How much does a couple need to retire in the UK?

Minimum: £22,500 a year. Moderate: £45,400. Comfortable: £62,700. Couples need less than twice the single-person figures because housing, energy and running a car are shared.

Two full new State Pensions come to £25,096 a year in 2026/27 — already above the Minimum standard, if both of you have a full National Insurance record.

Using a 4% withdrawal, the combined pensions needed at State Pension age are about £0 for Minimum, £508,000 for Moderate and £940,000 for Comfortable.

If one of you retires earlier, or one of you has fewer National Insurance years, the figure rises. A partner with gaps in their record — very common after years spent caring for children — is one of the most valuable things to check and, where possible, fix.

One thing every headline figure leaves out is tax. The Retirement Living Standards are what people spend after tax, while pension withdrawals and the State Pension are taxable income. Usually 25% of a pension can come out tax-free, so the gross figure you need is higher than the spending figure, but by less than you might fear.

A couple each has their own Personal Allowance and their own tax bands. Income split between two people is usually taxed less than the same income in one name, which is why who holds which pension, and who draws from it, can matter as much as the total.

How these figures are worked out: the yearly spending figures are the Pensions UK Retirement Living Standards (2026), which describe what a single person spends after tax. The full new State Pension is £12,548 a year (£241.30 a week in 2026/27) from age 67. The pot figures divide the shortfall by a 4% yearly withdrawal — a widely quoted rule of thumb, not a guarantee — and add the full State Pension for every year you retire before 67. No investment growth, inflation or tax is modelled. These are national benchmarks, not a projection for you.