{"id":296784,"date":"2026-02-22T15:23:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-22T15:23:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/296784\/"},"modified":"2026-02-22T15:23:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-22T15:23:08","slug":"you-can-aim-to-double-the-state-pension-for-the-price-of-a-daily-coffee","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/296784\/","title":{"rendered":"You can aim to double the State Pension for the price of a daily coffee!"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Is it really possible for an investor to double the retirement income of the current State Pension by simply skipping their morning coffee and investing the money into UK shares?<\/p>\n<p>As it turns out, with the right strategy, the answer\u2019s yes. And there are already countless investors aiming to build a chunky nest egg to secure a more comfortable retirement. Here\u2019s how.<\/p>\n<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Retirement-plan-1200x675.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full wp-post-image\" alt=\"The words &quot;what's your plan for retirement&quot; written on chalkboard on pavement somewhere in London\"  \/><\/p>\n<p>Image source: Getty Images<\/p>\n<p>Building a custom portfolio<\/p>\n<p>Today, a decent cup of coffee in London will, on average, set you back roughly \u00a34. Alone, that doesn\u2019t seem like much. But buying a cup of Joe each day quickly adds up to roughly \u00a3122 a month.<\/p>\n<p>But what if this money were invested instead? On average, the UK stock market generates a total annualised return of roughly 8%. Investing \u00a3122 a month at this rate with a brand-new portfolio would <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fool.co.uk\/investing-basics\/the-miracle-of-compound-returns\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">gradually compound<\/a> over time and eventually start snowballing. So much so that after 37 years, an investor would have accumulated \u00a3331,400.<\/p>\n<p>When following the 4% withdrawal rule, that\u2019s enough to generate a \u00a313,256 passive income, allowing investors to more than double the income provided by the UK State Pension alone.<\/p>\n<p>Of course, waiting for a lifetime is far from ideal, yet by crafting a custom portfolio rather than <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fool.co.uk\/investing-basics\/isas-and-investment-funds\/tracker-funds-and-index-trackers\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">relying on index funds<\/a>, it\u2019s possible for this journey to be drastically accelerated.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s because with a custom portfolio, investors can go on to earn market-beating returns. And while that can prove tricky, even a modest improvement can cut years from the waiting time without needing any extra capital.<\/p>\n<p>Average Annual Portfolio ReturnApproximate Time To Reach \u00a3331,400 By Investing \u00a3122 Per Month8%37 Years10%32 Years12%28 Years14%25 Years<\/p>\n<p>Aiming for 14% gains<\/p>\n<p>Cutting 12 years off the waiting time sounds great. But it\u2019s important to recognise the difficulty of actually earning a 14% annualised return. Investors will need to identify a business with ample long-term growth potential, protected by a wide moat of competitive advantages.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s a pretty rare combination. But as long-time shareholders of Diploma (<a class=\"tickerized-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.fool.co.uk\/tickers\/lse-dplm\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">LSE:DPLM<\/a>) know, finding these hidden opportunities can be immensely rewarding.<\/p>\n<p>Through its strategy of executing bolt-on acquisitions and improving operations to fuel organic growth, the business steadily dominated niche engineering sectors often protected by regulatory barriers to entry.<\/p>\n<p>This unique combination of acquisitive and organic growth alongside limited competition enabled the business to deliver jaw-dropping, long-term returns.<\/p>\n<p>Fun fact: since February 2006, Diploma shares have generated an average annualised return of 22.5% \u2013 enough to transform \u00a3122 a month into a \u00a3555,300 nest egg!<\/p>\n<p>Still worth considering?<\/p>\n<p>At a market-cap of \u00a37.2bn, it\u2019s unlikely Diploma shares will continue generating a 20%+ annualised return. But that doesn\u2019t mean the growth story\u2019s over.<\/p>\n<p>In 2026, the business is still posting impressive double-digit growth and continues to pursue new opportunities in sectors like aerospace, datacentres, and biotech diagnostics.<\/p>\n<p>Obviously, that doesn\u2019t guarantee Diploma will continue to outperform. Its reputation for quality isn\u2019t exactly a secret in 2026, with the stock priced for near perfection. And as with any acquisition-oriented growth strategy, there remains continuous execution risk.<\/p>\n<p>If acquired businesses fail to live up to performance expectations, shareholder value could end up being destroyed \u2013 a risk that investors have to consider carefully. Nevertheless, with such an impressive track record, taking that risk has so far proven exceptionally lucrative.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s why, despite the premium valuation, Diploma shares may still be worth a closer look in 2026.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Is it really possible for an investor to double the retirement income of the current State Pension by&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":112893,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[138,246,111,139,69,244,245],"class_list":["post-296784","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-personal-finance","tag-business","tag-finance","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-personal-finance","tag-personalfinance"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/296784","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=296784"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/296784\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/112893"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=296784"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=296784"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=296784"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}