Pension pot and drawdown
Pension calculator: how much you need, and what you are on course for
Enter your age, your pots and what goes in each month, then the yearly income you want. Everything is shown in today’s money, so £1 on the result buys what £1 buys now.
Independent site, not a government service. Relief is claimed through your pension provider, your payroll or HMRC (Self Assessment or the GOV.UK claim service).
Example, not your result yet· change a figure to see yours
Pot at retirement, today’s money
£313,608
About £14,363 a year from the pot until 95, £26,911 with the State Pension from 67.
| Years to go | 27 |
| Paid in over that time | £162,000 |
| Growth after charges and inflation | £91,608 |
| Full new State Pension a year | £12,548 |
| Pot needed for your target income | £293,723 |
| Monthly saving needed for it | £453 |
Real return used: 2.0% a year. Growth is not guaranteed and the result is an illustration, not a forecast of your scheme.
State Pension at £12,548 a year assumes 35 qualifying years; check yours with the GOV.UK forecast. Retiring before 67 means the pot pays the whole income until then.
How much pension you need depends on the income you want, the age you stop and how long the money must last, and the State Pension does a large part of the work. The full new State Pension is £241.30 a week in 2026/27, £12,548 a year, for someone with 35 qualifying years (GOV.UK, new State Pension). It starts at your State Pension age, which you check by date of birth on GOV.UK. A 40-year-old with £60,000 in pots who adds £500 a month, with 5% growth, 0.5% charges and 2.5% inflation, reaches about £313,608 at 67 in today's money. To draw £26,000 a year before tax from 67 to 95, with the full State Pension from 67, needs a pot of about £293,723. The calculator shows both numbers, and the monthly saving that would close any gap. Private pensions can be taken from 55, rising to 57 on 6 April 2028.
Figures checked by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · How the sums are done
The pot a target income needs
The figures below assume a real return of 2.0% a year after charges and inflation, and income paid until 95. They are before Income Tax: pension income above the Personal Allowance is taxed, as GOV.UK explains, and a quarter of the pot can usually be taken tax free up to the £268,275 lump sum allowance.
| Yearly income wanted | Retire at 67 | Retire at 60 | At 67, no State Pension |
|---|---|---|---|
| £15,000 | £53,546 | £145,932 | £327,514 |
| £20,000 | £162,718 | £274,344 | £436,685 |
| £26,000 | £293,723 | £428,439 | £567,691 |
| £35,000 | £490,232 | £659,581 | £764,199 |
| £45,000 | £708,574 | £916,405 | £982,542 |
Retiring at 60 costs much more than the seven extra years of income, because the pot alone pays everything until the State Pension starts. The last column shows how much the State Pension is worth: replacing it with a private pot would take a large sum.
What £400 a month becomes, by starting age
| Age you start | Pot at 67, today’s money |
|---|---|
| 25 | £310,625 |
| 35 | £212,431 |
| 45 | £131,491 |
| 55 | £64,774 |
Starting at 25 rather than 45 more than triples the result, even though only twice as many payments go in. Tax relief makes each payment cheaper than it looks: £400 gross costs a basic rate taxpayer £320 by relief at source, and less by salary sacrifice. The pension tax relief calculator shows what your own contributions cost, and the salary sacrifice calculator what changes in April 2029.
Limits of a projection
The calculator uses one steady return every year, while real funds rise and fall. It does not know your scheme's charges, any defined benefit pension or the tax you pay on withdrawals. Once you know your pot at retirement, the drawdown calculator shows how long a chosen income lasts. The earliest age to take a private pension rises from 55 to 57 on 6 April 2028 under the change to the normal minimum pension age, with some protected exceptions.
Reading the result
The headline figure is the pot at the age you chose, after charges and inflation, so you can compare it with prices today. The line below gives the yearly income that pot could pay, level in real terms, until the age you plan to, and the total once the State Pension starts. The last row is the monthly saving, contributions and tax relief together, that would make the pot match your target. If it is far above what you pay now, the options are the usual ones: retire later, aim for a lower income, take more investment risk or pay in more. Moving the retirement age by two years usually changes the answer more than a modest change in growth. Remember that a basic rate taxpayer's £100 of contribution costs £80, and an employer match is money you would otherwise not get.