Pensions: £600,000 needed for decent retirement pot

The average amount UK adults say would be enough to ensure a comfortable standard of living during retirement is £25,783.87 net per year.

That doesn’t sound too much, does it? Save a few quid before you retire and surely you’ll have a large enough pension pot to draw such an income from. Sadly that’s far from the truth.

In fact, a non-smoking male looking to take his annuity – which pays a lifetime income – from the age of 65 would need to have a retirement fund of £616,400, according to wealth manager Towry.

Its research shows that only 27 per cent of people aged over 55 have enough savings to give them a comfortable retirement. In fact, seven per cent are thinking about delaying their retirement due because of their lack of funds.

When money’s tight, the thought of saving for years ahead may not seem important, but it will become so as you get older. The sooner you start saving for retirement, the happier you’ll be when you reach it.