£1.7m needed to sustain average standard of living for life

The typical eighteen year old will need a staggering £1,745,739.82 in today's money in order to sustain an average standard of living until they die. That's the stark assessment of a new study commissioned by AXA.

AXA surveyed more than 2,100 people to break down the monthly expenditure of absolutely everything, from the costs of accommodation, transport and education to groceries, pets and holidays.

Each month the average person spends £240.21 on groceries, £7.79 on children's clothes, £68.11 on going out, £24.09 on hobbies and gives £9.24 to charity.

The average annual expenditure is £28,455.41, which rather more than the median average annual pay for full time employees of £24,908.

Better financial planning could help reduce the average total expenditure considerably says AXA. The firm has calculated that people could save as much as £737 in just one hour by focusing on their money worries while regular monthly reviews of finances could shave tens of thousands of pounds off lifetime expenditure.

The firm has launched a new suite of financial planning tools to help people manage day to day finances and to plan for a comfortable retirement. The tools are available at axa.co.uk/mybudgetday

AXA's My Budget campaign is designed to encourage people to spend just one hour a month (or 15 minutes a week) planning and reviewing their finances. The campaign aims to overcome the inertia experienced by millions of people who cannot get into the habit of regularly reviewing and managing their money.

Steve Folkard, head of savings and pension policy at AXA, said; "According to Oscar Wilde a cynic knows the price of everything and the value of nothing. We say ‘know the price of everything and the value of planning'."

"My Budget Day is particularly relevant this year as Britain comes to terms with the current economic turbulence and consumers are faced with the implications of the credit crunch.

"We've just experienced a global economic shock, and we're now moving into the aftermath; potentially a prolonged recession," said Steve Folkard. "Inevitably people are more anxious than ever before about their financial security

"Despite these heightened anxieties many of us still feel helpless, as if there's nothing we can do to improve our financial situation; and this leads to disengagement and apathy.

"The message of My Budget Day is that you can do something to improve your financial situation. Whatever stage of life you're at, you can take control and get your finances back in order.

"We're asking people to take action; to set aside one hour a month to review their finances. We know that people who do will be better off financially and emotionally."