According to Scottish Widows research, 61% of UK workers are saving enough for their retirement. Only 41% of self-employed workers are doing the same. (Source: Scottish Widows Retirement Report 2022) (PDF, 1,673 KB)
The maximum amount anyone is currently entitled to from the State Pension is £221.20 per week for the 2024-2025 tax year. Even at this maximum amount, this may not be enough to provide you with the kind of retirement you want.
As a starting point, it might be helpful to visit our What kind of saver are you? page, so you can plan your retirement savings in a way that suits your natural saving habits.
How much do you need to save?
This varies from person to person. You could start by thinking about what you want your retirement to be like, and whether you expect your spending levels to stay consistent. Not sure? Visit our 'Meet your future self' tool. It will give you some ideas about what retirement may have in store, and what type of retirement you might like to aim for. You can take a look at the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association (PLSA) retirement living standards to see how much is currently needed to live a comfortable lifestyle in retirement.
As a rule of thumb, we recommend that people who pay in to a workplace pension scheme aim to contribute around 15% of their salary between themselves and their employer per year, although this depends on a few factors:
- What's affordable to you during your working life
- What your retirement aims are
- How early you start saving
For more information, have a look at our short films:
What pensions do you have?
One key part of knowing whether you're on track is to figure out what pension(s) you already have, and what they might provide in retirement. Your pension provider, employer, or pension scheme administrator can send you an up-to-date statement. This will show you what your pension could provide you with at your selected retirement age.
If you're not sure what pensions you already have from previous employers, you can visit our section on tracing and combining pensions. You can also watch our 'How do I find out how much is in my pension?' film for more information.
How much might you get and at what age?
If you have reviewed your pension(s) and feel that you’re on track - you can watch our short What should I do next? film to get some ideas. You can also use our pension options calculator to see what you could do with your pension pot. If you need some tips on how to get more out of your pension, watch our 6 tips to make the most of your pension film.
Finally, if you plan to retire early, you should find out how this will reduce your pension and if you would lose any additional benefits your pension may have. Find out more by visiting our webpage, When can I retire and access my pension?
Scottish Widows Be Money Well is committed to providing information in a way that is accessible and useful for our users. This information, however, is not in any way intended to amount to authority or advice on which reliance should be placed. You should seek professional advice as appropriate and required. Any sites, products or services named in this module are just examples of what's available. Scottish Widows does not endorse the services they provide. The information in this module was last updated on 27th June 2024.
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