Stressing the importance of saving for your retirement is a drum we here at The Motley Fool like to beat on a regular basis. Pensioner poverty in the UK is on the rise as growing social care costs outstrip the rate at which the State Pension is rising each year. The impact on the Covid-19 crisis on the public purse means this disparity is likely to get much worse too.
It’s no reason for you and I to panic though. After all, history shows us that investing in UK shares can allow us to hurdle the problem of a poor State Pension and retire in comfort. Building a terrific nestegg for retirement doesn’t need to cost the earth either.
Just £100 could make the difference!
History shows us that long-term investors in UK shares tend to enjoy an average annual return of between 8% and 10% per year. There are few other investment options that can deliver that sort of proven return over time. And so it’s the perfect solution to help boost your post-retirement income and offset that pathetic State Pension.
Let’s say you have as little to invest as £100 a month in something like a Stocks and Shares ISA. Based on that 8-10% formula, someone who buys a hundred pounds worth of shares a month can expect to make somewhere between £141,000 and £206,000 over the space of 30 years.
Look, I understand the rising cost of living in recent years, and more recently the economic crisis caused by the Covid-19 outbreak, has put all of our finances under serious pressure. But I think £100 per month is very much achieveable for many of us. It may require some discipline when it comes to your habits sure. I reckon £100 per month is a small price to pay to obtain peace of mind though, as the real-world benefits of the State Pension crumbles.
Soothe your State Pension worries today
The returns you and I can make from UK shares over the long term could well stave off pensioner poverty then. If you can afford to invest more than £100 a month though, the returns could be much more spectacular.
Someone who can stretch their investing budget to £200 per month could, at those proven rates of return, build a mighty retirement fund of between £282,000 and £413,000 over 30 years. Even those who don’t have the benefit of three decades to save before retirement can make decent returns too. My calculations show that someone who invests that same amount over 15 years could build a nestegg ranging from £68,000 to £80,000. So stock investing can make a big difference even to those who have no savings at 50.
So get investing in UK shares, I say. They could help you stave off pensioner poverty caused by the weak State Pension. And the stock market crash enables you and I to build a five-star shares portfolio at little cost too.