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Pension drawdown calculator
How long your pot lasts at the income you want, year by year, with growth, inflation and the state pension built in. And the income it could sustain to 95.
Everything is in today’s money: the income rises with inflation so its buying power stays level, and the state pension (£241.30 a week in 2026/27) is treated the same way. Income shown is gross, before tax.
Your pot lasts
Past 100
£407,224 at age 65 when drawdown starts
This pot could sustain about £25,819 a year (today’s money, gross) all the way to age 95 on these assumptions.
| Age | From pot | State pension | Pot at end |
|---|---|---|---|
| 65 | £25,602 | – | £400,703 |
| 66 | £26,242 | – | £393,184 |
| 67 | £10,023 | £16,875 | £402,320 |
| 68 | £10,273 | £17,297 | £411,649 |
| 69 | £10,530 | £17,729 | £421,175 |
| 70 | £10,793 | £18,173 | £430,901 |
| 71 | £11,063 | £18,627 | £440,829 |
| 72 | £11,340 | £19,093 | £450,964 |
| 73 | £11,623 | £19,570 | £461,308 |
| 74 | £11,914 | £20,059 | £471,864 |
| 75 | £12,212 | £20,561 | £482,635 |
| 76 | £12,517 | £21,075 | £493,624 |
| 77 | £12,830 | £21,602 | £504,834 |
| 78 | £13,151 | £22,142 | £516,267 |
| 79 | £13,479 | £22,695 | £527,927 |
| 80 | £13,816 | £23,263 | £539,817 |
| 81 | £14,162 | £23,844 | £551,938 |
| 82 | £14,516 | £24,440 | £564,293 |
| 83 | £14,879 | £25,051 | £576,885 |
| 84 | £15,251 | £25,678 | £589,716 |
| 85 | £15,632 | £26,319 | £602,788 |
| 86 | £16,023 | £26,977 | £616,104 |
| 87 | £16,423 | £27,652 | £629,665 |
| 88 | £16,834 | £28,343 | £643,472 |
| 89 | £17,255 | £29,052 | £657,528 |
| 90 | £17,686 | £29,778 | £671,835 |
| 91 | £18,128 | £30,522 | £686,392 |
| 92 | £18,581 | £31,286 | £701,201 |
| 93 | £19,046 | £32,068 | £716,262 |
| 94 | £19,522 | £32,869 | £731,577 |
| 95 | £20,010 | £33,691 | £747,146 |
| 96 | £20,510 | £34,533 | £762,967 |
| 97 | £21,023 | £35,397 | £779,041 |
| 98 | £21,549 | £36,282 | £795,367 |
| 99 | £22,087 | £37,189 | £811,943 |
| 100 | £22,640 | £38,118 | £828,769 |
A flat growth rate is a simplification; a bad run of returns early on can empty a pot faster than the average suggests. Still building the pot? See what topping up does with the pension contributions calculator.
Common questions
- Does the 4% rule work in the UK?
- The 4% rule comes from US research (William Bengen, 1994): withdraw 4% of the pot in year one, rise with inflation, and a 50/50 portfolio historically lasted 30 years. UK studies tend to land lower, around 3 to 3.5%, because of fund charges and less generous historical returns outside the US. Treat 4% as a rough ceiling, not a guarantee, and use the sustainable income figure here as a sense check against your own growth assumptions.
- How is pension drawdown taxed?
- Usually 25% of the pot can be taken tax-free (capped at the £268,275 lump sum allowance); the rest is taxed as income in the year you withdraw it, on top of the state pension and anything else you earn. Drawing a large amount in one year can push you into a higher band, so spreading withdrawals often saves tax. This calculator works in gross income; check what a given gross income leaves you after tax with the take-home pay calculator.
- Should I choose drawdown or an annuity?
- Drawdown keeps the pot invested and flexible: you control the income, anything left can be inherited, but it can run out. An annuity hands the pot to an insurer in exchange for a guaranteed income for life: it can never run out, but the income is fixed at purchase and the capital is gone. Many people mix the two, using an annuity to cover essential bills and drawdown for the rest. Free guidance is available from Pension Wise for over-50s.
- What is sequence-of-returns risk?
- This calculator assumes the same growth rate every year. Real markets do not behave like that, and the order of returns matters once you are withdrawing: a crash in the first few years of drawdown forces you to sell more units at low prices, and the pot may never recover even if average returns end up fine. A cash buffer of one to three years' spending, or trimming withdrawals after bad years, are the common defences.
- Does this include the state pension?
- Optionally. The toggle adds the full new state pension, £241.30 a week in 2026/27 (about £12,548 a year), from age 67, reducing what you need to draw from the pot. You need 35 qualifying years of National Insurance for the full amount; check your forecast on gov.uk. The state pension age is 67 for people reaching it between 2026 and 2028, and is legislated to rise to 68 later.
- How big a pot do I actually need?
- Work backwards from the income you want. At a cautious 3.5% withdrawal rate, every £10,000 a year of income needs roughly £285,000 of pot, less whatever the state pension covers. If the sustainable income figure here is below what you need, the levers are starting later, contributing more now, or planning on a lower income.
Pot not big enough yet? The pension contributions calculator shows what raising contributions does (including the tax relief), and the compound interest calculator shows why starting earlier beats saving harder. For context on where you stand, see the average pension pot by age.