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Pension Calculator UK 2026/27

Free UK pension calculator for 2026/27. Enter your current age, retirement age, existing pension pot, monthly contribution, and expected growth rate to project your total pension pot at retirement. The calculator shows estimated monthly income in retirement, compares your projected pot against your target, identifies any gap, and tells you how much extra you need to contribute each month to close it. Also shows the real cost of your contributions after basic rate (20%) and higher rate (40%) tax relief.

·CalcKit·Updated
Pension Calculator UK 2026/27Free · No signup
%

UK default: 5% p.a.

£

Leave blank if starting from zero

£

Your contribution (before relief)

£

Income you want in retirement

Projected Pot at 67
£377,913.00
32 years of growth
Monthly Income (25 yrs)
£1,260.00
from pension pot only
Gap vs Target
£222,087.00
target: £600,000.00

To reach your target of £600,000.00

You need to contribute an extra £235.00/month on top of your current £400.00/month — a total of £635.00/month.

How Your Pot Grows — 32 Years at 5%

Your contributions (384 months)£153,600.00
Investment growth on contributions+£224,313.00
Total projected pot£377,913.00

Your Actual Cost After Tax Relief — 2026/27

Gross monthly contribution£400.00
Cost if basic rate taxpayer (20% relief)£320.00/month
Cost if higher rate taxpayer (40% relief)£240.00/month
Annual allowance 2026/27£60,000
Your annual contribution£4,800.00

Projection assumes 5% annual growth before charges and inflation · State pension not included · For guidance only

About This Pension Calculator

Pension Calculator UK 2026/27 is designed specifically for UK businesses and individuals. All calculations use current 2025/26 rates and follow HMRC guidelines.

Completely free with no signup required. Results are instant and calculated in your browser — no data is sent to our servers. For significant financial decisions, consult a qualified UK accountant or financial adviser.

How do you use the Pension Calculator?

  1. 1Enter your current age and your target retirement age. The calculator works out how many years (and months) your money has to grow.
  2. 2Enter your current pension pot (leave blank or enter 0 if you are starting fresh), your monthly contribution before tax relief, and your expected annual growth rate. The UK default assumption is 5% per year before charges.
  3. 3Enter your target monthly income in retirement and how many years you expect to draw down your pension (e.g. 25 years from age 67 to 92). The calculator projects your pot, estimates your monthly income, identifies any gap, and shows the extra monthly contribution needed to close it.

Use alongside

Pair this tool with our other free calculators: Profit Margin Calculator, UK VAT Calculator — Add or Remove VAT, Income Tax Calculator UK 2026/27 — Take Home Pay, Freelancer Day Rate Calculator.

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Rates and thresholds sourced from HMRC and GOV.UK. Updated for the 2025/26 tax year.

Also known as

pension calculator ukpension calculatoruk pension calculatorpension pot calculatorretirement calculator ukhow much pension will i get

Frequently Asked Questions

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.

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Last updated: 12 July 2026 · Rates for 2025/26 tax year