Lifestyle calculator

Most of us don’t actually imagine having a Ferrari or a second home on the Costa del Sol when we retire. It’s more likely that, in life after work, we’ll want to continue the lifestyle we’ve enjoyed while working.

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.

Step 1: Who are you planning for?

Who will you be living with?

Living with a partner can work out a lot less per person than living alone.The costs used in this calculator reflect that, so think about what your situation might be when you come to retire, and choose one of the options below.

Where will you live?

Living costs in London and the south east are considerably higher than the rest of the UK and you should plan for that. Choose from the options where you think you will live.

Step 2: What standard of living do you hope for?

To keep things simple, the Retirement Living Standards are levels – minimum, moderate and comfortable – which give you a sense of what different standards of living could cost you in life after work. They have been designed as a guide to help you set a target to aim for. The figures for these standards were last updated in February 2024.

MINIMUM

Covers all your needs, with some left over for fun

15700 14400 24500 22400

A ‘minimum’ lifestyle covers all your needs, with some left over for fun and social occasions. You could holiday in the UK, eat out about once a month and do some affordable leisure activities about twice a week.

MODERATE

More financial security and flexibility

32800 31300 44900 43100

A ‘moderate’ lifestyle provides more financial security and more flexibility. You could have one foreign holiday a year and eat out a few times a month. You’d have the opportunity to do more of the things you want to do.

COMFORTABLE

More financial freedom and some luxuries

45000 43100 61200 59000

A 'comfortable' lifestyle allows you to be more spontaneous with your money. You could have a subscription to a streaming service, regular beauty treatments and two foreign holidays a year.

Step 3: Personalise your wants & needs

MODERATE

0

Roughly speaking, a will need about a year to achieve a moderate 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.

HELPING OTHERS

View the weekly breakdown to edit the costs

0

Charity Contributions

£

FOOD & DRINK

View the weekly breakdown to edit the costs

0

Alcohol and Tobacco - per week

£

Food - a weekly shop

£

TRANSPORT

View the weekly breakdown to edit the costs

0

Motoring

£

Other Travel Costs

£

HOLIDAYS & LEISURE

View the weekly breakdown to edit the costs

0

Holidays and leisure

£

CLOTHING & PERSONAL

View the weekly breakdown to edit the costs

0

Clothing

£

Personal goods and services

£

HOUSE

View the weekly breakdown to edit the costs

0

Household goods

£

Council Tax

£

Other housing costs

£

Household services

£

Household insurances

£

Water Rates

£

Energy

£

OTHER

For things we won't have included

0.00

You may need to add other costs depending on your personal circumstances, such as mortgage, rent, social care costs and any tax on pension income.

Additional Costs:
NOTE: Please enter an annual total

£

RESET BASKET

Next steps...

MODERATE

0

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:

0

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:

Want to save more?

If you’re currently paying into the Scheme and would like to save more, you could consider joining the additional voluntary contribution (AVC) arrangement, or increasing your payments if you’ve already joined one.

Learn more about AVCs >>

Lifestyle calculator

Step 1: Who are you planning for?

Who will you be living with?

Where will you live?

Step 2: What standard of living do you hope for?

MINIMUM

MODERATE

COMFORTABLE

Step 3: Personalise your wants & needs

MODERATE

MY BASKET

HELPING OTHERS

FOOD & DRINK

TRANSPORT

HOLIDAYS & LEISURE

CLOTHING & PERSONAL

HOUSE

OTHER

ANNUAL COST FOR YOUR PERSONAL BASKET OF GOODS & SERVICES

RESET BASKET

Next steps...

MODERATE

Here’s a summary of what you chose

Your personal target to aim for is:

Your personal target to aim for is: 0

Using your target, here’s some other things to think about next:

Want to save more?

Your personal target to aim for is:

0