Planning for retirement can feel overwhelming. How much money will you need to maintain a comfortable lifestyle? How can you save enough to achieve it? Careful planning is needed, and a few simple moves made now can add up significantly, an expert has said.

The Retirement Living Standards regularly publishes estimates of the annual income required to achieve certain standards of living, including minimum, moderate, and comfortable. According to its latest report, single-person households need an annual income of £31,700 to achieve a “moderate income”, while a two-person household would need around £43,900. For this living standard, a couple could spend around £100 a week on groceries, £60 a week on eating out, run a small secondhand car, have a holiday in Europe and a long weekend break in the UK. The figure rises for those seeking a “comfortable retirement”, with one-person households requiring an annual income of around £43,900, and couples needing around £60,600.

Wherever you are in your investing journey, Craig Rickman, personal finance expert at Interactive Investor, shared a few tips to help boost the figure in your pension pot.

The state pension will receive an inflation-beating 4.8% boost in April, elevating the full amount to £12,548 a year for those who receive the new state pension.

To get the full amount, most people need around 35 years of qualifying National Insurance (NI) contributions by the time they reach state pension age, which is currently 66, rising to 67 in 2028.

People accumulate NI years through active employment or by receiving National Insurance (NI) credits, which are granted during periods of unemployment, illness, or while fulfilling parental or caregiving responsibilities.

Those who have gaps, which may have occurred when credits weren’t claimed, can increase their state pension by purchasing additional NI years to fill these gaps.

Mr Rickman said: “If you’re set to fall short of the maximum amount, you can potentially plug gaps in your NI record from the last six years by making voluntary contributions.

“Each missing year you fill will cost around £800 to £900, but you can boost your state pension income by £342 annually based on the current full amount. This means you’ll only need to claim the state pension for three years for that investment to pay off.

“While the state pension alone won’t afford you a comfortable lifestyle in retirement, getting the maximum amount provides a valuable foundation to help meet everyday costs, which you can supplement with your personal savings.”

However, it should be noted that, while purchasing missing National Insurance years to plug gaps may be beneficial for some people, it may not be for others.

People can see if they’d benefit by checking their National Insurance record and state pension forecast on the GOV.UK website.

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) also offer an online state pension forecast service to help people calculate if they’ll benefit from making voluntary contributions.

You don’t have to use pensions to save for your retirement, but the attractive tax perks on offer mean they’re often the best way to accrue wealth quickly, says Mr Rickman.

As long as contributions don’t exceed your annual allowance, which for most savers is the lower of £60,000 or 100% of earnings, you get upfront tax relief at your highest marginal rate.

To put the savings into context, a £100 contribution today typically costs you £80 if you live in the UK and are a basic-rate taxpayer, £60 if you’re a higher-rate taxpayer and £55 if you pay additional rate tax.

However, some higher and additional rate taxpayers need to claim the extra tax relief from HMRC – a requirement thousands of people aren’t aware of. Subsequently, Brits collectively miss out on millions of pounds year-on-year.

According to research by Standard Life, up to £1.3 billion worth of pension tax relief went unclaimed in the five tax years between 2016/17 and 2020/21.

Taxpayers can claim higher-rate or additional-rate relief via the HMRC online service or through their self-assessment tax return. Those eligible can even backdate claims for up to four previous tax years.

For most higher earners in workplace schemes, no extra claim is usually necessary. However, those with personal pensions using the “relief at source” system — where only basic-rate relief is added automatically — should reclaim the additional tax relief through self-assessment. HMRC estimates that around 80,000 personal pension relief claims are made each year.

Look into carry-forward rules

You might be able to pay in more than £60,000 under carry forward rules, which allow you to tap into unused annual pension allowances from the previous three tax years. However, Mr Rickman said: “Contributions still can’t exceed the current year’s earnings.”

To qualify for carry forward, you must’ve been a member of a UK registered pension during the tax years in question.

Mr Rickman added: “The key is to start topping up your pension savings as soon as you can.

“A basic-rate taxpayer contributing an extra £80 a month, boosted to £100 with upfront tax relief, will increase their savings by £16,865 in 10 years’ time, assuming 5% investment growth net of fees and contributions increase 2% a year.”

If you’re employed, a great way to give your retirement savings a shot in the arm is to maximise employer pension contributions, says Mr Rickman.

Under current rules, provided you pay 5% of ‘qualifying earnings’ into your pension, your workplace must contribute at least 3%; however, some employers are more generous and will offer to pay above the legal minimums.

Mr Rickman said: “While you may have to jack up your personal payments to benefit, this can be a savvy move as it’s essentially free money that relieves you from doing all the heavy lifting.

“For example, assuming you earn the average UK wage of £39,000, if your employer offers a 7% matching arrangement, you pay £182 a month in your pension, which increases to £227.50 with tax relief, and your employer contributes the same, totalling £455 a month.

“If this is arranged via salary sacrifice, where you trade a portion of your earnings for an equivalent pension payment, your monthly contribution falls to just £163.80 as you save 8% National Insurance too. Check with your HR department to find out the maximum your workplace will pay.”

Note, a proposed £2,000 cap on pension salary sacrifice is set to take effect from April 2029.

Keeping an eye on investment costs is vital, including those on your pensions and Stocks and Shares ISAs.

Mr Rickman said: “Every extra pound paid in fees that doesn’t translate to a better outcome is a pound less for your future.

“Take the time to learn what you pay for your investment platform if you use one, your fund and investment trust charges, and any transaction fees you incur, such as for trading activities.

“Reducing fees where sensible will enable you to retain more of your hard-earned investment growth, giving you more money to spend on things you enjoy in retirement.”

A staggering 83% of UK pension savers said they have “no idea” what they’re paying in pension fees, according to Interactive Investor’s research published last year.

Investment fees are charged by your pension provider to cover the cost of managing and investing your savings. They are usually taken as a percentage of your total pot or as a fixed monthly or annual fee.

Even a 1% annual fee on a typical Self-Invested Personal Pension (SIPP) can erode retirement savings by tens of thousands of pounds over time. This could mean years of lost income in retirement.

Calculations from Investing Insiders suggested that those who invested £50,000 for 30 years at a 5% annual growth rate would finish with £187,265 after 0.5% annual fees. If those fees increased to 1.5%, the total would drop to £140,340 – a difference of £46,925.

Free online calculators are available to use to find out if you’re on track for the retirement lifestyle you want.

Moneyhelper, an impartial website backed by the Government, offers a free pension forecasting tool here.