UK Gilt Ladder Calculator

Build an illustrative retirement ladder using conventional UK gilts available in the existing gilt table. The calculator assumes every gilt is bought now, held to redemption, and its coupons and principal are used rather than reinvested.

How the ladder is selected

The calculator looks for a gilt maturing in each target calendar year and chooses the one with the highest estimated annualised return after coupon tax for your selected band. If a target year has no priced conventional gilt, the preceding rung is doubled and split across those two spending years. Allocations are then adjusted so total after-tax coupons and maturity proceeds follow your chosen annual increase — flat at 0%, or rising each year to match an inflation assumption.

Tax and annual returns

Coupon income from every selected gilt is combined by UK tax year before applying the Personal Savings Allowance and the selected income tax rate. Redemption proceeds are shown separately because gains on UK gilts are generally exempt from Capital Gains Tax. The annual view shows coupons, estimated tax, gilts completing, and cash redeemed each year, and the cashflow graph shows the same figures as coloured columns with coupon tax below the zero line.

Where the data comes from

The gilt list comes from the Debt Management Office Gilts in Issue report , with clean market prices refreshed from a public gilt price table. You can inspect any selected holding in the UK Gilts Calculator.