🏖 Retirement Savings Calculator (UK)
Find out if you're on track to retire comfortably - and exactly how much you need to save each month.
UK retirement saving uses three vehicles: SIPP (tax relief at marginal rate, 25% tax-free at 55+ rising to 57 from 2028), workplace pension under auto-enrolment (minimum 8% combined), and ISA (£20,000/year, tax-free in and out). HMRC's Pensions Tax Manual is the authoritative rulebook.
UK retirement planning since the 2015 pension freedoms is materially more flexible than in most countries, but the flexibility carries decisions that compound over decades. This calculator models accumulation and decumulation across the three vehicles UK residents actually use.
Vehicle 1 — SIPP / Personal Pension Contributions receive tax relief at your marginal rate (20% / 40% / 45%) up to £60,000/year (2026/27) or 100% of relevant earnings, whichever is lower. A tapered annual allowance applies for adjusted income over £260,000 (down to a £10,000 floor). 25% of the pot can be drawn as a tax-free lump sum at age 55 (rising to 57 from 6 April 2028); the remainder is taxed as income on withdrawal. The Lifetime Allowance was abolished from 6 April 2024 and replaced with the Lump Sum Allowance (£268,275) and Lump Sum and Death Benefit Allowance (£1,073,100). Once flexible drawdown begins, the Money Purchase Annual Allowance drops to £10,000/year.
Vehicle 2 — Workplace Pension (auto-enrolment) Minimum 8% of qualifying earnings (£6,240-£50,270) split 5% employee + 3% employer. Most employers match more — often the highest-return contribution available. Salary sacrifice, where offered, saves employee and employer NI on the contributed amount, lifting effective return by 8-13.8%.
Vehicle 3 — ISA (Stocks & Shares) £20,000/year allowance across all ISA types. Post-tax money in, tax-free growth, tax-free withdrawal — with no 25% lump-sum cap, no minimum age, and full flexibility. Best used alongside a pension, not instead of, because pension tax relief at 40-45% marginal rates is mathematically superior for higher-rate taxpayers. For a focused projection of S&S ISA growth on the full £20,000 annual allowance, our Stocks & Shares ISA calculator models 5-40 year horizons with real-vs-nominal toggles.
Realistic UK retirement maths: - Equity returns: 4-6% real (after CPI) - Safe withdrawal rate: 3.5-4% for a 30-year horizon - State Pension full new amount 2026/27: £241.30/week (≈£12,548/year), payable from State Pension age (66 now, rising to 67 between 6 May 2026 and 6 March 2028)
For underlying rules, HMRC's Pensions Tax Manual on gov.uk and the Money and Pensions Service (MoneyHelper) retirement planner are the authoritative references. Savers planning to retire at 55 in the UK should also model the 55-57 ISA bridge required by the 2028 NMPA rise — see our retire-at-55 calculator for the pot target and bridge maths at a 3.5% UK-modified SWR.
Find out if you're on track to retire comfortably - and exactly how much you need to save each month.
How much do I need to retire?
A common rule of thumb is 25× your expected annual spending in retirement — the inverse of the 4% safe-withdrawal rate. If you plan to spend $40,000 a year, you need about $1 million invested. Your exact target depends on retirement age, expected real returns, inflation, and any other income such as a state pension or social security.
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How to use this calculator
Takes about 3 minutes.
- Enter your current age and the age you'd like to retire
- Add your current retirement savings and the amount you contribute each month
- Set the expected annual return — 6 to 8 percent is a standard real-return assumption
- Enter the desired annual retirement income you want your portfolio to support
- USA only: add your employer 401(k) match percentage if applicable
- Review your projected balance, the 4% safe-withdrawal income it generates, and your savings gap
Try these scenarios
Tap a scenario to load it into the calculator above.
Methodology & Sources
This calculator implements the standard retirement growth + drawdown formula: Future value = PV × (1+r)^n + PMT × [((1+r)^n − 1) / r]. Region-specific tax and rate defaults are sourced directly from each country's primary government source and reviewed against the publication date below.
- USA: IRS — federal income tax brackets and contribution limits.
- UK: GOV.UK — HMRC personal allowance, National Insurance, and dividend rates.
- SA: SARS — personal income tax brackets and tax rebates.
Last verified: May 2026.
Key concepts
Time is the dominant variable. A 25-year-old saving $300/month until 65 at a 7% real return ends with roughly $720k. The same person starting at 40 needs to save about $900/month to land at the same number. Compounding rewards early decades disproportionately.
Real return assumption. Most planners use a 4-7% real (after-inflation) return for a diversified equity-heavy portfolio. The US S&P 500's long-run average is around 7% real (Federal Reserve and Shiller data); add bonds and the figure drops.
The 4% rule. William Bengen's 1994 research showed a retiree could withdraw 4% of their starting balance, adjusted for inflation, for 30 years with very high success across historical periods. It's a starting point — not a guarantee.
Withdrawal-phase years. The calculator's 'retirement years' input matters: a 30-year retirement needs a bigger pot than a 20-year one at the same spending level. Plan to age 95 if you have family longevity.
Sequence-of-returns risk. A bear market in your first five years of retirement does more damage than the same drawdown 20 years in. This is why many planners shift to a more conservative asset mix in the run-up to retirement.
Frequently Asked Questions
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