Retirement planning

Well, according to one study, Finland is the place to be – Helsinki was found to be the happiest place to retire. The study also revealed that an average pension fund of £225,000 is needed to live out a comfortable retirement in this happiest of cities.

The World Happiness Report was used to create a ‘happiness index’ of cities across the world and combined with cost of living, average salary and life expectancy data from over 50 countries. Three more northern European capitals also made the cut, according to the research, with Copenhagen, Reykjavik and Oslo ranking among the world’s top five cities for a happy retirement. Completing this cheerful list is Switzerland’s Geneva, the country’s second most populous city, at spot number three.

UK retirees not far behind

Positively, several UK cities ranked highly on a list that took account not only of the happiest, but the most affordable, places to retire. While Australia’s Melbourne topped this list, Belfast came in sixth, Edinburgh took fifteenth place and London ranked seventeenth.

How much do I need in my pension pot?

Another survey by Which found that households with two people spent just under £2,340 a month in retirement, or around £28,000 a year on average2. This covers all the basic areas of expenditure and some luxuries, such as European holidays, hobbies and eating out.

As a retired couple, you’d need £45,000 a year if you include additional luxuries such as long-haul trips and a new car every five years.
So, to get these levels of income, what size pension pot will you need when you retire? The Which survey concluded you would need a pension pot of £204,750 to generate an annuity of £28,000 a year. To get the same level of income from drawdown, you would need £144,950 in your pension fund. And to generate an income of £45,000 a year, you would need £664,450 if you opted for the annuity route and £470,580 if you took income drawdown.

The above figures also include income from state pensions, so it’s a good idea to know what you’ll get from there too – head over to our page which explains more about that.

Our retirement experts would be delighted to have a conversation with you about how we can help you get to this happy place. The first meeting is with our compliments, so please get in touch today.