Cost of comfortable retirement has already gone up by £2,200

COUPLES will now need to find an extra £2,200 a year to keep up a comfortable retirement lifestyle after the pandemic.

The pension industry’s guidelines for spending expectations have been revised in the wake of Covid.

The lifestyles are categorised as minimum, moderate and comfortable. The report estimated what it would cost a couple to enjoy a ‘comfortable’ retirement that included £8 bottles of wine, two annual holidays to Europe, and a restaurant budget of £500 a month.

It was suggested this would now require an extra £54,400 and total pension savings of nearly £750,000.

The Pension and Lifetime Savings

Association’s ‘retirement living standards’ published today are designed to give savers a picture of how much money they will need to keep enjoying their spending habits and favourite brands.

The research also revealed how priorities had changed, with retirees now wanting to splash more on dining out and haircuts, and insisting on subscriptions to streaming services like Netflix.

It comes as Britain faces a cost of living crisis while energy bills soar ahead of winter. The research, by Loughborough

University, details everything from the brand of beer they might like to buy, to their summer holiday destination.

The money needed for a comfortable retirement has increased by £600 to £33,600 a year for one person and by £2,200 to £49,700 for a couple.

Of the coronavirus lockdowns, the report said: ‘This period of enforced abstinence serves to underline just how important it is to be able to participate in the world around, not through extravagant choices but in more everyday and routine ways – seeing family and friends, going out for something to eat, taking an annual holiday, planning and looking forward to future social events.’