What is the average amount to retire on?
Discussion
To achieve a decent pension you/your employer would need to have been investing in the region of 10% to 20% of your salary every year throughout your entire working life.
Pension savings of £100,000 will buy provide about £3,000 p.a. of good quality pension, and the figures go upwards from there.
The problem is, people tend to live a very long time these days. You can't expect to pay in 5% of salary for 40 years and then draw out 50% of salary for 30 years. The numbers simply don't work. Not by a country mile.
Two golden rules,
1. The younger you start saving for a pension the better.
2. It's never too late to start!
Pension savings of £100,000 will buy provide about £3,000 p.a. of good quality pension, and the figures go upwards from there.
The problem is, people tend to live a very long time these days. You can't expect to pay in 5% of salary for 40 years and then draw out 50% of salary for 30 years. The numbers simply don't work. Not by a country mile.
Two golden rules,
1. The younger you start saving for a pension the better.
2. It's never too late to start!
Currently aiming at a mortgage free house, debt free car (or two 
)£40k+ income and decent six figure savings balance. Shouldn't be too difficult to achieve but I have been paying into pension pots (final salary and defined contribution) for 30 years now.
Would classify as a middle class existence
)£40k+ income and decent six figure savings balance. Shouldn't be too difficult to achieve but I have been paying into pension pots (final salary and defined contribution) for 30 years now.Would classify as a middle class existence
The cost of going to work is probably greater than most people think.
However, unless you are happy watching daytime TV, retirement affords a lot of time and opportunities to spend cash. How you manage that time will ultimately determine either how much income you need, or how enjoyable you retirement will be.
However, unless you are happy watching daytime TV, retirement affords a lot of time and opportunities to spend cash. How you manage that time will ultimately determine either how much income you need, or how enjoyable you retirement will be.
TBH the sum is not the key for me. So long as its enough to live and not worry about money then I don't care. Of course the more the better but if it comes down to retire at mid 50's or work an extra 5 years to get an extra £200 a month I will be retiring early and being a bit more frugal.
The original question doesn't make much sense: nobody can EXPECT an income and a stash of cash without years of accruing pension provision and savings as much as they are able. So, is the right question on the lines of: what should Mr & Mrs Middle Class be targeting over their working life in order to have a reasonable comfy retirement, assuming no mortgage or other substantive long term commitments, and also assuming no advance provision for care in old age? On this basis I would reckon a gross pension income from all sources of around £60,000-£75,000 pa and savings of around £750,000 should be OK for a married couple. Of course, this is significantly beyond what Mr. & Mrs Average UK has prudently managed to accumulate. If about right, it does indicate the commitment required over many years of employment, probably getting personal priorities right to deliver this objective and going without some desirable things, and more than anything else having in place a proper, deliverable long term plan. In the modern age of the mix of really inferior pension plans, successive governments' duplicity in encouraging personal savings and pension provision yet vastly reducing tax advantages when saving for pensions etc, and the seemingly endless personal need to spend now pay later, it means that the taxpayer will increasingly be bailing out Mr. & Mrs. Average when they eventually retire on what will, comparatively, be sod all.
R.
R.
OP, by middle class lifestyle what do you mean?
Apart from quietly getting plastered every night on wine that costs £8 a bottle as opposed to lager for 80p a can ( definitely the behaviour of working class alcoholics ), and driving a second/third hand BMW rather than a second/third hand Ford. And getting the cheapest possible holiday in Crete rather than Corfu, I'm not really sure what defines middle class?
Once the kids have gone/ finished Uni, and the mortgage is paid off, and you aren't going to work I can't see why you'd need the same income as you would mid career.
£80k? I'd say more like £30k for a comfortable pension.
Also I can't understand why retired people are often to be found rattling around in a 5 bed house when the kids are long gone we all start in small 2-3 bed houses or flats and have to trade up as we need room for the kids, so why not trade straight back down when they go?
Likewise the weather is ***t in the UK and it's expensive to live here, so why not just have a small place here and spend most of your time living in cheaper, warmer Southern Europe where the money will go much further.
Apart from quietly getting plastered every night on wine that costs £8 a bottle as opposed to lager for 80p a can ( definitely the behaviour of working class alcoholics ), and driving a second/third hand BMW rather than a second/third hand Ford. And getting the cheapest possible holiday in Crete rather than Corfu, I'm not really sure what defines middle class?
Once the kids have gone/ finished Uni, and the mortgage is paid off, and you aren't going to work I can't see why you'd need the same income as you would mid career.
£80k? I'd say more like £30k for a comfortable pension.
Also I can't understand why retired people are often to be found rattling around in a 5 bed house when the kids are long gone we all start in small 2-3 bed houses or flats and have to trade up as we need room for the kids, so why not trade straight back down when they go?
Likewise the weather is ***t in the UK and it's expensive to live here, so why not just have a small place here and spend most of your time living in cheaper, warmer Southern Europe where the money will go much further.
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