Single pensioners need £257,000 more than couples to achieve a comfortable living standard in retirement, according to analysis by Standard Life, part of the Phoenix Group.

It showed a pensioner couple would need £418,000 per person for a ‘comfortable' retirement while a single pensioner would need £675,000.

Its analysis used the MoneyHelper annuity tool to reveal the differences in pension pots needed to secure the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association's ‘minimum’, ‘moderate’ and ‘comfortable’ standard of living in retirement.

Single retirees who want to achieve a ‘minimum’ living standard require an annual income of £12,800, according to the PLSA, with pensioner couples needing an annual income of £19,900. Standard Life reckons that assuming a full state pension (£10,600 a year) is received, a single retiree needs an income of £2,300 and would need to have amassed around £53,0003 in retirement savings at current rates. A pensioner couple’s needs would be covered by two full state pensions meaning they’d have no need to accumulate any additional savings.

For a ‘moderate’ retirement standard of living, the PLSA calculates single pensioners need an income of £23,300 per year. On the above assumptions, they would need an annuity which provides £14,900 a year, meaning they would need to save around £315,000. Pensioner couples, meanwhile, need an annual income of £34,000, which they could get if they built up £310,000 in a joint pension pot. That means they would need to save £155,000 each – around half the amount of a single pensioner.

For a ‘comfortable’ living standard in retirement, single pensioners would currently need to accumulate a pot of around £675,000, while pensioner couples would need £835,000 between them, or around £418,000 each – meaning a single pensioner would need to save an additional £257,000 to achieve the same lifestyle as a couple. 

Dean Butler, managing director for retail direct at Standard Life said: “While couples can pool their finances for retirement, single people need to support themselves independently. As our analysis shows, single pensioners need to amass a bigger pension pot to achieve the same standard of living as pensioner couples.”

Retirement savings needed for single pensioners and pensioner couples to secure an annuity – guaranteeing an income for life:

* Figures assume retirement at the age of 66, single life annuity, no guarantee, paid monthly in arrears, linked to RPI, non-smoker with no underlying health conditions. Account for tax free income up to Personal Allowance and then income taxed at 20%.