A tool to help you plan for the future
If retirement is still a long way off, picturing what kind of lifestyle you’d like might be hard. But having a rough idea will help you work out if you’re saving enough for the future.
Our Lifestyle Calculator is a quick and easy tool to help you work out how much income you might need, to enjoy the lifestyle you hope for.
The figures are a useful guideline. They are not a guarantee of the income you'll need when you retire.
Lifestyle calculator
Step 3: Personalise your wants & needs
MODERATE
Roughly speaking, a will need about a year to achieve a standard of living at retirement.
This figure is based on a ‘basket’ of common goods and services shown below.Using it as a starting point, if you think you would spend more, or less, simply change the weekly amounts to create a personal target.
MY BASKET
NOTE: The amounts in the orange blocks are the annual cost of each category. To change the amounts to suit your needs, edit the weekly breakdowns and the calculator will work out the annual costs and update the overall total.
HOUSE
FOOD & DRINK
CLOTHING & PERSONAL
HELPING OTHERS
TRANSPORT
HOLIDAYS & LEISURE
OTHER
RESET BASKET
Next steps...
MODERATE
Here’s a summary of what you chose
Based on a basket of common goods and services, for a hoping to achieve a standard of living at retirement, you will need about a year.
This is a rough guide to help give you a target to aim for.
Your personal target to aim for is:
Your personal target to aim for is:
By changing the amounts in the basket of goods and services, you have created a personal target to aim for based on your individual wants and needs.This doesn’t mean it can’t change in the future, but knowing now how much you might need later is a great step towards being able to work out if your current level of saving will be enough.
Using your target, here’s some other things to think about next:
Could you save more?
Remember, you could have 30-40 years of retirement to fund, so will your current level of saving be enough to meet your target? If it looks like you might have a shortfall, think about whether you could afford to save more by paying Additional Voluntary Contributions (AVCs) or buying Added Years. Contributing a little more now can make a real difference in the long term. Select from the relevant link below to find out more:
Check your State Pension
Private and State Pensions, combined with other savings, could go a long way towards making up the costs for many people. You can find out how much you're estimated to get from the State Pension here.
Get further guidance
MoneyHelper is a government service offering free guidance on financial matters, including pensions. You can find guides on the website and talk to the team via web chat.
