How much I'll need for retirement | British Transport Police Force Superannuation Fund

Your costs when you retire

You can probably picture the retirement you want – holidays, time with the ones close to your heart, a few improvements on the house, and a new car, maybe?

But do you have any idea how much this might cost or whether you can afford it? Use the tools below to find out.

A general guide to retirement costs

You can use the 'Retirement Living Standards' (RLS) for a general idea of how much you might need when you retire, depending on the type of lifestyle you want to have.

The RLS were created by Pensions UK (previosuly the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association (PLSA)) and Loughborough University, and show roughly how much you might need each year, based on 3 different standards of living.

We’ve included a summary of the RLS below. Costs will be higher in London than those shown.

Visit the Retirement Living Standards website for more information.

Cut-out - How much Ill need for retirement

A grid showing how much 3 different levels of retirement lifestyle might cost

*Figures quoted are from the Retirement Living Standards published by the PLSA and Loughborough University. (Costs will be higher in London). Full details can be found at retirementlivingstandards.org.uk.

A personalised estimate of how much you might need

For a more personalised estimate of how much you might need when you retire, you can use the Retirement Budgeting Calculator.

The calculator uses the Retirement Living Standards above as a starting point and then lets you adjust individual costs, such as leisure and travel expenses, to suit your own needs.

This means you will get a personalised summary of how much the lifestyle you hope for could cost you each year.

While this is not a guarantee, it does give you a general target to aim for with your retirement income.

From 6 April 2028, the Minimum Pension Age will be increased from 55 to 57. If you will reach age 55 on or after 5 April 2028, you won’t be able to retire before 57 unless you have a Protected Pension Age of either 50 or 55.

We haven’t updated our estimates process or planning tools to reflect this change yet. So although you can still request an estimate, from age 55 the information quoted may not be accurate.

You can read more about the change in this read more about the change in this article.

Retirement Budgeting Calculator

Use this tool to work out how much money you might need to pay for the retirement you want.

TRY THE CALCULATOR

Working out if your pension adds up

To find out whether you’re on track to be able to afford the retirement you want, you’ll need to compare your likely spend with the amount of income you’re likely to get. You can do this by requesting an estimate in your myFund account, and coming up with a list of the things you’d like to do in retirement, and their likely cost.

Visit the making the right decision page to find out more and learn what actions you can take if the numbers don't add up.

Please keep in mind that, the Retirement Living Standards and Retirement Budgeting Calculator figures are based on the income you may need after tax.

Each of Railpen Limited (registered in England and Wales No. 2315380) and Railway Pension Investments Limited (RPIL) (Registered in England and Wales No. 1491097) is a wholly owned subsidiary of Railways Pension Trustee Company Limited (Registered in England and Wales No. 2934539). Registered office for each company: 100 Liverpool Street, London EC2M 2AT. RPIL is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority for some of its activities. The administration of occupational pension schemes is not a regulated activity. Full details about the extent of RPIL's authorisation and regulation by the Financial Conduct Authority are available from us on request.