Brits slaving today for a better tomorrow

Around 3 million gritty Brits are living reduced lifestyles today so they can enjoy a better retirement tomorrow. One in two people in Britain expect to maintain their current lifestyle when they retire, but one in six people are living for today rather than tomorrow.

A Fool.co.uk survey has found that one in two people want to retire to an idyllic life of “Wine and Pâté”, which requires a pension pot of around £750,000. For one in two people, this merely represents a continuation of their current way of life.

But one in thirteen people are prepared to make significant sacrifices now to achieve their dream “Wine and Pâté” retirement. Furthermore, almost one in 80 people are prepared to suffer now in order to enjoy a “Champagne & Caviar” retirement.

As many as one in 16 people say they are living on “Beer & Mash” today so they can luxuriate in “Wine and Pâté” later on. Additionally, one in 60 people are even prepared to live a “Homebrew & Chips” lifestyle now just so they can enjoy pâté and wine when they hang up their boots.

The research, which was conducted with readers of various incomes, also reveals that most of us plan to stop work by the time we reach our 59th birthday; by then we expect to have a pension pot of almost £650,000.

To achieve that “Wine and Pâté” retirement, twenty-year olds need to be putting away at least £200 a month, and thirty-year-olds, who have not planned for their retirement, should be saving more than twice as much - some £470 a month.

Forty-year olds will need to squirrel away £1,200 a month, and this may require a complete overhaul of their current lifestyle. It’s a daunting, though not impossible, task. It may require someone on a “Wine and Pâté” lifestyle today switching to “Beer & Mash”, if they haven’t done so already, to afford the extra savings needed.

David Kuo, Head of Personal Finance at Fool.co.uk, says: “It is heartening to see that people are thinking about life after work. However, retirement is not just about the age when you take the longest coffee break imaginable - it is also about the type of coffee you can afford to drink. Consequently, it pays to consider how you will pay for your cuppa.

“For one in two people, a life of “Wine and Pâté” is the most appealing. But our survey suggests that a retirement pot of almost £750,000 will be needed to afford it.

“That said, a pot of this size is not unattainable. A thirty-year-old can reach this by putting aside £470 a month, and a twenty-year-old only has to salt away half as much (4).

“For many of us, retirement is about getting out of the rat race, but it doesn’t mean you have to get by with less cheese. With careful planning there’s no reason why you can’t have cheese to accompany your wine and pâté.”