Enter your age, the age you expect to take your pension, what’s in it now and what you and your employer pay in. The calculator projects the pot, shows what it’s worth in today’s money and works out the tax-free cash.
A projection is only as good as its growth rate: real returns go up and down, and nothing is guaranteed. The calculator keeps your salary and contribution rate the same every year, and works for defined contribution pensions (workplace and personal pensions where you build up a pot). It doesn’t cover defined benefit pensions, which pay an income based on salary and years in the scheme, or the State Pension.
How the projection works
Each month, your contribution and your employer’s (your salary times the percentages, divided by 12) go into the pot, and the pot grows at the monthly equivalent of the yearly rate you enter. The growth rate should be after charges. Dividing the result by inflation for each year gives its value in today’s money, which is easier to compare with what you spend now.
£30,000 salary, 5% from you and 3% from your employer: £30,000 × 8% = £2,400 a year, or £200 a month. Over 37 years, from 30 to 67, that’s £88,800 paid in. With no growth the pot is £88,800; at 5% a year after charges it grows to about £249,450. With inflation of 2.5% a year, that’s about £100,000 in today’s money.
Limits the calculator uses
| Limit | 2026/27 |
|---|---|
| Annual allowance (most you can save across all pensions in a year before a tax charge applies) | £60,000 |
| Tax-free cash | 25% |
| Lump sum allowance (most you can take tax-free, across all pensions) | £268,275 |
| Minimum pension age | 55, rising to 57 from 6 April 2028 |
The annual allowance can be lower if you have a high income (the tapered annual allowance) or have already started taking money from a pension; the calculator uses the standard figure.
Auto-enrolment minimums
If you’re auto-enrolled into a workplace pension, the legal minimum is 8% in total: at least 3% from your employer and 5% from you. Your scheme’s rules can set higher amounts, and some employers pay more.
How much might you need?
Pensions UK’s Retirement Living Standards put the yearly cost of living in retirement for a single person at about £13,900 for a minimum standard, £32,700 for a moderate one and £45,400 for a comfortable one.