In 30 seconds
- The ONS median pension wealth for people with a pension was about £40,100 at 40, £82,000 at 50 and £188,500 at 60 (2018–2020, including final salary pensions).
- For a moderate retirement on your own, on-track milestones are about £159,000 at 40, £292,000 at 50 and £470,000 at 60, in today's money, by our calculation.
- That needs about £566 a month going in from age 22, including tax relief and employer payments.
- Minimum auto-enrolment on a £35,000 salary is about £192 a month.
Key figures
Milestones: our calculation in today's money, steady saving from 22 and 3% growth above inflation.
Two different questions
"How much should I have?" usually hides two questions. What do other people my age have? And what do I need to be on track for the retirement I want? The answers are very different, and the second matters more. This guide answers both, with the working shown.
What people actually have, by age
The best official data comes from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) Wealth and Assets Survey. It reports the median private pension wealth at each age: the middle value, so half of people have more and half less.
| Age | Median, people with a private pension | Median, everyone (including those with none) |
|---|---|---|
| 30 | £13,000 | £4,000 |
| 40 | £40,100 | £20,100 |
| 45 | £72,300 | £32,000 |
| 50 | £82,000 | £46,000 |
| 55 | £162,400 | £89,100 |
| 60 | £188,500 | £88,300 |
| 65 | £220,900 | £120,000 |
Read these figures with three warnings:
- They include final salary pensions, converted by the ONS into a lump-sum value. A median of £188,500 at 60 is not the same as a pot of £188,500 in a workplace scheme.
- They are a few years old, collected in 2018 to 2020, before the recent rise in prices and wages. Today's figures would be higher in pounds.
- Single ages jump around because each is based on a few hundred people. Look at the trend, not one year.
The bigger point: half of people have less than these figures, and many of them will live mostly on the State Pension. Being "average" is not the same as being on track.
What you need: start from the end
In our guide to how much you need to retire, we turned the Retirement Living Standards into pension pots for one person, after the full State Pension and income tax. In today's money, at a 4% withdrawal rate, at age 67:
| Standard, one person | Spending a year, after tax | Pot needed at 67 (4%) |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum | £13,900 | £42,000 |
| Moderate | £32,700 | £630,000 |
| Comfortable | £45,400 | £1,054,000 |
On-track milestones at 30, 40, 50, 55 and 60
Now work backwards. Suppose someone saves the same amount every year, in today's money, from age 22 to 67, and their pension grows by 3% a year above inflation after charges. Because growth compounds, the pot builds slowly at first and fast at the end. By our calculation, at each age they would have this share of their final pot:
| Age | Share of the final pot | Minimum | Moderate | Comfortable |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30 | 10% | £4,000 | £60,000 | £101,000 |
| 40 | 25% | £11,000 | £159,000 | £266,000 |
| 50 | 46% | £19,000 | £292,000 | £488,000 |
| 55 | 59% | £25,000 | £374,000 | £626,000 |
| 60 | 75% | £31,000 | £470,000 | £786,000 |
So, for a moderate retirement on your own, a rough on-track figure is about £159,000 at 40, £292,000 at 50 and £470,000 at 60. Compare that with the ONS medians above and you can see why so many people are behind. A couple sharing costs needs much less each: our couples table shows a combined pot of about £634,000 for a moderate retirement for two.
Behind those milestones is a yearly saving of about £6,800, or £566 a month, from 22 to 67, counting your own contributions, your employer's and the tax relief. That is far more than the legal minimum. Auto-enrolment requires 8% of earnings between £6,240 and £50,270. On a £35,000 salary that is about £192 a month, which by the same assumptions builds roughly £213,000 by 67: enough for about £8,500 a year at 4%, on top of the State Pension.
If you are behind: what it takes to catch up
Here is the monthly saving, in today's money, needed to reach the £630,000 moderate pot by 67, starting from the ONS median for people with a pension, with the same 3% growth:
| Your age now | Starting pot (ONS median) | Saving needed a month |
|---|---|---|
| 40 | £40,100 | £1,107 |
| 45 | £72,300 | £1,341 |
| 50 | £82,000 | £1,893 |
| 55 | £162,400 | £2,340 |
| 60 | £188,500 | £4,330 |
The numbers get large quickly, which is the honest message: the later you start, the more each year of saving has to carry. But the moderate standard is not the only goal. Several levers make the gap smaller:
- Tax relief. A basic-rate taxpayer pays £80 for every £100 that goes in; a higher-rate taxpayer can effectively pay £60. Our tax relief calculator shows yours.
- Employer matching. Many employers pay more if you do. Not taking it is turning down part of your salary.
- Salary sacrifice, if your employer offers it, also saves National Insurance. From April 2029 that saving is limited to the first £2,000 a year: see the salary sacrifice cap.
- Your State Pension. Filling a gap in your National Insurance record can add about £359 a year for life for under £1,000. Check it with our voluntary NI calculator.
- Working a little longer, or part-time, gives the pot more years to grow and fewer years to pay for.
- Old pensions. Many people have pots from past jobs they have forgotten. The free Pension Tracing Service can help find them.
How to check your own position in 10 minutes
- Get your State Pension forecast on GOV.UK.
- Add up your pension pots from your latest statements or provider apps.
- Pick the standard you are aiming for and find your age in the milestone table.
- For a personal projection with your own contributions and retirement age, use our retirement income calculator.
Check whether your own pensions are on trackFree, no sign-up, nothing you type leaves your browser.
Open the calculatorCommon questions
Is the ONS figure the average pension pot?
It is the median, the middle value, which is more useful than the average because a few very large pensions pull the average up. It includes final salary pensions converted into a lump-sum value.
I am behind the milestones. Is it too late?
No. The milestones assume steady saving from 22. Higher contributions, employer matching, tax relief, filling State Pension gaps and working a little longer can all close the gap.
Do the milestones include the State Pension?
The pot sizes assume you will also get the full new State Pension. If your forecast is lower, you would need a bigger pot.
Why do you assume 3% growth?
It is a moderate assumption for a mixed investment fund after charges and above inflation, the same one our retirement income calculator uses by default. Real returns can be higher or lower, and can be negative for years at a time.
Sources
- ONS: Median private pension wealth by age, Wealth and Assets Survey, April 2018 to March 2020
- ONS: Saving for retirement in Great Britain, April 2018 to March 2020
- Retirement Living Standards
- GOV.UK: Workplace pensions, what you and your employer pay
- GOV.UK: The new State Pension
- GOV.UK: Find pension contact details (Pension Tracing Service)
This guide is general information, not personal financial advice. Rules can change and your situation may differ. For free, impartial help, contact MoneyHelper, or speak to a regulated financial adviser.
