Retirement Budgeting Calculator

Retirement budgeting 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 of the costs will help you estimate 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, after tax, to enjoy the lifestyle you hope for. The figures are only a guideline and are not a guarantee of the income you'll need when you retire.

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. Full details are available at retirementlivingstandards.org.uk

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

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.

The breakdown of figures for a single person may differ to the averaged total for the 'moderate' and 'comfortable' standards as they are based on a single female. The expected costs for single females are higher than the aggregated costs for males and females.

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.

HOLIDAYS & LEISURE

View the weekly breakdown to edit the costs

Holidays and leisure

CLOTHING & PERSONAL

View the weekly breakdown to edit the costs

Clothing

Personal goods and services

HOUSE

View the weekly breakdown to edit the costs

Household goods

Household services

Other housing costs

Council tax

Household insurances

Energy

Water rates

TRANSPORT

View the weekly breakdown to edit the costs

Other travel costs

Motoring

FOOD & DRINK

View the weekly breakdown to edit the costs

Alcohol and tobacco per week

Food – a weekly shop

HELPING OTHERS

View the weekly breakdown to edit the costs

Charity Contributions

OTHER

For things we won't have included

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 OPTIONS

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 after tax.

These figures are only a rough guide to help give you a target to aim for. They are not a guarantee of the income you will need.

These figures are based on The Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association (PLSA)/Loughborough University Retirement Living Standards. The figures for these standards were last updated in February 2024.

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:

When would you like to retire?
If you fancy retiring earlier than your normal retirement date, check your Member Guide for how this might affect your benefits. And consider, if you were to retire at 55, you may have 30-40 years of retirement to fund!
Review your retirement savings
Is your current level of saving enough to meet your target? Remember private and State Pensions, combined with other savings, could go a long way towards making up the costs for many people. If you haven't yet claimed your Fund pension, you can view or request an estimate of your benefits by logging into your myFund account to see if you're on track.

Could you save more?
If it looks like you might have a shortfall, think about whether you could afford to save more by paying Additional Voluntary Contributions (AVCs). There's information here about available options. Contributing a little more now can make a real difference in the long term.

The figures used in the retirement budgeting calculator are the property of the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association (PLSA)/Loughborough University Retirement Living Standards, and have been used with the permission of the PLSA. Further information on the PLSA/Loughborough University Retirement Living Standards can be found here.

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.