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With the UK retirement age set to rise to an oh-so-miserable 68 by 2046, saving for a pension may feel like the last thing on your mind.
But, according to experts, putting away just £21 a month could land you with £26,000 more in your pension pot when the day finally rolls around.
That’s the cost of a bottle of gin, and cheaper than a takeaway, a round of pints in central London, or a last-minute train from London to Brighton.
It makes you think, doesn’t it?
It’s all thanks to the power of compound investment growth over time, aka, the snowball effect that occurs when the occasional saving grows into a bigger return.
Putting just 1% more from an annual salary of £25,000 into a retirement account could see someone’s ultimate savings go from £210,000 to £236,000, according to the experts at Standard Life.
That’s provided they’ve been contributing the base auto-enrollment of 5% of their earnings since the age of 22, with their employer paying 3%.
If you go even further and increase your payments by £42 per month (7% of your overall salary), your pension could amount to a juicey £262,000 – an uplift of £52,000.
According to the pension experts, only 31% of UK adults pay over the minimum contribution into their pension.
Young people in particular have other money woes on their mind, but making this small difference could result in a sizable payout when it is time to retire, even if that feels a million miles away.
Dean Butler, from Standard Life, urged Gen Z and millennials to think ahead, saying: ‘Starting early and contributing consistently is key, and some employers will match additional contributions, giving your savings an even greater lift. If you’re able to save more, your future self is likely to thank you.’
How to save money in your 20s
We get it, saving money, especially in your 20s, can feel impossible under the weight of student loans, rent, and groceries. But Metro has compiled some easy tricks to help it feel a little more doable. To get started:
Create a savings account. According to the Yorkshire Building Society, over 5 million Brits in their 20s have not saved any money over two years. Just creating a separate account for emergencies can result in preventing your rainy day funds from being spent on other daily purchases.
Automate your savings with tools such as the Monzo automated 1p savings challenge, to ensure that savings are being taken care of without having to overthink them by the end of the month.
Open a Lifetime ISA for property savings. The government will top up annual savings of £4,000 into a Lifetime ISA with up to £1,000 a year. The money will eventually go to either a first property with a value of up to £450,000 or more retirement savings after 65.
Making full use of your ISA allowance. Fewer than a third of under-25s have an ISA. Opening a tax-free account will shelter your hard-earned savings for your retirement without them getting taxed.
It’s worth remembering that not all people are destined to rely solely on their state or company pension. Savings can significantly bring down your retirement age.
According to advice from investment management company Fidelity, financial freedom after retirement is possible if people are able to have their annual earnings in the bank by the time they are 30.
For example, if someone earning £30,000 also has £30,000 in savings by the time they are 30, they are well set up for a life of financial freedom after they finish working.
Easier said than done, of course. And, with the average Londoner spending nearly half of their income on rent, this amount of saving will come with having to skip dinners out, holidays and a whole lot more.
But, some see that as a small price to pay for being able to live comfortably after a life of hard work.
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