Many people ask the same question when they start thinking about retirement: ‘How much will I actually need?’ The difficulty is that retirement is not just a number. It is a lifestyle, built from everyday spending on housing, food, transport, and leisure.
Why retirement costs can feel hard to pin down
How can the Retirement Living Standards help?
The Retirement Living Standards* are benchmarks developed using independent research, showing how much people may spend each year in retirement. They are designed to help people picture different retirement lifestyles, and the typical costs associated with each, rather than forcing everyone to work from vague savings targets.
They focus on three broad lifestyles:
- Minimum
- Moderate
- Comfortable
The figures represent estimated spending, not income, and they assume someone owns their home outright with no mortgage. This means personal circumstances, such as rent, mortgage payments, or care costs, can change what the figures look like for you.
The three retirement lifestyles, explained simply
Minimum
This lifestyle covers essential needs, with some room for enjoyment. It includes everyday costs, the ability to socialise occasionally, and a basic UK holiday each year.
- One‑person household: around £13,400 a year
- Two‑person household: around £21,600 a year
Moderate
A moderate lifestyle offers more flexibility and security. Spending usually includes a car, more regular meals out, and an annual holiday abroad alongside a UK break.
- One‑person household: around £31,700 a year
- Two‑person household: around £43,900 a year
Comfortable
A comfortable lifestyle allows for greater freedom and choice. This might include multiple holidays, regular leisure activities, newer technology, and a higher budget for social life and family support.
- One‑person household: around £43,900 a year
- Two‑person household: around £60,600 a year
These are not targets you must hit. They are reference points designed to help you think clearly about what kind of retirement you would enjoy.
What sits behind the headline figures
Each lifestyle is built from familiar categories such as food, transport, holidays and leisure, and household costs. For example, moving from ‘Minimum’ to ‘Moderate’ often means going from relying mostly on free public transport to owning and replacing a small car, or swapping a UK-only holiday for an overseas trip each year.
Seeing how these daily choices feed into overall costs can help with your retirement planning.
Making the standards relevant to your life
Most people do not fit neatly into one category. Many blend elements from different lifestyles. You might value travel more than cars or prefer a simpler home life with more social spending.
It also matters whether you expect to live alone or share costs with someone else, as two‑person households typically have lower per‑person expenses.
Turning a retirement picture into a plan
Once you have an idea of the lifestyle you want, planning becomes more manageable. You can start to think about what you already have, what gaps might exist, and how long‑term saving and investing could help spread the cost over time.
For many people, this is also the point where financial advice becomes useful, helping you to make a retirement plan that reflects real life. While investing can help your money grow over time, it’s important to remember that the value of investments can go down as well as up.
*Source: Home - Retirement Living Standards
Approver Quilter Financial Services Ltd & Quilter Financial Ltd. April 2026.
