How true are recent media headlines that fewer than one in ten will enjoy a comfortable retirement? [1] Read more in this short-read Bulletin.
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This article was approved by Best Practice IFA Group Limited on 14 August 2026
- Minimum: defined as “Covers all your needs, with some left over for fun”,
- Moderate: defined as “More financial security and flexibility”, and
- Comfortable: defined as “More financial freedom and some luxuries”.
The headlines related to the top-tier category. An alternative banner of ‘Over four in five on target to reach a Minimum standard of living in retirement’ [3] would have been equally accurate, but less attention-grabbing. The reason for the large gap between the Minimum and Comfortable groups becomes obvious when you examine the yearly costs assessed by Pensions UK, in conjunction with Loughborough University:
These amounts exclude housing costs, meaning that if you rent or still have a mortgage to pay in retirement, you would need more.
Pensions UK calculates that for a single person living outside London to achieve the Comfortable level requires a pre-tax income of £54,720 – more than enough to make them a higher-rate taxpayer anywhere in the UK. For a two-person household, Pensions UK puts the gross income needed as £36,045 each (£72,090 in total).
The State pension in 2026/27 is £12,548 a year, so reaching the Comfortable tier requires a significant amount of private pension and/or investment income. But before you think you can make do with the Minimum, remember that summer rain and the fact that the bottom-rung retirement level assumes only a single week’s UK holiday.
Sources:
[1] https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/just-9-us-expect-comfortable-140535026.html
