How much do I need to retire in the UK?

Pick a retirement lifestyle, see the pot size it needs, and compare that against what your current pot and contributions are actually on track to reach — plus the monthly contribution that would close any gap.

Figures for the 2026/27 tax year. Last reviewed 28-09-2026.

How this calculator works

There are two halves to this question: how much income do you want in retirement, and how big a pot does that income actually require? This calculator uses the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association's Retirement Living Standards — minimum, moderate and comfortable, for a single person or a couple — as ready-made income targets, or you can enter your own annual figure instead.

Once you've picked (or entered) a target income, the calculator works out how much of it needs to come from your own pot after your expected State Pension is deducted, then applies a widely-used sustainable withdrawal rate to convert that income figure into a target pot size. Separately, it projects your current pot and monthly contribution forward to your chosen retirement age, and shows the gap between the two, plus the monthly contribution that would close it.

A worked example

Take someone aged 35 aiming to retire at 65, wanting a "moderate" single lifestyle — the PLSA's 2024 figure for this is £31,300 a year. Their expected full new State Pension covers roughly £12,535 a year, leaving £18,765 a year to come from their own pot. Applying a 4%-a-year withdrawal rate gives a target pot of £18,765 ÷ 0.04, which is roughly £469,000 in today's money.

Against that, £40,000 already saved and £300 a month going in, growing at 5% a year after charges, projects to something well short of that target by 65 once inflation is stripped out. The calculator shows the size of that gap directly, and works out the higher monthly contribution — recalculated instantly as any input changes — that would close it by the target retirement age instead.

What the result actually means

The target pot is not a precise number anyone can promise you'll need — it's built on a withdrawal-rate rule of thumb (documented in the assumptions panel above) applied to a lifestyle figure that's itself an average across many households, not a prediction of your own spending. Treat it as a sense-check anchor rather than a fixed destination.

The gap and the required contribution move a lot with small changes to growth rate, inflation and retirement age, because all three compound over long periods. If the required monthly contribution looks unaffordable, that's useful information on its own — it might point towards working a little longer, adjusting the target lifestyle, or simply contributing what's realistic now and revisiting the numbers as circumstances change, rather than a reason to stop planning.

Common mistakes people make with this kind of target

The first is forgetting the State Pension entirely and assuming the whole target income has to come from a private pot — for most people it covers a meaningful chunk of a minimum or moderate lifestyle, and ignoring it makes the required pot look larger than it needs to be.

The second is comparing a future (nominal) projected pot value directly against a target expressed in today's money, which makes the pot look more on-track than it really is. This calculator keeps both figures in today's money by default for exactly that reason.

The third is treating the withdrawal rate as fixed and universal. A 4%-style rate is a reasonable planning shorthand for a pot expected to last several decades, but the right rate for any individual depends on how long the money needs to last and how it's invested — see how long will my pension last for a fuller, year-by-year version of this that models running the pot down directly rather than using a single ratio.

Frequently asked questions

What are the PLSA Retirement Living Standards?

They're research-based UK household budgets — minimum, moderate and comfortable — for a single person or a couple, published by the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association and last republished in 2024. They cover categories like food, housing, transport and leisure at each level, and are widely used as a rough benchmark for what different retirement lifestyles actually cost.

Why does the calculator use a withdrawal rate instead of just dividing by years left?

Because a pot in retirement usually keeps growing while it's being drawn down, a simple pot-divided-by-years sum tends to understate how long money can actually last. A sustainable withdrawal rate (this calculator uses a 4%-style rule of thumb, shown in the assumptions panel) is a commonly used shorthand that accounts for that ongoing growth. It's still an approximation — see how long will my pension last for a scenario-based, year-by-year alternative.

Should I use the single or couple figures?

Use whichever matches your household. The couple figures assume shared costs (one rent or mortgage, one set of household bills) rather than simply double the single figures, so they're usually a bit less than two single incomes added together.

What if I don't know my expected State Pension?

The calculator defaults to the current full new State Pension amount. Your own entitlement depends on your National Insurance record, so for a precise figure, check your State Pension forecast on GOV.UK and enter that instead.

Does this account for tax on my pension income in retirement?

No — the target and projected figures here are both pre-tax. Income tax in retirement depends on your total income from all sources and where you live in the UK, and reduces what you actually take home from the pot shown here.