirement income.
  • What are you planning to do in retirement? What might your monthly costs be in retirement? Will you have other sources of income?
  • Will your lifestyle change as you go through retirement? Will you spend more when you are younger? Will you need income certainty as you get older?
  • Who else do you need to support financially? Will you want to pass anything on to loved ones?

Retirement Living Standards

The Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association (PLSA), using independent research by Loughborough University, developed estimates of the annual income needed to maintain a minimum, moderate or comfortable standard of living, called the Retirement Living Standards. The Retirement Living Standards are based on estimated spending for different categories, such as food, transport and entertainment, and they are designed to help you picture what kind of lifestyle you could have in retirement. The PLSA reviews and updates the estimates regularly.

To help with your retirement planning, visit the Retirement Living Standards website where you can see the latest figures: retirementlivingstandards.org.uk

There are also lots of calculators that can work out how much you might need in retirement. A good place to start is the Money Advice Service’s Pension Calculator at moneyadviceservice.org.uk/en/tools/pension-calculator.

Your State Pension, private pensions and other savings could cover a significant part of these estimated costs. Using these estimates, you can start working on your personal targets for your retirement income that are tailored to your needs and the kind of retirement lifestyle you want.