£3 million pension pot

Skylla2010

For a comfortable 25 year retirement in 2065 (real terms).

https://www.cityam.com/gen-z-will-need-at-least-3m-to-retire-comfortably/

Secret2ndAccount

No, not in real terms: in 2065 money. That's the inflated value of a 1.4million pension pot for retirement today. I think most would expect a more than comfortable retirement from that pot. At age 67 (will be at least 68), that would buy you an RPI linked annuity paying 80k/yr. Add in the State Pension and you have a take-home of >70k after tax. I think most of us could live pretty comfortably on that.

Skylla2010

Sorry, yes, that's nominal terms then, right? 

Still, the analysis is based on the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association’s definition of a ‘comfortable retirement’ which has the amount as £43,900 per annum for a single person household for 2025/26.

Anything for a headline I guess!

QrizB

Skylla2010 said:

Still, the analysis is based on the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association’s definition of a ‘comfortable retirement’ which has the amount as £43,900 per annum for a single person household for 2025/26.

A single 67-year-old in good health, in receipt of a full state pension, would need another £32k of annual income.

They could buy that as an RPI-linked annuity for about £600k based on HL's current best buys.

https://www.hl.co.uk/retirement/annuities/best-buy-rates

I have no idea where the article is getting £1.4M from as the current cost!

tacpot12

You have to wonder why any news outlet would publish a story that makes sensible provision for your old age seem a remote dream? What useful service can it possibly provide? 

 What they should be  doing is featuring ordinary people, like myself, who saved a little bit from a young age and found themselves able to retire comfortably due to the effect of compounding growth over a long period of time. We have to do better by our young people. 

Sam_666

tacpot12 said:

You have to wonder why any news outlet would publish a story that makes sensible provision for your old age seem a remote dream? What useful service can it possibly provide? 

 What they should be  doing is featuring ordinary people, like myself, who saved a little bit from a young age and found themselves able to retire comfortably due to the effect of compounding growth over a long period of time. We have to do better by our young people. 

So, you have never heard of clickbait or how web adds generate revnue?

Skylla2010

The venerable Grauniad picked it up too:

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2025/sep/30/the-3m-pension-pot-is-this-really-how-much-gen-z-will-need-to-retire-comfortably

optoutDB

All predictions beyond 2035 are worthless, unless you predict it will be unimaginable.

QrizB

Skylla2010 said:

The venerable Grauniad picked it up too:
https://www.theguardian.com/money/2025/sep/30/the-3m-pension-pot-is-this-really-how-much-gen-z-will-need-to-retire-comfortably

For anyone who's wondering, "Pass Notes" is a regular humourous column in the Guardian. Not somewhere you look for rigorous financial analysis.

OldScientist

QrizB said:

Skylla2010 said:

Still, the analysis is based on the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association’s definition of a ‘comfortable retirement’ which has the amount as £43,900 per annum for a single person household for 2025/26.

A single 67-year-old in good health, in receipt of a full state pension, would need another £32k of annual income.

They could buy that as an RPI-linked annuity for about £600k based on HL's current best buys.

https://www.hl.co.uk/retirement/annuities/best-buy-rates

I have no idea where the article is getting £1.4M from as the current cost!

3% of £1.4m is around £42k, so it appears that they are using drawdown and neglecting income from the state pension.

Taken out of context, the PLSA use of the word 'comfortable' to describe a lifestyle beyond the reach of most retirees in the UK does rather give a misleading impression in this slew of articles.

I cannot find the original Rathbones article, but to be fair to them they have a much more balanced (and realistic) one at https://www.rathbones.com/en-gb/wealth-management/individuals-and-families/how-to-build-a-1-million-pension-pot