Most think they will need at least €41,000 a year for a decent retirement

Most people who have yet to retire think they will need close to €41,000 to fund the years when they leave work. 

This is the equivalent of around three-quarters of the average Irish wage. 

Men think they will need more to financially survive retirement, according to research commissioned by life and pensions company Royal London Ireland. 

They believe they will need an annual retirement income of €44,000 on average, compared with €38,000 for women. 

The nationwide iReach survey of 1,000 people of all ages who have yet to retire, shows that 97pc of those believe that the state pension alone is not enough to get by on.

The maximum state pension is currently €15,564 a year, Royal London said.

Out of the respondents, 896 of whom were yet to retire, the survey also found that one in 10 expect to need between €75,000 and €100,000 a year or more. 

Expectations of the amount of money needed in retirement vary widely, depending on age, gender, marital status and where an individual is living.

Men are almost twice as likely as women to say they would need an income of €100,000-plus when they retire.

Those aged between 25 and 34 believe they will need the most income in retirement.

This age cohort expects to need an annual income of €48,443 on average in retirement. 

The amount of income which people think they will need in retirement decreases with age.

Those aged between 55 and 64 believe they will need the least amount of money when they retire.

People in this age group believe that €33,701 on average would be enough annual income in retirement. 

This compares to an average of €38,896 for 45- to 54-year-olds and €41,103 for 35- to 44-year-olds.

Pension proposition lead at Royal London Ireland, Mark Reilly said: “People often underestimate the amount of savings required for a comfortable retirement – as well as the expenses they will face during this phase of life. 

“Our research found that, on average, people believe they will need €40,860 a year in retirement.”

He said that whether people can secure whatever annual pension they are expecting will really depend on how they approach pension saving.

“While the overwhelming majority (97pc) of people who are yet to retire, don’t expect to be able to get by in retirement on €15,000 a year, which is close to the current state pension, a recent report from the CSO found that around one-third of workers don’t have a private pension and mostly expect to rely on the state pension.”

Mr Reilly said the new auto-enrolment scheme, MyFutureFund, should help boost pension coverage.

Taking the average amount of income which the survey found people expect in retirement (€40,860), experts at Royal London Ireland calculated how much saving would be required to hit that target, assuming that the individual qualifies for the full state pension (contributory).

Source: Charlie Weston, Irish Independent, 16th of July 2026.