'A couple need £320,000 to retire'

Daily Express, 3rd July 2008.

'Households need an average pension pot of £320,000 to fund their retirement as people live longer, healthier lives.

The average couple retiring at 65 need to spend £320,000 on an index-linked annuity to provide them with an annual income of £20,650 until death at 85 - a total of £413,000.

Retiring at 65 and living until 100 pushes the figure over £700,000 and for the wealthy who want to maintain a certain living standard, retiring will cost them £1.55 million. The costs are based on a long-term inflation rate of 2.3 per cent.

But the research warns that if inflation were to remain at around today's three per cent, the cost of retirement would rise to £1million for a person living to 100.

A lone individual can expect to spend £326,700 funding their lifestyle after they have stopped working, according to the 2008 Cost of Retirement report by Life Trust Insurance.'