How much do I need to retire?

How it works

You say what you’d like to spend each year after tax, when you’d like to stop and how long to plan for. The calculator finds the smallest pot on the day you retire that pays for that spending every year to the end, growing as it goes at 2.6%, 3.9% or 5.1% a year above inflation, depending on the mix.

If you’d stop before pensions can be drawn, it first works out a bridge: the ISAs or savings to cover those years. The rest sits in pensions, drawn a quarter tax-free with the rest taxed as income, and the full State Pension comes on top from State Pension age if you include it.

Then it grows what you’ve saved so far to your retirement date, and works out the monthly saving that would close the gap — including tax relief and anything your employer adds.

The UK rules it uses

• Full new State Pension: £241.30 a week in 2026/27, or £12,548 a year, from State Pension age (66, 67 or 68 depending on when you were born).
• Pensions can normally be drawn from 55, rising to 57 from April 2028.
• A quarter of each pension withdrawal is tax-free, up to £268,275 in all; the rest is taxed as income.
• 2026/27 income tax: nothing on the first £12,570, 20% to £50,270, 40% to £125,140 and 45% above.

A worked example

Say you’re 35, want to retire at 60 and spend £25,000 a year to age 95, with the full State Pension, £30,000 saved already and a balanced mix.

You’d need about £375,000 in pensions and savings by 60. Your £30,000 could grow to about £78,000 by then, so you’d need to save about £605 a month from now. Retire at 67 instead and the pot falls to about £274,000, and the monthly saving to about £235.

Questions people ask

How much should I plan to spend in retirement?

It varies a lot. A good start is what you spend now, less what stops — the mortgage, commuting, saving into a pension — plus what you’d like to do more of, such as travel.

Is this the 4% rule?

No. Rather than a fixed rule of thumb, it draws your money down year by year to the age you choose, with income tax and the State Pension worked out. Plan to an older age for more margin.

Why does retiring early cost so much more?

There are more years to pay for, fewer years to save and grow, and every year before State Pension age has to come entirely from your own savings.

Does it count my partner?

No, it’s for one person. The full plan does a couple together, with both State Pensions, both tax allowances and every pension and ISA.