Latest news with #Loughborough
BBC News
a day ago
- Business
- BBC News
Lower energy costs make retirement less expensive
Lower energy prices mean the amount of money needed to meet a basic standard of living in retirement has fallen, a major report has those wanting a better retirement will need a higher income than ever before, the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association (PLSA) has year, the trade body estimates the level of income needed to have a minimum, moderate or comfortable standard of living as a suggested the cost of a minimum retirement living standard for a one-person household has decreased by £1,000 a year to £13,400. The calculations are developed and maintained independently by the Centre for Research in Social Policy at Loughborough University. They are intended as a guide for those planning their retirement savings. Varying lifestyles Lower domestic gas and electricity bills, compared with a recent peak, are the main reason costs are lower than a year ago for those wanting a basic retirement. Some of this has been offset by higher rail fares.A two-person household now needs an annual income of £21,600, down from £22,400 a year previously, according to the minimum standard is calculated to include money for a couple's weekly groceries, a week's holiday in the UK, eating out about once a month and some affordable leisure activities about twice a for those wanting a better standard of living, the costs have what the PLSA calls a "moderate" lifestyle, a single person would need £31,700, up by £400 from £31,300 previously, while two people would need £43,900, up by £800 from £43,100 level includes money for running a small second-hand car, a week holidaying in Europe and a long weekend break in the PLSA also estimates what income is needed for a "comfortable" retirement, which includes luxuries such as regular beauty treatments, theatre trips and two weeks' holiday in Europe a this, a single person would need £43,900, up by £800 from £43,100 previously, and a two-person household would need £60,600 - a £1,600 annual increase from £59, of the categories include housing costs, because many pensioners have paid off a mortgage, while those who rent often have a benefit entitlement to help them Alexander, director of policy and advocacy at the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association, said; "For many, retirement is about maintaining the life they already have not living more extravagantly or cutting back to the bare essentials."We're not just seeing changes in costs, we're seeing changes in how retirees live. Retirement isn't a one-size-fits-all experience. Retirees can share costs, often with a partner, and that can make a huge difference to affordability in later life." Do your homework Experts said the report was extremely useful to help with retirement Llewellyn, from insurance company L&G, said: "Planning how you'll spend your retirement years is often exciting, but working out how long your money will last can be overwhelming."Helen Morrissey, head of retirement analysis at investment platform Hargreaves Lansdown, said: "Once you've got an idea of what you want then you can start to put a figure on what that might cost and you can then use online calculators to see if what you've got in your pension will get you where you need to be." The research does indicate that, while people approaching retirement age are confident about paying off their mortgage by the time they are pensioners, that is far less of the case among younger 56% of those aged between 35 and 54 expected to own outright by retirement age, compared with 68% among those aged 65 and younger generation said they were more likely to be renting from a private landlord, with one in 10 expecting to do so in Monday, banking trade body UK Finance said first-time buyers were borrowing through mortgages that lasted an average of 31 years, compared with 28 years a decade ago.
Daily Mail
2 days ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
Study reveals how much it will cost couples each year to retire in comfort... and the amount you need to be able to go on holiday and enjoy trips to the theatre
The cost of a comfortable retirement for couples has tipped beyond £60,000 a year, a study has found. For households wanting to invest their hard-earned pensions in several holidays, theatre trips and flash cars, the annual sum needed to do so has soared to £60,600. And if retired couples are seeking to have just a 'moderate' lifestyle – with fewer trips abroad and only the occasional meal out – this will still set them back £43,900 each year, according to retirement advisers the Pension and Lifetime Savings Association (PLSA). Individuals will, meanwhile, need to save even harder as the moderate retirement level would cost them £31,700 and the comfortable alternative £43,900. The Pension and Lifetime Savings Association study, compiled by Loughborough University (pictured), showed lower energy prices have dampened the annual rise in retirement costs Compiled by Loughborough University, the PLSA's Retirement Living Standards report indicates what annual incomes workers need for a minimum, moderate or comfortable retirement. These are based on different baskets of goods and services such as food and drink, transport, holidays, clothes and social outings. The study also showed lower energy prices have dampened the annual rise in retirement costs, while the income needed to fund a moderate or better lifestyle has risen by only a few percentage points since the PLSA's last report.
BBC News
4 days ago
- General
- BBC News
Dragon boat racers go from disaster to Team GB
A dragon boat racing club which was taken to the brink of closure after Storm Henk washed its boats away is now celebrating after nine of its rowers secured a place on the Great British team. Four boats owned by the Soaring Dragons club disappeared in January 2024 when Storm Henk caused widespread flooding across the East Midlands. Paul Freemantle, the club's head coach, said they feared the loss of the boats would end the club, until three of the vessels were recovered and a fourth, which was smashed beyond repair, was replaced. And five adult members of the club and four juniors are now set to represent Great Britain at the Dragon Boat World Championships in Germany. Speaking about the loss of the club's boats, Mr Freemantle said: "If we're being honest, we probably could have lost the club. "If you cannot get out on the river in your boat, you cannot train, and if you cannot train, you cannot exist as a club."The club, which is based in Hathern near Loughborough, recovered three of the boats it lost soon after the floods, but its main £12,000 racing boat called "The Major" had launched an appeal in an effort to find it, and it was found a year later about 28 miles away in Hoveringham, Nottinghamshire. It had been damaged beyond repair and was missing its front end, which was later washed up near Trent Bridge in Nottingham. The club managed to replace "The Major" with a new boat in time to compete and retain its position as national champions in March members of the club have now been selected to compete for Team GB at the Dragon Boat Racing World Championships in Brandenburg an der Havel, Germany, in July. Dragon boat teams, made up of 20 rowers, a helmsman and a drummer, from across the world will battle in a number of different age group categories. "We have got five in the over-40 category and then we now have four juniors in the under 18s that are racing this year as well," Mr Freemantle said. "For a club to have that many people selected for GB is brilliant. "We're incredibly proud. To see the effort they have put in, especially the juniors is really quite something."They are studying for their GCSEs at the moment, it's an important time for them, and when they are not racing, they're studying. They've had books out studying in the club house between training sessions. "That dedication is absolutely amazing and is inspirational for the rest of us."
BBC News
4 days ago
- General
- BBC News
Bid to turn former tip in Loughborough into public space dropped
A bid to turn a former rubbish tip in Loughborough into a new park or public open space has been dropped. Charnwood Borough Council says it planned to transform the former refuse site behind Loughborough recycling and household waste centre into a new public open space. However, no progress has been made on the plan in the last 20 years and the council says it has been left with "no route" to complete the project due to lack of cash. Officers have now asked the council's ruling cabinet group for permission to lease the site to a company nearby, which plans to install solar panels on the land to power its premises. A report compiled for the cabinet says the land is currently not occupied or maintained in any way and is not accessible to the adds there is a locked gate, but it is often "breached" and "used for anti-social behaviour purposes, such as motorcycle riding and illegal camping".The report says: "Local government now faces significant challenges, both in terms of funding and in terms of local government reorganisation, which may continue to prevent any meaningful redevelopment of the site."Officers had considered installing solar panels on the site themselves in 2022, but realised they would not be able to connect the panels to the National Grid for another 10 years. Instead the authority is now looking to lease the land to an unnamed company which plans to install its own solar panels to power its premises nearby. The council's cabinet is being asked to confirm the land is surplus to requirements and approve the lease at its meeting on 6 June.
BBC News
27-05-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Sawyers delighted to return after 20-month absence
"It'll be a long road, but I'm ready to work hard," said Great Britain long jumper Jazmin Sawyers when sharing the painful news, external of her Achilles rupture last injury, which ruled her out of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, came just over a year after her best moment in the sport ecstatic celebrations produced memorable images as she won the 2023 European Indoor title, jumping a UK indoor record of 7.00 metres in the 31-year-old finally competed again this month after a 20-month absence, leaping to 6.53m at the Loughborough International Athletics Meeting."It felt so, so good. I was more nervous than I can remember being for a competition," Sawyers told BBC Radio Stoke."My heart rate was high all day. Since the minute I woke up, I wasn't able to be calm. "But, just to get back and still feel like myself, to be jumping a kind of distance that I have opened with in any other normal season, I'm so pleased," she a finalist at Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020, did make it to a third Olympics, last summer - but as a television commentator for the her enthusiasm and expertise alongside regular contributors like Steve Backley and Jeanette Kwakye won high praise, it was certainly not her first-choice wrote on her Instagram after the Games: "I'm certain I won't be joining them again in Los Angeles in four years time. I actually have something else I'd like to do." 'We're back in long jump business' Earlier this month, Sawyers said she was back to full speed and strength in the last of a series of videos, external that she nicknamed "The Achilles Diaries".On Saturday, she rubber-stamped her return, improving her 2025 best to 6.66 in Weinheim in qualifying standard for September's World Athletics Championships in Tokyo is 6.86m, but she could still be considered for a place with 6.75m if she is high enough in the world rankings."At the minute, I'm unranked because I haven't done five competitions in the last year, so I've just got to build that back up and hopefully make my way back to my best," she injury left her unable to defend her European Indoor title in Apeldoorn in March, or contest the World Indoors in Nanjing later that month, but Sawyers is encouraged by those who competed in her absence."We're having a real moment with long jump. There was a year or two where we didn't have multiple athletes fighting for spots," she said. "But we're back in long jump business and so many of the women are brilliant athletes. Molly Palmer is due a huge jump, the same with Alice Hopkins."Palmer beat Sawyers to gain victory in Loughborough, while Hopkins made her major championship debut in Apeldoorn."We're going to keep seeing these athletes jump further," Sawyers added."That is only a good thing. It means that we all push each other on to be better."
