How much do you need for retirement?

In 2019, the Pension and Lifetime Savings Association (PLSA) launched the ‘Retirement Living Standards’.

These standards are based on independent research by Loughborough University, and are now widely used to give people a quick and practical way to estimate how much money they might need for their life after work.

The living standards are classified as minimum, moderate and comfortable. The amounts are broken down by single/married and London/outside London and show how much you need for each level of spending after tax has been deducted:

While this is a useful indication of how much you might need in retirement, it is only a guide. If you’re close to retirement, it makes sense to develop your own personal budget. You can find out more about preparing a budget for your life after work in the next section - Creating a budget.