How long will my pension last?

Enter your pot, what you plan to withdraw each year and any other income, and see the age your money runs out under three different growth scenarios — not just one guess.

Figures for the 2026/27 tax year. Last reviewed 01-09-2026.

Why one number isn't enough

A single projection tells you what happens if growth is exactly what you assumed, every single year, for the next thirty-plus years. It won't be. Markets have good decades and bad ones, and the order matters as much as the average — a couple of weak years early in drawdown can do more damage than several weak years later on, because you're selling down a smaller pot to fund the same withdrawal.

That's why this calculator runs three scenarios side by side, using Penli's standard low, mid and high growth assumptions, rather than one single-line forecast. Seeing where the lines diverge is more useful than any one of them on its own.

A worked example

Take a £300,000 pot at age 65, £23,000 a year withdrawn (rising with inflation each year so it buys the same in real terms), the full new State Pension of about £12,535 a year arriving from age 67, a 0.75% charge, and 2.5% inflation.

Under low growth (3% a year), the pot runs out at 90. Under mid growth (5% a year), it stretches to 99 — nine extra years from the same withdrawal, purely down to the growth assumption. Under high growth (7% a year), it never runs out inside the 100-year age this calculator models to. Three assumptions, three very different retirements, from the same starting numbers.

Notice, too, how much the State Pension is doing here. Once it lands at 67, it covers a chunk of that £23,000 need every year, and the pot only has to fund the rest. Delaying withdrawals until State Pension age, or leaning on other income first, is one of the biggest levers in how long a pot lasts — bigger, in many cases, than shaving a fraction off the withdrawal rate.

What the result actually means

"Runs out" here means the pot reaches zero under a constant, inflation-linked withdrawal that never adjusts down. Nobody actually retires like that. In practice, most people spend more flexibly than a spreadsheet — cutting back a little in years the pot has fallen, and easing off some withdrawals is usually enough to avoid running out altogether. Treat the age shown as a warning signal for a fixed spending pattern, not a countdown to an actual date.

If the low-growth scenario runs out well before the mid or high scenario, that's the gap worth paying attention to — it's telling you how sensitive your plan is to a run of poor returns, which matters more than the average of the three.

Common mistakes people make

The most common is ignoring inflation on the withdrawal itself. £23,000 today needs to become roughly £23,575 next year and more the year after just to buy the same amount — a pot that looks fine against a flat £23,000 a year can run out years earlier once that's built in, which is exactly why this calculator escalates the withdrawal automatically rather than leaving it flat.

The second is forgetting charges. A 0.75% annual charge doesn't sound like much next to a 5% growth assumption, but it's compounding against you every single year of drawdown, not just accumulation — it comes straight off the net growth rate used to project the pot forward here.

The third is leaving other income out of the sums, or assuming State Pension age is fixed at 66 forever. It's already legislated to rise to 67 by 2028, and a future government review could move it further. Check your own date on GOV.UK's State Pension forecast rather than assuming.

Scottish taxpayers

This calculator doesn't apply income tax to the withdrawals shown — it's modelling how long the pot itself lasts, not what you'd net after tax on each withdrawal. If you want the tax due on a specific withdrawal, including the different Scottish income tax bands, use the pension tax-free lump sum calculator, which handles that side of things directly.

What this doesn't cover

It doesn't model annuities, which trade some or all of a pot for a guaranteed income that can't run out — see the annuity vs drawdown calculator for a side-by-side comparison of the two approaches. It also assumes one constant growth rate per scenario rather than the up-and-down sequence markets actually produce, and it doesn't account for any tax due on the withdrawals themselves.

Frequently asked questions

What counts as a safe withdrawal rate from a pension?

There's no single figure that works for everyone — it depends on your age, how long the pot needs to last, what other income you have, and how growth actually plays out. A commonly cited starting point for a 30-year retirement is around 3.5-4% of the pot in the first year, rising with inflation after that, but this calculator lets you test your own numbers against three growth scenarios rather than relying on a rule of thumb.

Does this calculator include tax on my withdrawals?

No. It models how long the pot lasts under a given withdrawal pattern, before tax. Income tax depends on your total income in the year you withdraw and where you live in the UK — the pension tax-free lump sum calculator covers that side, including the Scottish income tax bands.

What if I reduce my withdrawals when the pot falls in value?

You'd typically make the pot last longer than shown here. This calculator assumes a fixed, inflation-linked withdrawal every single year regardless of how the pot is doing, which is the more cautious, easier-to-model assumption. Adjusting spending in response to performance — sometimes called a flexible or dynamic withdrawal strategy — generally extends how long a pot lasts, at the cost of a less predictable income.

Why does the growth scenario make such a big difference?

Because the difference compounds every single year you're drawing down, not just while the pot is growing. A couple of percentage points a year sounds small, but over 20-30 years of withdrawals it routinely adds up to a decade or more of extra pot life, which is why this calculator shows all three scenarios rather than picking one.

Should I include my State Pension in the 'other income' field?

Yes, if you want a realistic picture of how much your pot actually needs to fund. Set the age it starts to your own State Pension age — check the exact date on GOV.UK if you're not sure, since it varies by date of birth and is due to rise to 67 by 2028.