Pension Calculator (UK)
Your pension pot at retirement is built from your current savings, your own and your employer's contributions, the tax relief the government adds, and years of investment growth. Enter your details to project your pot, your 25% tax-free cash and the yearly income it could provide alongside the State Pension.
Project your UK pension pot and retirement income — including tax relief, the State Pension and your tax-free cash — and see whether you're on track for the retirement you want.
Based on 2026/27 UK figures — full new State Pension £241.30 a week (about £12,548 a year). Estimates in GBP; not financial advice.
Fill in your age, salary, current pot and contributions, then press Calculate to see your projected pot, retirement income and how it compares with your target.
How your pension pot is built
A pension is simply a long-term investment with generous tax help. Four things drive the pot you end up with:
- What you already have — your current pot keeps growing in the background.
- What goes in — your contributions, your employer's, and the tax relief the government adds on top of your own payments.
- How it grows — investment returns compound year after year, though charges quietly eat into them.
- How long you leave it — time is the biggest lever of all, because early contributions compound for decades.
The calculator grows your pot month by month at your chosen return after charges, and can step your contributions up with inflation so they keep pace with your salary. Because returns are never guaranteed, treat the result as a realistic projection, not a promise.
Turning your pot into retirement income
When you retire you have choices about how to turn the pot into income:
- Tax-free cash — you can usually take up to 25% of the pot tax-free (capped at £268,275). The rest is taxed as income.
- Drawdown — leave the pot invested and draw an income from it. A common guideline is around 4% a year, which this tool uses, but the sustainable rate depends on markets and how long you live.
- Annuity — swap some or all of the pot for a guaranteed income for life. Rates rose sharply in recent years, so it is worth comparing.
- State Pension — the full new State Pension adds about £12,548 a year from State Pension age, on top of your own pot.
Planning to retire early? Retiring before State Pension age leaves a gap of a few years where your own pot has to do all the work — set your retirement age above and the calculator shows the income you'd have, including the State Pension, so you can plan around it.
How much should you pay in?
Auto-enrolment sets a floor of 8% of qualifying earnings (at least 3% from your employer), but that is a minimum, not a target. Two rules of thumb help:
- Half your age — take the age you start saving seriously and halve it; that is a rough percentage of salary to aim for. Start at 30 and 15% is a sensible goal.
- The PLSA standards — a single person needs roughly £13,900 a year for a minimum lifestyle, £32,700 for moderate and £45,400 for comfortable, excluding housing. The State Pension covers part; your pot funds the rest.
Small increases matter more than they look: nudging your contribution up a percent or two, or grabbing every bit of employer match, can add a surprising amount over a working lifetime because of compounding. The compound interest calculator shows that effect in numbers, and the savings goal calculator works out the monthly amount to reach a target pot.
The pension projection formula
No black box — your projected pot is your current pot grown by compound investment returns, plus the future value of every contribution you make along the way.
Projected pension pot
- P0 — your current pension pot
- C — total monthly contribution (yours grossed up by tax relief, plus your employer's)
- i — monthly growth after charges = (1 + (growth − charges) ÷ 100)1/12 − 1
- N — number of months to retirement = 12 × years
If you increase contributions with inflation, the tool steps C up each year rather than keeping it level, and it converts the final pot into today's money by dividing by (1 + inflation)years.
How to use it & key terms
Enter your current pot, contributions, expected return and years to retirement, then press Calculate for your projected pension pot and income.
| Term | What it means |
|---|---|
| Pension pot | The total savings built up for retirement. |
| Contribution | What you and often your employer pay in each period. |
| Employer match | Money your employer adds — effectively free contributions. |
| Annual return | The growth rate assumed on the pot. |
| Annuity | A product that converts a pot into a guaranteed income for life. |
| Drawdown | Taking income directly from an invested pot instead of buying an annuity. |
| Tax-free lump sum | The portion (e.g. 25% in the UK) you can usually take tax-free. |
Sources & methodology
The pot is projected month by month: your current savings grow at your chosen return after charges, and each contribution is added and compounded to retirement using an effective monthly rate, (1 + net annual return)1/12 − 1. Your own contributions are grossed up for tax relief, your employer's are added, and both can rise each year with inflation. Tax-free cash is 25% of the pot capped at the £268,275 lump sum allowance; drawdown income uses the 4% guideline; and the full new State Pension is £241.30 a week (about £12,548 a year). Figures are shown in future pounds and in today's money (deflated by inflation), and the on-track check compares today's-money income with your target.
Sources: GOV.UK (new State Pension, pension tax relief and access ages), HMRC lump sum allowance, and the PLSA Retirement Living Standards. Standard compound-interest and future-value-of-an-annuity mathematics.
Old jobs, forgotten pots
One quiet risk this projection cannot capture is losing sight of the money altogether. A typical working life now spans many employers, and each job with a workplace pension tends to leave behind its own small pot. Change jobs a handful of times and you can end up with pensions scattered across several providers — some so old you have forgotten the paperwork, others still registered to an address you moved away from years ago. Money you cannot find is money that cannot work for you, and forgotten pots are surprisingly common.
The first habit worth building is simply keeping track. Note down each scheme as you leave a job, keep your contact details current with every provider, and check in on the pots from time to time rather than filing the annual statement away unread. When you know what you hold, you can see the whole picture the way this calculator assumes you can — one combined pot growing toward retirement, rather than fragments you have half lost count of.
Consolidating several old pots into one can make them easier to manage and, in some cases, cheaper to run, since charges quietly erode returns over decades. But it is not automatically the right move: an older scheme may carry valuable guarantees or protected features that would be lost on transfer, and exit penalties sometimes apply. The sensible approach is to compare the charges and the small print before combining anything, and to get regulated advice when a pot is large or the terms are unclear.
Two smaller details are easy to overlook and worth a moment. Check how each pot is actually invested — a very old default fund may be more cautious or more expensive than you would choose today — and make sure the nominated beneficiary on each scheme is up to date, because a pension usually sits outside your will and passes to whoever you last named. None of this changes the underlying maths of contributions, growth and time that drives the figure above, but a plan is only as good as the pots you remember to include in it. Gathering up the strays turns a scattered set of forgotten accounts back into a single retirement plan you can actually steer.
Frequently asked questions
How is my pension pot estimated?
We grow your current pot plus your and your employer's monthly contributions, topped up by tax relief, at your chosen investment growth rate less charges, until your retirement age. Contributions can rise each year with inflation. The result is an estimate, not a guarantee.
How much pension will I have when I retire?
It depends on how much goes in, for how long and how your investments grow. The calculator projects your pot and the yearly income it could provide through drawdown, plus the State Pension. As a rough guide, a £100,000 pot might support around £4,000 a year of income under the 4% guideline.
What is tax relief on pension contributions?
The government adds tax relief to personal pension contributions. Basic-rate taxpayers get 20% (so £80 becomes £100 in the pension), higher-rate 40% and additional-rate 45%, though relief above 20% is usually claimed back separately. Most people have a £60,000 annual allowance.
How much is the UK State Pension?
The full new State Pension is £241.30 a week for 2026/27 — about £12,548 a year — if you have 35 qualifying National Insurance years. It is normally paid from State Pension age, currently 66 and rising to 67 and later 68.
What is tax-free cash (the 25%)?
You can usually take up to 25% of your pension pot as a tax-free lump sum from age 55 (57 from April 2028), capped at the lump sum allowance of £268,275. The rest is taxed as income when you take it.
How much should I pay into my pension?
Auto-enrolment sets a minimum of 8% of qualifying earnings, of which at least 3% comes from your employer. A common rule of thumb is to contribute a percentage of salary equal to half your age when you start — for example 15% if you begin at 30.
What growth rate and fees should I assume?
Long-term returns are uncertain. Many illustrations use around 2–5% a year, and charges of roughly 0.4–0.9% a year reduce that. The calculator lets you set growth, fees and inflation so you can test cautious and optimistic scenarios.
When can I access my pension?
Workplace and personal pensions can normally be accessed from age 55, rising to 57 in April 2028. The State Pension is separate and starts at State Pension age (66–68). Retiring before State Pension age can leave an income gap to bridge from your own pot.
How big a pension pot do I need?
The PLSA Retirement Living Standards suggest a single person needs about £13,900 a year for a minimum lifestyle, £32,700 for moderate and £45,400 for comfortable, excluding housing costs. The State Pension covers part of this and your pot needs to provide the rest.
Should I take an annuity or use drawdown?
An annuity swaps your pot for a guaranteed income for life, which suits people who want certainty. Drawdown keeps your pot invested and lets you take flexible income — which can leave more for later or for heirs but carries investment risk. Many people mix both. This calculator projects your pot and a drawdown income under the 4% guideline so you can compare.
Is it worth deferring the State Pension?
You can put off taking the new State Pension, and it then rises by about 1% for every 9 weeks you delay — roughly 5.8% for a full year. Deferring can pay off if you expect to live long enough to recoup the payments you skipped and the extra income won't push you into a higher tax band. If you need the money sooner or have health concerns, taking it on time usually wins. This tool projects your own pot and drawdown income; the State Pension you enter is separate.
Is this financial advice?
No. It is an educational tool to help you plan and compare scenarios. Investment returns are not guaranteed and tax rules can change, so speak to a regulated financial adviser or Pension Wise before making decisions.