Most pension calculators answer the wrong question. They project what you might have on the day you retire, or they quote gross figures that do not match what you actually spend.
caniretire.uk asks something more useful: if you stop work with a given pot and a target take-home income, will your money last — after tax, after inflation, and when the state pension starts?
This is a free UK retirement calculator built for exploration and clarity. It is not regulated financial advice; always check figures with an FCA-authorised adviser before making decisions.
The question we help you answer
You set a pension pot, a retirement age, and the net income you want in your pocket each year. The tool works backwards through UK income tax, your tax-free pension choices, and state pension timing to show whether the pot can sustain that lifestyle through your plan age — or how long it lasts if it cannot.
That focus on money in your bank, not abstract gross numbers, is the foundation of everything else.
Key features
Plan in net income, not gross guesses
Your target is stated as annual take-home income. The calculator solves for the gross withdrawals and tax required to hit that target, so the figures line up with your budget and payslips, not a pre-tax headline you have to mentally convert.
Model drawdown, not just the finish line
Many tools stop at retirement day. Here, the pot keeps growing or shrinking through drawdown, year by year. You see how withdrawals, tax, inflation, and investment returns interact over the whole of retirement — not only at the point you hand in your notice.
UK tax and the 25% tax-free allowance
The model uses UK income tax bands and the personal allowance (aligned with the 2025/26 tax year). You can compare two common approaches to the pension tax-free lump sum:
- Lump sum — take up to 25% of the pot tax-free at retirement, then draw the rest under normal rules.
- Phased — take 25% tax-free from each withdrawal over time, which can change how long the pot lasts and how much tax you pay in later years.
Switch between them and watch the year-by-year tax and pot balance update.
State pension at the right age
Add the state pension from the age and amount you expect. You can include it in your income target or model pot-only drawdown first and layer state pension on when it arrives — useful for bridging years before you qualify.
Inflation on spending and on the pot
Raise or lower an inflation assumption to stress-test real spending power. Withdrawals can inflate each year with your target income, while the pot is also valued in real terms so you are not fooled by nominal growth alone.
Year-by-year transparency
Every year from now through your plan age is broken down: pot balance, withdrawals, state pension, tax paid, and net income. Nothing is hidden in a single headline number — you can see which years are tight and when the pot runs out, if it does.
Charts and income mix
A timeline chart shows how your pot evolves through retirement. A separate view summarises where your lifetime income comes from — flexible drawdown, state pension, and optional annuity income — so you can see how reliant you are on the pot versus guaranteed sources.
Sensible starting point, full control
The tool suggests a starting withdrawal based on your pot, horizon, and tax settings. You can then drag, type, or fine-tune every assumption: growth rate, inflation, contributions before retirement, life expectancy, and more.
Share and revisit scenarios
Use Share to encode your inputs in the page URL. Bookmark a scenario, send it to your partner, or compare tweaks without creating an account — your numbers stay in the link, not on our servers. See the privacy policy for how the site handles analytics and advertising.
Why use this instead of a spreadsheet?
Spreadsheets are powerful but easy to get wrong on tax, phased tax-free logic, or state pension timing. caniretire.uk bakes in UK rules and keeps the maths visible: change one assumption and the chart, table, and “will it last?” answer move together. You spend time on decisions, not on formula debugging.
Who it is for
Anyone in the UK weighing when to retire, how much to draw, or lump sum versus phased tax-free strategies before speaking to a professional. Use it to narrow options, then validate with qualified advice.
Try it now
Open the calculator, enter a pot and target net income, and adjust until the projection matches your expectations. If the pot runs out before your plan age, reduce spending, delay retirement, or test a different tax-free approach — the year-by-year view shows exactly where the pressure appears.
For more on what the site models and its limitations, see About.