Pension Projection Calculator
What's My Pension Projection?
Calculate your expected pension value at retirement based on your current savings, contributions, and investment strategy.
Details
Advanced Settings
Growth Rates
Pension Projection
Retirement pot estimate
Enter your pension details to see your retirement projection.
Getting started
How to use this calculator
Start with the basics
Enter your age, salary, and retirement age. These three inputs alone give you a useful rough projection — you don't need to fill everything in to get value.
Add your contributions
Enter what you and your employer pay in. Check your payslip if you're unsure. Most workplace pensions start at 5% employee + 3% employer. If your employer offers salary sacrifice, it reduces your NI bill too.
Choose a growth scenario
Pick Conservative, Balanced, or Growth to model different return rates. If you're decades from retirement, Growth is typically the most realistic. Use Advanced Settings to adjust your inflation and salary growth assumptions.
Understanding your results
What the numbers mean
Projected pot vs today's money
The headline number is your projected pot in future pounds — but those pounds buy less than today's. That's why the "in today's money" figure matters more.
Example: £800,000 in 35 years at 2% inflation has the buying power of roughly £375,000 today. The inflation adjusted figure is the honest number to plan around.
Tax-free lump sum
You can take 25% of your pension tax-free at retirement — as a single lump sum or in chunks over time. The rest is taxed as income.
Since 2024, the tax-free cash is capped at £268,275 regardless of pot size. Rules may change — don't plan on a 25% lump sum as a given.
How fees eat your pension
A 1.5% annual fee on a £500k pot costs £7,500 a year — £625 a month you're not keeping.
Over 30 years, the difference between a 0.5% and a 1.5% fee fund can compound to over £100,000. Enter your expected return after fees for the most realistic projection.
State Pension top-up
Your total retirement income is your workplace pension plus the State Pension — many people forget to add it in. The full new State Pension is currently £11,502/year (2025/26).
You need 35 qualifying National Insurance years for the full amount. Gaps from career breaks or part-time work can reduce it.
Check your State Pension forecast on gov.uk →Planning ahead
What could change your result
Markets don't grow in straight lines
Your projection assumes steady annual returns, but in reality you'll see years of +20% and years of −15%. Over 30+ years this averages out but the path matters. A market crash just before retirement hits your pot far harder than one 20 years out.
Your contributions will probably change
Promotions, career breaks, part-time work and salary sacrifice decisions will all shift your contribution rate over time. The projection assumes steady growth — life isn't linear. Revisit this calculator at least once a year.
Rules change
Pension tax relief, the minimum retirement age (rising to 57 in 2028), and the State Pension age are all subject to policy shifts. Don't build a plan with zero margin — assume at least some of the rules will move.
Fees compound too
If you entered 7% growth but pay 1.5% in platform and fund fees, your effective return is 5.5%. That gap compounds dramatically over decades. Check what you're paying and whether you could get the same fund for less elsewhere.
This calculator provides estimates only. Speak to a qualified financial adviser before making pension decisions.
See what really moves your retirement outcome
The pension projection guide explains contribution levels, investment growth assumptions, inflation and how to interpret the result.