UK Pension Drawdown Calculator

Experimental tool to explore how long your pots might last alongside State Pension

How the calculations work

Projections, tax estimates, and the optimiser all run in your browser — nothing is sent to our servers to calculate results. Named scenarios stay in this browser when you are signed out; when you are signed in they are saved to your account.

State Pension age follows the GOV.UK State Pension age timetable . When State Pension is included, the calculator uses the full new State Pension rate published on GOV.UK . You can optionally increase that rate each year from today through retirement (default 2% on) — a simple assumption, not the triple lock. When signed in, you can also include a partner’s full new State Pension from their State Pension age; tax is estimated separately for each person.

Income goal is treated as a total annual household target. Once State Pension starts (if included), pot withdrawals only cover the remainder after your and any partner State Pension. Pot withdrawals use your chosen mix of tax-free and taxable funds (default 50/50); if one pot runs short, the other tops up. Your income goal can rise each year by a percentage you set (default 2%). By default that increase stops 5 years before your life expectancy age (set to 0 to keep increasing every year). Tax is estimated on taxable withdrawals plus each person’s State Pension using frozen 2026/27 England, Wales and Northern Ireland bands and personal allowance (including the £100,000 taper). Results show if and when the standard tax-free lump sum allowance is used up — whether taken as a 25% lump sum at retirement or as 25% of each taxable-pot withdrawal.

Growth is a constant nominal rate you can change. When signed in, you can optionally hold a chosen number of years of this year’s pot withdrawals in a lower-rate sleeve (for example cash or bonds) while the rest stays in the main pot at a higher rate. Each year one year of withdrawals is spent from that sleeve and replaced from the main pot, so the buffer stays about that many years of current spending. This is a simplified sequence-of-returns illustration — not a recommendation.

Life expectancy uses ONS UK period life expectancy by age and sex for 2022 to 2024 as the default marker on the results chart — not a guarantee of lifespan. You can change the life expectancy age on the results page. The optional optimiser searches yearly income and tax-free / taxable mixes to aim for emptying pots around that age while keeping estimated income tax lower under these simplified rules.

This is not financial advice.
Figures are simplified estimates for England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Scottish Income Tax bands differ.
State Pension assumes a full new State Pension with a complete National Insurance record for each person included. You can turn on an annual increase from today through retirement (default 2%). When signed in, a partner’s State Pension can be included from their State Pension age; partner pots and lifespan are not modelled. Separately, you can set an annual increase for the income you need.
Growth is a constant nominal rate you can change. When signed in, you can optionally hold some years of withdrawals in a lower-rate pot while the rest grows at a higher rate. Investment returns are not guaranteed.
You can save named scenarios in this browser when signed out, or to your account when signed in. Browser-only saves may be lost if you clear site data or use another device.