Retirement Budgeting Calculator

A tool to help you plan for retirement

Check out the tool below as part of your retirement planning. The figures are not a guarantee and are based on the costs you could expect to face based on 2026 prices, rather than the income you may need.

Our Retirement Budgeting Calculator is a quick and easy tool to help you work out what it might cost you for the lifestyle you want to maintain.

The figures are a useful guideline. They are not a guarantee of the costs you'll face - or how much you'll need - when you retire.

Step 1: Who are you planning for?

Who will you be living with?

Living with someone can work out a lot less per person than living alone. The costs used in this calculator reflect that, so think about what your situation might be when you come to retire, and choose one of the options below.

Where will you live?

Living costs in London and the south east are considerably higher than the rest of the UK and you should plan for that. Choose from the options where you think you will live.

Step 2: What standard of living do you hope for?

To keep things simple, the Retirement Living Standards are levels – minimum, moderate and comfortable – which give you a sense of what different standards of living could cost you in life after work. They have been designed as a guide to help you set a target to aim for. The figures for these standards were last updated in June 2026.

MINIMUM

Covers all your needs, with some left over for fun

14600 13900 24100 22500

A ‘minimum’ lifestyle covers all your needs, with some left over for fun and social occasions. You could holiday in the UK, eat out about once a month and do some affordable leisure activities about twice a week.

MODERATE

More financial security and flexibility

34000 32700 47000 45400

A ‘moderate’ lifestyle provides more financial security and more flexibility. You could have one foreign holiday a year and eat out a few times a month. You’d have the opportunity to do more of the things you want to do.

COMFORTABLE

More financial freedom and some luxuries

47200 45400 64800 62700

A 'comfortable' lifestyle allows you to be more spontaneous with your money. You could have subscriptions to streaming services, regular beauty treatments and a foreign holiday with 3 long weekend breaks.

Step 3: Personalise your wants & needs

MODERATE

Roughly speaking, a single person will need about 33k a year to achieve a moderate standard of living at retirement.

This figure is based on a ‘basket’ of common goods and services shown below and does include some general assumptions based on age, for example that you will no longer be paying mortgage or rent.

Using this as a starting point, if you think you would spend more, or less, simply change the weekly amounts to create a personal target.

These figures are based on the Pensions UK/Loughborough University Retirement Living Standards.

The breakdown of figures for a single person may differ to the averaged total for the 'moderate' and 'comfortable' standards as they are based on a single female. The expected costs for single females are higher than the aggregated costs for males and females.

The amounts in the orange blocks are the annual cost of each category. To change the amounts to suit your needs, edit the weekly breakdowns and the calculator will work out the annual costs and update the overall total.

TRANSPORT

View the weekly breakdown to edit the costs

Motoring

Other travel costs

HOLIDAYS & LEISURE

View the weekly breakdown to edit the costs

Holidays and leisure

HOUSE

View the weekly breakdown to edit the costs

Household services

Council tax

Household goods

Water rates

Energy

Household insurances

Other housing costs

FOOD & DRINK

View the weekly breakdown to edit the costs

Alcohol and tobacco per week

Food – a weekly shop

HELPING OTHERS

View the weekly breakdown to edit the costs

Charity contributions

CLOTHING & PERSONAL

View the weekly breakdown to edit the costs

Clothing

Personal goods and services

OTHER

For things we won't have included

You may need to add other costs depending on your personal circumstances, such as mortgage, rent, social care costs and any tax on pension income.

Additional Costs:
NOTE: Please enter an annual total

RESET OPTIONS

Next steps...

MODERATE

Here’s a summary of what you chose

Based on a basket of common goods and services, for a single person hoping to achieve a moderate standard of living at retirement, you will need about £33k a year.

These figures are only a rough guide to help give you a target to aim for. They are not a guarantee of the income you will need.

Your personal target to aim for is:

Your personal target to aim for is:

0

By changing the amounts in the basket of goods and services, you have created a personal target to aim for based on your individual wants and needs. This doesn’t mean it can’t change in the future, but knowing now how much you might need later is a great step towards being able to work out if your current level of saving will be enough.

Using your target, here’s some other things to think about next:

When would you like to retire?
If you fancy retiring earlier than your normal retirement date, check your Member Guide for how this might affect your benefits. And consider, if you were to retire at 55, you may have 30-40 years of retirement to fund!
Review your retirement savings
Is your current level of saving enough to meet your target? Remember private and State Pensions, combined with other savings, could go a long way towards making up the costs for many people. If you haven't yet claimed your Scheme pension, you can view or request an estimate of your benefits by logging in to your myRPS account to see if you're on track.
Could you save more?
If it looks like you might have a shortfall, think about whether you could afford to save more by paying Additional Voluntary Contributions (AVCs). There's information on the saving more page about available options. Contributing a little more now can make a real difference in the long term.

A red shopping basket full of groceries, shown next to a screen displaying the Retirement Budgeting Calculator

What to read next...

10 things to know about pensions

Get to grips with your pension in this handy list of 10 top things to know.

The State Pension

This page explains how the State Pension works and what you might get.

10 things to know about pensions

Get to grips with your pension in this handy list of 10 top things to know.

Railways Pensions is powered by Railpen Limited
© Railpen Limited 2010-2026. Registered Office: 7 Devonshire Square, London, EC2M 4YH
Each of Railpen Limited (registered in England and Wales No. 2315380) and Railway Pension Investments Limited (RPIL) (Registered in England and Wales No. 1491097) is a wholly owned subsidiary of Railways Pension Trustee Company Limited (Registered in England and Wales No. 2934539). Registered office for each company: 7 Devonshire Square, London, EC2M 4YH. RPIL is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority for some of its activities. The administration of occupational pension schemes is not a regulated activity. Full details about the extent of RPIL's authorisation and regulation by the Financial Conduct Authority are available from us on request.

A tool to help you plan for retirement

Check out the tool below as part of your retirement planning. The figures are not a guarantee and are based on the costs you could expect to face based on 2026 prices, rather than the income you may need.

Step 1: Who are you planning for?

Who will you be living with?

Where will you live?

Step 2: What standard of living do you hope for?

MINIMUM

MODERATE

COMFORTABLE

Step 3: Personalise your wants & needs

MODERATE

TRANSPORT

HOLIDAYS & LEISURE

HOUSE

FOOD & DRINK

HELPING OTHERS

CLOTHING & PERSONAL

OTHER

TOTAL ANNUAL COST

RESET OPTIONS

Next steps...

MODERATE

Here’s a summary of what you chose

Your personal target to aim for is:

Your personal target to aim for is: 0

Using your target, here’s some other things to think about next:

What to read next...

10 things to know about pensions

The State Pension

10 things to know about pensions

Your personal target to aim for is:

0