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Retirement Living Standards

The Retirement Living Standards have been developed by the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association (PLSA) to help you picture what kind of lifestyle you want to have when you wind down from working, and give you an idea of how much income you’ll need to support this lifestyle. They’re based on three different standards of living:

Are your saving plans on track to give you the lifestyle you want?

Now you have an idea of the type of lifestyle you’d like in retirement, you can use our handy tool to work out if you’re on track.

If you’re not on track, you can use the tool to see the impact of saving more or changing the date you plan to retire. There’s also the option to see the impact of adding the state pension. To find out if you’re eligible for the state pension and how much you might get, visit the government website.

	Minimum	Moderate	Comfortable
Single	£14,400 a year	£31,300 a year	£43,100 a year
What standard of living could you have?	Covers all your needs, with some left over for fun	More financial security and flexibility	More financial freedom and some luxuries
House	DIY £100 a year to maintain condition of your property.	Some help with maintenance and decorating each year.	Replace kitchen and bathroom every 10/15 years.
Food & Drink	Around £50 a week on groceries, £25 a month on food out of the home, £15 per fortnight on takeaways.	Around £55 a week on groceries, £30 a week on food out of the home, £10 a week on takeaways, £100 a month to take others out for a monthly meal.	Around £70 a week on food, £40 a week on food out of the home, £20 a week on takeaways, £100 a month to take others out for a monthly meal.
Transport	No car, £10 per week on taxis, £100 per year on rail fares.	3 year old small car, replaced every 7 years, £20 a month on taxis, £100 per year on rail fares.	3 year old small car, replaced every 5 years, £20 a month on taxis, £200 per year on rail fares.
Holidays & Leisure	A week long UK holiday. Basic TV and broadband plus a streaming service.	A fortnight 3* all inclusive holiday in the Med and a long weekend break in the UK. Basic TV and broadband plus two streaming services.	A fortnight 4* holiday in the Med with spending money and 3 long weekend breaks in the UK. Extensive bundled broadband and TV subscription.
Clothing & Personal	Up to £630 for clothing and footwear each year.	Up to £1,500 for clothing and footwear each year.	Up to £1,500 for clothing and footwear each year.
Helping Others	£20 for each birthday and Xmas present. £50 a year charity donation.	£30 for each birthday and Xmas present. £200 a year charity donation. £1,000 for supporting family members e.g. paying for grandchildren activities.	£50 for each birthday and Xmas present. £25 per month charity donation. £1,000 family support.

Minimum

Moderate

Comfortable

Single

£14,400 a year

£31,300 a year

£43,100 a year

What standard of living could you have?

Covers all your needs, with some left over for fun

More financial security and flexibility

More financial freedom and some luxuries

House

DIY £100 a year to maintain condition of your property.

Some help with maintenance and decorating each year.

Replace kitchen and bathroom every 10/15 years.

Food & Drink

Around £50 a week on groceries, £25 a month on food out of the home, £15 per fortnight on takeaways.

Around £55 a week on groceries, £30 a week on food out of the home, £10 a week on takeaways, £100 a month to take others out for a monthly meal.

Around £70 a week on food, £40 a week on food out of the home, £20 a week on takeaways, £100 a month to take others out for a monthly meal.

Transport

No car, £10 per week on taxis, £100 per year on rail fares.

3 year old small car, replaced every 7 years, £20 a month on taxis, £100 per year on rail fares.

3 year old small car, replaced every 5 years, £20 a month on taxis, £200 per year on rail fares.

Holidays & Leisure

A week long UK holiday. Basic TV and broadband plus a streaming service.

A fortnight 3* all inclusive holiday in the Med and a long weekend break in the UK. Basic TV and broadband plus two streaming services.

A fortnight 4* holiday in the Med with spending money and 3 long weekend breaks in the UK. Extensive bundled broadband and TV subscription.

Clothing & Personal

Up to £630 for clothing and footwear each year.

Up to £1,500 for clothing and footwear each year.

Helping Others

£20 for each birthday and Xmas present. £50 a year charity donation.

£30 for each birthday and Xmas present. £200 a year charity donation. £1,000 for supporting family members e.g. paying for grandchildren activities.

£50 for each birthday and Xmas present. £25 per month charity donation. £1,000 family support.

	Minimum	Moderate	Comfortable
Couple	£22,400 a year	£43,100 a year	£59,000 a year
What standard of living could you have?	Covers all your needs, with some left over for fun	More financial security and flexibility	More financial freedom and some luxuries
House	DIY £100 a year to maintain condition of your property.	£500 a year to maintain condition of your property, £300 contingency.	£600 a year to maintain condition of your property, £300 contingency.
Food & Drink	Around £95 a week on groceries, £50 a month per couple on food out of the home, £30 a month per couple on takeaways.	Around £100 a week on groceries, £60 a month per couple on food out of the home, £20 a month per couple on takeaways, £100 a month to take others out for a monthly meal.	Around £130 a week on groceries, £80 a month per couple on food out of the home, £30 a month per couple on takeaways, £100 a month to take others out for a monthly meal.
Transport	No car, £15 per week for the couple on taxis. £100 per year per person on rail fares.	A 3 year old small car, replaced every 7 months, £20 a month on taxis per household, £100 a year on rail fares per person.	A 3 year old small car, replaced every 7 months, £20 a month on taxis per household, £200 a year on rail fares per person.
Holidays & Leisure	A week long UK holiday. Basic TV and broadband plus a streaming service.	A fortnight 3* all inclusive holiday in the Med and a long weekend break in the UK. Basic TV and broadband plus two streaming services.	A fortnight 4* holiday in the Med with spending money and 3 long weekend breaks in the UK. Extensive bundled broadband and TV subscription.
Clothing & Personal	Up for £630 for clothing and footwear each year.	Up to £1,500 for clothing and footwear each year.	Up to £1,500 per person for clothing and footwear each year.
Helping Others	Twelve gifts of £20 for birthdays and the same amount for 12 Xmas presents. £50 per person a year for charity donations.	Twelve gifts of £30 for each birthdays and the same amount for 12 Xmas presents, £200 per household a year for charity donations. £1,000 for supporting family members e.g. paying for grandchildren activities, treats, trips etc.	Twelve gifts of £50 for each birthdays and the same amount for 12 Xmas presents, £25 per person per month for charity donations. £1,000 for supporting family members e.g. paying for grandchildren activities, treats, trips etc.

*The figures shown are the amounts of annual expenditure required to achieve the living standards (ie they are not gross income figures).

A few things to note

The Retirement Living Standards are designed to provide a helpful guide and are based on research findings, but they do not constitute financial advice.

They don’t include the following costs so you’ll need to factor them in when you're thinking about how much money you'll need to fund your retirement:

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