Retirement Living Standards - what will my pension buy me?

I couldn't see if the figures were gross or net.

I suspect net, so people will need to save a bit more than shown to pay the income tax?

I watched the stream yesterday which was put onto youtube regarding Retirement Living Standards, its launch and the discussion by the panel. It was interesting as to how it was put together with some clarification about it.

marlot wrote: »

I couldn't see if the figures were gross or net.

I suspect net, so people will need to save a bit more than shown to pay the income tax?

That was one of the questions put forward and it was clear that it is after taxes spending. She did however highlighted that there are figures for pre-tax spending somewhere on the website, in one of the documents I suppose. Here is the link to the document containing the information:
https://www.retirementlivingstandards.org.uk/How-to-estimate-likely-RLS.pdf

I think they shouldn't bother with using 5% annuity rate which is quite high at the moment.

Minimum Pre-Tax Income: £10,200
Moderate Pre-Tax Income: £22,123
Comfortable Pre-Tax Income: £38,123

It is important to note that it is just a rule of thumb, it is income after taxes, and it does not include any mortgage and rents. The third point was explained by one of the people on the panel explains because the more significant number of the pensioners do not have to worry about paying mortgage or rents. (Right... that is the case now but three decades later???) Everyone's financial circumstances are different.

There is an excellent thread on this forum to read, discussing how much income you need to live comfortably. https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=2146737

I think that PLSA could have done to have a calculator which adjust the level of standard in each category which then gives you the income. There is a file on the website with full data on what the researchers think they will spend their money on so it may be feasible.

But frankly, I would say that for most single people, the so-called comfortable level of income of £38,123 before taxes to be quite unrealistic., especially with so much wasteful spending in the data. I mean, £1000 on clothing and £500 on shoes in a year!

The most interesting point after looking at the data spreadsheet is that the single person income standard is based on a single female pensioner. I really think they should have mentioned that somewhere in the documents but maybe I am missing it.

As for my aim for retirement income, in the ideal world, it would be 100% replacement for my working salary (£28,800) if I went at 68 (including my state pension ofc). Alas, that is an exceptionally lofty goal. But yes, there is no chance of me getting £33,000 net income post-tax in today's term.

Unfortunately, I got to go to work today, so I will have a look at the data when I get home.

moo121 wrote: »

Has anyone seen the retirement living standards?

https://www.retirementlivingstandards.org.uk

It's based on independent research by Loughborough University and has been developed to help to picture what kind of lifestyle people could have in retirement.

It sets out examples of the costs pa of several levels of retirement such as:

Minimum (£10,200 single, £15,700 couple)
Moderate (£20,200 single, £29,100 couple)
Comfortable (£33,000 single, £47,500 couple)

I wondered what people thought, are these realistic? Is this the sort of retirement you are aiming for?

Really interesting, especially the detailed spending build-ups. Because this is a MSE board, many here will find some of the amounts spent surprising (i.e. high) but these will be real for a lot of people. It is however a useful checklist and basis for comparison.

moo121 wrote: »

Has anyone seen the retirement living standards?

https://www.retirementlivingstandards.org.uk

This was in the news a few days ago so I was wondering when a thread about it would appear here. At the time I also wondered if the figs were gross or not seeing as it didn't say anywhere.