Save '˜Â£131 a month from age 20' to fund comfortable retirement

Those who delay saving until their 50th birthday will need to salt away as much as £633 a month for the same benefits.

The consumers’ organisation Which? says retired couples need £18,000 a year to cover food, utilities, transport and other essentials, rising to £26,000 allowing for leisure activities and a European holiday.

It says a “defined contribution pot” of £210,000, in addition to the state pension entitlement, would be needed to fund such a lifestyle. .

Gareth Shaw at Which? said: “When it comes to saving for your retirement, start early and save often. Being a part of your company pension scheme is a good start, but, depending on how much you contribute, you could well need to save a little more to have the lifestyle you want in retirement.”

Meanwhile, today has been identified as “mortgage freedom day”, on which home owners will typically have earned enough to cover the annual cost of their loan.

The calculation by Halifax is based on an average take-home income of £26,810, and an annual mortgage payment of £7,968.

But with wide variations in house prices across the country, the exact “break-even” date varies, with Yorkshire householders able to celebrate three weeks ago, and those in London forced to wait until June.

Halifax also calculates that “rental freedom day”, on which tenants across the UK have earned enough to cover their annual rent, fell in Yorkshire last week and falls nationally on May 6.

Chris Gowland, mortgages director at Halifax, said: “Our research is a simple way of comparing mortgage and rent payments, quite often the largest financial commitment people make, across the UK using average regional earnings. The research highlights a divide between the North and the South.”