A single person would need a pension pot of £682,000 - down £56,000 on last year - to produce a ‘comfortable’ retirement income, according to calculations by wealth manager Quilter.

The Department for Work and Pensions says 20m workers will benefit from the mammoth new Pension Schemes Bill which was laid before Parliament today.

Advisers and clients have become more concerned about wealth transfer since the Government’s proposals in the Autumn Budget to include unused pension assets in the estate for inheritance tax.

Pension experts said that today’s figures from the PLSA about retirement living standards should be a ‘wake-up call’ for savers.

The minimum amount a couiple needs in retirement has fallen by £1,000, according to the latest update of the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association’s (PLSA) Retirement Living Standards report.

Changes to salary sacrifice would cause confusion, reduce benefits to employees, and disincentivise pension savings, the Society of Pension Professionals (SPP) has warned.

The Treasury has revealed that the Government will have the ability to set investment allocation targets under its upcoming multi-employer master trust rules as it shared details of the Pension Schemes Bill.

Pension transfer activity picked up slightly in the past two months despite the XPS Group’s Transfer Value Index recording its lowest ever month-end figure for the second month in a row in April.

There could be changes to salary sacrifice for workplace pensions, former pensions minister Sir Steve Webb has warned after HMRC today published new research around ‘hypothetical’ cuts to salary sacrifice.

One in six adults, or 16%, are relying on gut instinct to estimate their retirement needs, according to research from pension provider Standard Life.

The number of pensioners paying higher rate tax at 40% or 45% has doubled to a million in the last four years.

Four years ago only half a million pensioners paid higher rate taxes.

Nearly 9m pensioners now pay income tax.

In a little-noticed knock-on effect of fiscal drag, these pensioners will also pay extra tax on their savings income and capital gains, according to former Pension Minister Steve Webb.

He warned: “The higher rate threshold has become a real cliff-edge over which growing numbers of pensioners are falling.”

The LCP partner, a former Pensions Minister, obtained the figures from HMRC through an Freedom Of Information request.

Sir Steve said: “There has been a significant increase in the number of pensioners paying income tax at all rates, but the rise has been greatest in the numbers paying income tax at the higher rates.”

He said: “Not only does this mean more tax on things like income from state and company pensions, it also means these pensioners are paying more tax on their savings, as their personal savings allowance is cut, and a higher rate of capital gains tax – a ‘triple whammy’.”

The key figures revealed by the FOI request are:

• The total number of pensioners paying income tax at all has risen by around 2m in four years, from 6.7m in 2021/22 to 8.8m in 2025/26, an increase of nearly a third;
• However, the total number of pensioners paying at 40% or above has doubled over the period; in 2021/22 the figure was just under half a million (494,000) but this year it has risen above the one million mark (1,028,000);
• The proportion of taxpaying pensioners who pay at 40% or more has climbed from around 1 in 14 in 2021/22 to around 1 in 9 this year;

The main reasons for the increase, according to Sir Steve, are:

• The continued freeze in the income tax personal allowance and higher rate threshold
• Significant above-inflation increases in the rate of the state pension combined with other inflation-linked pension increases

Mr Webb warned: “What is not commonly noted is that being a higher rate taxpayer – even by just £1 – triggers higher rates of tax on other forms of income.”

Almost 300 people fully encashed a pension of more than £250,000 after tax-free cash between October 2023 and March 2024, paying a minimum £98,700 each in tax in the process, according to new analysis of FCA figures by Standard Life.

Public trust in the pensions industry has dropped for the first time in five years, according to an annual survey.

A new Mansion House Accord backed by 17 pension firms aims to help DC pension savers by using private markets to boost potential net returns, while strengthening investment in the UK.

A new consumer survey has found that, on average, one in five people (21%) are clueless about when they will be able to retire.

Cambridge-based pension adviser Berkeley Jacobs Financial Services Limited (FRN 158901), which was fined £175,000 for pension rule breaches in 2004, has been declared in default by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.

One in five pension savers (19%) mistrust their financial adviser, according to a new report.

Donald Trump’s tariffs could hit UK pensions, with DC savers warned they may experience a 20% cut in their retirement income.

Pension providers have been urged to find out more about post-retirement spending as new research suggests homeowners’ and renters’ drawdown habits are very different.

Almost half, 48%, of over-50s are unfamiliar with what lifetime annuities are and how they compare to other annuity products.