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Young adults expect to need £100,000 a year for retirement, research reveals

Research from Royal London found 13% of people thought they would need £100,000 or more each year for a good standard of living in retirement. 

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Over a fifth of young adults think they will need over £100,000 a year for a good retirement, research from Royal London found. 

More than one in eight people (13%) thought they would need £100,000 or more each year for a good standard of living in retirement. 

22% of people aged 18 to 34 expected to need £100,000 or more a year in retirement. 

Only 3% of those aged 50 to 69 said the same.

The research came ahead of a tax-raising Budget, with talk of changes for long-term savers. 

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Over a quarter (26%) of people said they felt anxious about having enough money for retirement after looking at their pension balance, and 15% said it was either too late or too early to make changes.

Only one in four employees (27%) with a workplace pension had sought advice or guidance in the last year. 

52% had never sought professional guidance or advice about their workplace pension.

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Clare Moffat, pension and tax expert at Royal London, said: “It’s clear that younger adults think they’ll need significantly higher income when they’ve finished work than those closer to retiring. 

“This could be driven by their cost of living and inflation expectations, and also because young people face greater housing uncertainty than those before them.”

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Data also showed that 48% of younger adults expected to still be paying rent or a mortgage in retirement, compared to one in three (33%) of those aged 50 to 69. 

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Younger adults also planned to retire earlier, on average at 59, putting more pressure on them to save enough.

Moffat added: “With such a wide gap in generational expectations, it’s easy to suggest pension expectations are overblown, but for a generation that’s experienced multiple economic downturns and high inflation, many will be concerned for their future quality of life.

“Many younger adults are questioning whether their State Pension and personal savings will be sufficient to meet their future needs, and they have to balance current costs against future pension expectations. 

“Breaking down barriers to guidance and advice, especially in relation to cost and trust, will be essential to tackling generational divides.”

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Across all age groups, men expected to need between 18% and 30% more than women for a good standard of living in retirement. 

Among 18 to 34-year-olds, men expected to need around £81,300 a year, while women said £69,000. 

For those aged 35 to 49, the figures were £64,000 for men and £49,400 for women. 

In the 50 to 69 age group, men expected £38,900 and women £31,800.

She said: “Lower expected retirement income among women may reflect concerns around pension adequacy, shaped by earnings gaps and time out of the workforce. 

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“This is an issue that will be looked at by the recently formed Pensions Commission. 

“Women may also take a more cautious view of retirement needs, influenced by greater cost of living pressures.”

She added: “Whatever the cause, the disparity highlights the need to address some of the specific challenges women face when planning for retirement.”

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