Planning table for target annual retirement incomes from £15,000 to £40,000, showing private income required after state pension and indicative pot sizes.
Includes full new State Pension baseline of £11,502.00 per year (35 qualifying NI years). The 4% drawdown column uses the 4% rule (annual withdrawal equals 4% of pot). The annuity-style column uses a more conservative 3.3% rate to reflect the lower income guaranteed annuities currently provide.
| Target annual income | Private income needed | Pot needed (4% drawdown) | Pot needed (annuity-style) |
|---|---|---|---|
| £15,000.00 | £3,498.00 | £87,450.00 | £69,960.00 |
| £20,000.00 | £8,498.00 | £212,450.00 | £169,960.00 |
| £25,000.00 | £13,498.00 | £337,450.00 | £269,960.00 |
| £30,000.00 | £18,498.00 | £462,450.00 | £369,960.00 |
| £40,000.00 | £28,498.00 | £712,450.00 | £569,960.00 |
Retiring at 65 means relying on private pension income for 2 years before State Pension starts at 67. The private income figures above are the gap between your target and State Pension — but until 67 you will need to draw the full target from savings. A phased approach (higher drawdown pre-67, lower post-67) is common and worth modelling in the full pension calculator.
The 4% rule (annual drawdown equals 4% of portfolio) is a widely cited planning heuristic based on historical US equity and bond returns over 30-year periods. UK-specific research suggests 3.5%–4% is broadly reasonable for a diversified portfolio, though actual sustainability depends on asset allocation, platform charges, sequence-of-returns risk and longevity. The annuity-style column uses a more conservative 3.3% rate — broadly representative of current annuity rates for a 65-year-old buying a level income.
Use the projection calculator to work backwards from a target pot. As a rough illustration, to accumulate £500,000 over 30 years at 5% nominal annual growth, a monthly contribution of approximately £600 (personal plus employer) is required. At a 20-year timeline the equivalent contribution rises to approximately £1,200/month. The earlier you start, the lower the monthly burden needed to reach the same pot.
Salary sacrifice contributions give you the full benefit of Income Tax relief plus NI savings. At 40% tax, every £600 contributed costs approximately £360 in net take-home. At 20% tax, the same £600 costs approximately £480 net. This makes pension saving via salary sacrifice significantly more efficient than saving from post-tax income.
Create a PDF retirement projection based on this retirement age and your own pot/contribution assumptions.
Free calculator remains fully available. This is an optional paid PDF export.