Average pension pot by age

We’re often told to save more for retirement, but have you stopped to think about how your retirement plans compare to your peers?

Putting enough money away for retirement can feel like a push if you’re covering other costs like a mortgage, childcare or private school fees.

The full new state pension is worth £11,973 a year and under the current triple lock mechanism rises every year in order to keep up with the cost of living. It goes some way to covering retirement costs, but for many isn’t enough for a decent standard of living.

MoneyWeek

Subscribe to MoneyWeek today and get your first six magazine issues absolutely FREE

Get 6 issues free

Sign up to Money Morning

Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter

Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter

Sign up

The UK state pension is considered the least generous in the G7, according to recent research, and the state pension age is rising from the current 66 to 68 by 2046, meaning people will have to wait longer before being able to claim it.

According to Pensions UK, a single person needs an income of £13,400 per year to live even a basic lifestyle in retirement – enough for £55 on groceries a week, £30 a month for two taxi trips and no budget for a car. This figure is still higher than the current full new state pension.

A single person wanting a comfortable retirement would need an income of £43,900 a year, almost triple the current full new state pension amount.

According to a survey by debt advice service MoneyPlus, 74% of those aged 45-60 said they were worried about their financial situation in retirement, with nearly a third saying they were relying on an inheritance to support themselves later in life.

It may help to get a rough idea of the average amount people have in their pots based on age, so you know if you’re behind the curve or not.

Just remember that everyone’s circumstances are different – for example, in terms of salary and retirement goals. Average pension balances can be skewed by super savers with high balances or low-paid workers starting out with small amounts.

If your pension pot is higher than the average for your age group, don’t assume you’re all set to achieve your retirement goals. Regardless of how you compare to your peers, are you actually on track to afford your own dream retirement?

There’s nearly always more that can be done to boost your pension further, such as switching your pension to a cheaper provider. Research shows that high fees could erode your pension pot by as much as £70,000 over 30 years.

If you’re hoping to finish work and retire early, you will also likely need a larger pension than average, or other types of wealth that can produce an income.

For those whose pensions are lagging behind, don’t stress – there are steps you can take now to boost your pot.

Average pension pot by age

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has data on how much the average pension pot is worth for seven age groups.

Source: Pension wealth: wealth in Great Britain, 2020-2022, ONS, published January 2025. This only includes people with pension wealth, those that have zero pension savings are excluded in the figures.

Unsurprisingly, the youngest people have the smallest pension pots. Those aged 16 to 24 have average pension wealth of £5,500.

This figure then more than triples to £18,800 once we get into the 25 to 34 age bracket, where the vast majority of people are working.

The average amount roughly doubles to £39,500 for the 35-44 age group. Average pension wealth peaks when savers are aged between 55 and 74, with about £140,000 tucked away for retirement.

It then falls to £59,700 for those aged 75 and over as they start to spend their savings in retirement.

The ONS also highlights the gender pension gap, with men having more in their pensions than women at every age group. For example, the average man aged 45 to 54 has £108,100 in pension wealth. But the average woman only has £57,900.

Pension pots have actually got bigger for the younger generations over the past few years, according to the ONS, while they have got smaller for older people. This could be due to auto-enrolment boosting pension wealth for young workers.

At the same time, baby boomers with fat pension pots are starting to fall out of the statistics and are being replaced by a growing number of people approaching retirement who don't have final salary schemes.

For example, the average pension wealth has doubled for a 25 to 34-year old from 2018-20 to 2020-22 (from £9,500 to £18,800). But for a 65 to 74-year old, the figure has dropped from £190,000 to £145,900 over the same time period.

Some pension providers have also done research into how much pension pots are worth for different age groups. Fidelity surveyed 2,000 UK non-retired adults in May 2024 to find out their total pension wealth.

Fidelity's figures reveal a similar, sizeable gender pension gap.

Meanwhile, PensionBee gave the following figures to MoneyWeek in January 2026 showing the average pension of its customers:

• Aged under 30: £3,745
• Aged 30-39: £10,660
• Aged 40-49: £23,311
• Aged 50 and over: £42,578

The size of your pension pot is often directly related to your net worth – you can discover the average net worth by age using our guide.

According to MoneyPlus, a useful rule of thumb in terms of how much to put away in a pension is to save half of your age as a percentage of your salary – for example, if you’re 20, aim for 10%. “Even the smallest contributions add up over the next 40 years of work, so it’s always best to start as soon as you can,” it says.

Based on the UK average salary of £37,500, MoneyPlus calculates that Generation Z (aged 18 to 28) should have between £12,500 and £25,000 of pension wealth, if they’re aiming for a “moderate retirement”. This is a step down from the “comfortable retirement” but a step above the “minimum” level.

Millennials (aged 29 to 44) should aim to have between £105,000 and £140,000 in their pensions, while Generation X (45 to 60) should have £200,000 to £280,000 if they’re targeting a moderate retirement lifestyle. Those wanting more luxuries and holidays (and therefore a “comfortable retirement”) will need to build up bigger pots than these figures.

What to do if you're behind

If you’ve looked at the numbers, and you’re lagging behind the rest, don’t panic – there are steps you can take now to get you back on track and, if starting early enough, your investments have time to compound.

The most important first step is assessing your current position, said Clare Moffat, pensions and tax expert at pensions provider Royal London.

“Gather information about all of your pension pots, including workplace pensions, private pensions and the state pension,” Moffat said.

“Make a list of each pension, their current values and any projections you’ve received.”

Once you’ve done this, it may be worth tracking down pensions from previous jobs and consolidating them into one – this makes the administrative effort of maintaining your workplace pension(s) easier and can reduce the amount you’re paying in fees. Just make sure doing this makes sense for you and saves you money overall.

Lisa Picardo, chief business officer at PensionBee, said: “With an average UK worker changing jobs 11 times in their career, many people have multiple pension pots, but some will be forgotten or even lost.

“Track down old paperwork, call your old employer, or use the government’s free Pension Tracing Service to locate any old workplace pensions. Then consolidate them if it makes sense to do so.”

After this, Charlene Young, senior pensions and savings expert at investment platform AJ Bell, said it’s worth making the most of tax incentives on offer, including pension tax relief, and increasing your workplace pension contributions while seeing if your employer will match them.

She added: “If you’re already getting your employer maximum, then you could consider paying all or some of any pay rise or bonus into your pot each year, if you can afford to.”

We have more on this topic in Can you pay into someone else’s pension – and how much can you pay?

If you're wondering what the average savings amounts are by age, MoneyWeek has produced a helpful guide.