Incomes rise for ‘class of 2018’ retirees

PEOPLE RETIRING this year have the highest typical expectations for their incomes in at least a decade, a report has found.

On average, those retiring in 2018 expect to have an income of £19,900 a year – the highest figure since the research from Prudential started in 2008.

The “class of 2018” anticipates having an average income which is ten per cent higher than those who ended their working lives in 2017, whose average expected annual retirement income was £18,100. Expected retirement incomes are now £1,200 higher than the £18,700 people retiring in 2008 were anticipating.

The report found expected retirement incomes have been on the increase each year since 2013, when they hit a low of £15,300.

Vince Smith-Hughes, a retirement income expert at Prudential, said: “The new record high for expected retirement incomes is good news for people planning to retire this year, highlighting how saving for the future is paying off. The ten per cent rise from last year is even more impressive given the economic and political uncertainty that savers are having to cope with.

“That uncertainty is, however, impacting the confidence of nearly half of the class of 2018 who fear they aren’t financially well equipped.”