THE importance of saving for the future has been highlighted this week during Pension Awareness Day with the week-long campaign Pension Awareness Live, by Pension Geeks, organised virtually for a second year.

It aims to help people feel clearer and happier about their futures through a series of live webinars covering topics like pension basics and ethical investing and ethical investing.

The basic state pension is £9,110 per year. There are now fewer people who will benefit from generous final salary (defined benefit) schemes and more and more of the UK population are having to rely on saving into a personal pension (defined contribution) scheme where the pension you will receive is dependent on how much you save and the investment return.

It might seem a long way off but the later you leave it the less chance you have of achieving the retirement you want.

The Retirement Living Standards have been developed to help us to picture what kind of lifestyle we could have in retirement. It shows what retirement could look like at three different levels – Minimum, Moderate and Comfortable – and what goods and services would cost for each level. This can be found at www.retirement

livingstandards.org.uk.

A single person will need about £10,200 a year to achieve the minimum living standard, £20,200 a year for moderate, and £33,000 a year for comfortable lifestyle. For couples, it is £15,700, £29,100 and £47,500 respectively.

The minimum lifestyle covers all your basic needs with occasional activities and one holiday a year. The moderate lifestyle fairs better proving better financial security and more choice on spending your money, whereas the comfortable living standard allows you to be more spontaneous with your finances and gives you the flexibility to go on more holidays, eating out regularly, etc.

As the State Pension is less than the minimum lifestyle mentioned above, then saving for the retirement you want is crucial and the earlier you start the more chance you have of achieving the lifestyle you want.

At Armstrong Watson Financial Planning & Wealth Management, a firm of Chartered Financial Planners, we work with you to build your retirement plans and regularly review these so you know if you will remain on track. To discuss how to achieve the retirement your deserve, please contact Simon Mayoh 07860 846370 or email simon.mayoh@armstrongwatson.co.uk.