Pension growth calculator
What your pot could be worth at the age you choose, in today's money, from what you and your employer pay in now, and what it might pay you. Growth is an assumption you set, not a forecast.
What it might pay. Taking 4% a year gives about £9,056 a year in today's money (£19,956 then). With the full new State Pension of £12,548 from 68 (1 year after you retire), that is £21,603 a year before tax and about £19,797 after income tax at today's bands; the State Pension uses almost all of the personal allowance, so the drawdown is largely taxed. No National Insurance is due past State Pension age.
Up to £56,598 in today's money could be taken tax-free as a lump sum (25% of the pot; the £268,275 allowance applies to pots over £1,073,100 at the time). The other 75% is taxable as you draw it, and taking the lump sum reduces the income above.
You can take money from this pension from 57, because the minimum age rises to 57 in 2028. Your State Pension age is 68, and the age is under review. The State Pension shown is the full new rate, assumed to rise with inflation; 35 qualifying years gives the full rate for records that start after April 2016, and older records that were contracted out usually need more. Check your forecast. Contributions are taken from your pay as entered on the take-home calculator (£2,600 you, £1,560 employer) and grow with pay at 2.5% a year.
Growth of 5.0% less fees of 0.75% and inflation of 2.5% are assumptions, not forecasts. Real returns vary year to year and can be negative. Change them. This is an illustration of the arithmetic, not a recommendation to pay more in or to choose any product.
Year by year
| Age at year end | You pay in | Employer | Growth | Pot at year end | In today's money |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 36 | £2,600 | £1,560 | £1,370 | £35,530 | £34,664 |
| 37 | £2,665 | £1,599 | £1,608 | £41,402 | £39,407 |
| 38 | £2,732 | £1,639 | £1,860 | £47,632 | £44,231 |
| 39 | £2,800 | £1,680 | £2,127 | £54,239 | £49,137 |
| 40 | £2,870 | £1,722 | £2,410 | £61,241 | £54,128 |
| 41 | £2,942 | £1,765 | £2,710 | £68,658 | £59,203 |
| 42 | £3,015 | £1,809 | £3,028 | £76,510 | £64,365 |
| 43 | £3,091 | £1,854 | £3,365 | £84,820 | £69,616 |
| 44 | £3,168 | £1,901 | £3,721 | £93,609 | £74,956 |
| 45 | £3,247 | £1,948 | £4,097 | £102,902 | £80,387 |
| 46 | £3,328 | £1,997 | £4,495 | £112,722 | £85,911 |
| 47 | £3,411 | £2,047 | £4,916 | £123,096 | £91,529 |
| 48 | £3,497 | £2,098 | £5,360 | £134,050 | £97,243 |
| 49 | £3,584 | £2,150 | £5,828 | £145,613 | £103,054 |
| 50 | £3,674 | £2,204 | £6,323 | £157,814 | £108,965 |
| 51 | £3,766 | £2,259 | £6,845 | £170,684 | £114,977 |
| 52 | £3,860 | £2,316 | £7,395 | £184,255 | £121,091 |
| 53 | £3,956 | £2,374 | £7,976 | £198,561 | £127,310 |
| 54 | £4,055 | £2,433 | £8,587 | £213,636 | £133,635 |
| 55 | £4,156 | £2,494 | £9,232 | £229,518 | £140,068 |
| 56 | £4,260 | £2,556 | £9,910 | £246,245 | £146,611 |
| 57 | £4,367 | £2,620 | £10,625 | £263,857 | £153,265 |
| 58 | £4,476 | £2,686 | £11,378 | £282,397 | £160,034 |
| 59 | £4,588 | £2,753 | £12,170 | £301,907 | £166,917 |
| 60 | £4,703 | £2,822 | £13,003 | £322,435 | £173,918 |
| 61 | £4,820 | £2,892 | £13,880 | £344,027 | £181,039 |
| 62 | £4,941 | £2,964 | £14,802 | £366,734 | £188,281 |
| 63 | £5,064 | £3,039 | £15,772 | £390,609 | £195,647 |
| 64 | £5,191 | £3,115 | £16,791 | £415,705 | £203,139 |
| 65 | £5,321 | £3,192 | £17,862 | £442,080 | £210,759 |
| 66 | £5,454 | £3,272 | £18,988 | £469,794 | £218,508 |
| 67 | £5,590 | £3,354 | £20,171 | £498,909 | £226,390 |
| Total | £125,191 | £75,114 | £268,604 | £498,909 | £226,390 |
Methodology and assumptions
Your contributions and your employer's come from the take-home calculator's figures, gross of tax relief, and grow each year with the pay-rise assumption. Money is paid in monthly and grows monthly at the growth rate less fees. Today's-money figures divide by inflation compounded over the years. The lump sum is 25% of the pot in today's money, up to the £268,275 allowance (which is frozen in cash terms, so the real cap tightens each year). The income line is the withdrawal rate applied to the pot plus the full new State Pension from your State Pension age, and the after-tax figure applies this year's income tax bands to that total, with no National Insurance; it is an illustration, not an annuity quote or a sustainable-withdrawal calculation. The growth range uses the FCA's standard projection rates of 2% and 8%.
What this cannot know
Actual returns, which vary and can be negative. Future tax bands, so the after-tax figure uses today's. Changes to the access age, the lump sum allowance or the State Pension. Defined benefit pensions, which are not pots. Whether you will have 35 qualifying years.
Questions people ask
Is the growth rate realistic?
No one can say. The default is a middle assumption for a mixed fund over decades, before fees. The range beside the headline uses the FCA's 2% and 8% standard projection rates. Change the growth field to see how sensitive the result is.
Why is the today's-money figure so much lower?
Inflation compounds over the same years as your pot does. The today's-money figure is what the pot would buy if prices stayed as they are now, which is the figure most people compare with today's costs.
Does the employer's contribution really not cost me anything?
It is paid on top of your salary. What costs you is your own contribution, and the take-home calculator shows how much of it is covered by tax and NI saved.