This ageing population presents some big challenges, not least when it comes to financial planning.
To provide people with a sound basis on which to make decisions about the kind of life they want in retirement – and how much they will need to pay for it – colleagues and I have spent the past year and a half working out two different levels of retirement living standards.
We’ve spoken to 250 people, building on our wider research into what income is required for people to meet their material needs and participate in society.
For single retirees who want a minimum standard of living – to meet their basic needs and have a little left over for fun – we estimate that they need an annual income of about £10,200.
For what people would consider a comfortable retirement, where you have more financial security and flexibility, they need an annual income of £33,000.
To work this out, our research asked a series of groups to discuss and agree detailed lists of goods and services that are needed to live at each living standard.
This is not just what is needed, but how long each item lasts, where it would be bought and the kind of quality it is reasonable to expect...
Research Fellow Matt Padley and Research Associate Claire Shepherd, both of Loughborough University's Centre for Research in Social Policy, discuss their latest research in the Conversation. Read the full article here.