Pension Calculator UK 2026/27

A common UK rule of thumb is to save half your age as a percentage of your salary — so a 30-year-old should save 15% of salary. Auto-enrolment requires a minimum of 8% total (at least 3% from your employer, 5% from you) on qualifying earnings of £6,240–£50,270 for 2026/27. Our pension calculator lets you model different contribution amounts to see what pot you end up with.

Basic rate taxpayers receive 20% tax relief on pension contributions. This means a £100 pension contribution only costs you £80 — the government adds the other £20. Higher rate taxpayers can claim an additional 20% through their Self Assessment tax return, bringing the real cost to £60 per £100 contributed. Additional rate taxpayers (45%) can claim further relief, reducing the cost to £55 per £100.

The pension annual allowance for 2026/27 is £60,000 — the maximum you can contribute to all your pension pots combined and still receive tax relief. If you have taken flexible income from a pension (such as flexi-access drawdown), the Money Purchase Annual Allowance (MPAA) of £10,000 applies to money purchase pensions instead.

Most UK financial planning uses 5% per year as a mid-range real (inflation-adjusted) growth assumption for a balanced pension portfolio. Conservative projections use 2–3%; optimistic projections use 7–8%. This calculator uses nominal growth (before inflation), so 5–7% is a reasonable input for a diversified equity-heavy pension. Always check your pension provider's own projections for comparison.

No. This calculator projects your private/workplace pension pot and income only. The full State Pension for 2026/27 is £11,973 per year (£230.25 per week), paid from State Pension age (currently 66, rising to 67 by 2028). You should add your expected State Pension to the income from your private pot when planning your total retirement income.

The Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association (PLSA) 2026 Retirement Living Standards estimate you need roughly £37,000/year for a 'comfortable' retirement, £23,300/year for 'moderate', and £14,400/year for 'minimum'. Including the State Pension of £11,973, you need to generate roughly £25,000/year from your private pot for a comfortable retirement — implying a pot of around £500,000–£625,000 over a 20–25-year drawdown.