A pension calculator is a tool that estimates your projected retirement income based on factors like how much you’re saving and how many years you have left until retirement. At PensionBee we have our own calculators which help you to understand:
- how much income your pension could generate in retirement;
- how inflation could impact your pension savings;
- what age you may receive the State Pension;
- how much tax relief you may get; and
- how to plan your pension withdrawals when the time comes.
How to use the PensionBee Pension Calculator
With PensionBee’s Pension Calculator you can see whether your current savings are on track to meet your retirement goals and how contributions could impact your savings.
Once you learn how much you’re on track to receive at retirement, it’s easier to see whether you need to make any changes. For example, you may decide to increase your monthly contributions now to help you retire earlier.
To use our Pension Calculator, you’ll need to enter:
- your age;
- the current value of your pensions (this is the total amount you have saved already across all of your pension pots);
- your desired retirement age;
- your desired annual retirement income; and
- your contributions including any personal, employer or on-off contributions.
As you adjust the sliders, the graph will show your target alongside your current projection. The grey dotted line will show your target and the yellow line will show the current projection based on the information you’ve entered.
The yellow shaded area around the grey and yellow lines highlights the potential growth of your investments. The higher assumed growth rate is 8% whereas the lower assumed growth rate is 3%.
There are a few factors that could affect the value of your pension pot at retirement. Our Pension Calculator makes assumptions including:
- an average life expectancy of 100 years;
- an assumed inflation rate of 2.5% per year*;
- a growth rate of 4% (before inflation);
- a management fee of 0.70% taken from your pension each year; and
- when using the personal monthly or one-off contribution sliders, your projection will include the 25% tax top up from HMRC.
*We’ve used 2.5% as this is the assumed annual rate of inflation used by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
If you’re a PensionBee customer, you’ll be able to access your ‘Retirement Planner’ in your BeeHive. This tool will take into account the money you’ve saved into your pension so far and your level of contributions. Plus, you can include pots from up to five other providers in the ‘Retirement Planner’ so you can see your total retirement savings in one place.
It’s important to understand that our calculators are just tools and they can only make estimates, they don’t guarantee returns. Remember that the value of your investments can go up as well as down.
Use our Pension Calculator.
How much will I need in retirement?
When using the Pension Calculator and thinking about how much to pay into your pension, it’s important to consider how much money you think you’ll need during retirement.
If you aren’t sure where to start, the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association’s (PLSA) Retirement Living Standards can act as a guide. They show retirement lifestyles at three different income levels for both single people and couples. The table below shows the yearly retirement income needed to achieve a minimum, moderate or comfortable retirement.
| Retirement living standard | Yearly income needed for a single person | Yearly income needed for a couple |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum lifestyle - covers all your needs, with some left over for fun | £13,400 | £21,600 |
| Moderate lifestyle - more financial security and flexibility | £31,700 | £43,900 |
| Comfortable lifestyle - more financial freedom and some luxuries | £43,900 | £60,600 |
Alongside our Pension Calculator, we have a number of other calculators and tools that can help you plan for your retirement including:
- our Pension Tax Relief Calculator;
- our Drawdown Calculator;
- our Inflation Calculator; and
- our State Pension Age Calculator.
PensionBee’s Pension Tax Relief Calculator
Our Pension Tax Relief Calculator can show you how much tax relief you could get on your pension contributions. It’ll also tell you whether you need to fill out a Self-Assessment tax return to claim any of it.
Most UK taxpayers get tax relief on their pension contributions, which means that the government effectively adds money to your pension pot. This is usually 25% if you’re a basic rate taxpayer. However higher and additional rate taxpayers may be able to claim back more through Self-Assessment.
To use our Pension Tax Relief Calculator, you’ll need to add:
- your annual income (or you net profits if you’re self-employed); and
- your annual pension contributions.
The calculator will then show your gross pension contribution broken down into:
- the amount you pay;
- the basic rate tax relief that’s added; and
- how much (if any) you could claim back via a Self-Assessment tax return.
Use our Pension Tax Relief Calculator.
The rules around tax relief can be confusing and there are restrictions. For example, the annual allowance is a limit on how much tax relief you can claim. For 2025/26, this is £60,000 or 100% of your salary (whichever is lower). Find out more about pension tax relief.
PensionBee’s Drawdown Calculator
Our Drawdown Calculator can help you plan your pension withdrawals. It’ll show you how much tax you could pay on the withdrawals, and the impact on your pension pot.
To use our Drawdown Calculator, you’ll need to add:
- your current pension balance;
- how much you’d like to take as tax-free cash (the current limit is 25%); and
- how much you’d like to take as taxable cash.
The calculator will then show you:
- your total withdrawal amount;
- the tax deducted; and
- the amount remaining in your pension pot.
Use our Drawdown Calculator.
PensionBee’s Inflation Calculator
Our Inflation Calculator helps show the impact of inflation on your pension and how far it’ll go in retirement. Inflation is the rate at which the cost of everyday goods increases over time. This includes things like groceries, transport and electricity. The amount you have saved in your pension today could look different in years or decades to come when you retire. It’s important to understand the impact inflation can have to help you plan for retirement.
To use our Inflation Calculator and better understand the impact of inflation on your savings, simply add:
- the value of your current pension pot;
- your current age;
- your desired retirement age;
- your annual contributions; and
- an assumed inflation rate (the calculator shows 2.5% as a default but you can move the scale up and down depending on the current rate).
The calculator also assumes an annual investment growth rate of 5% and annual management fees of 0.70%. However, investment returns aren’t guaranteed.
The graph will then show two lines based on your input. The yellow dotted line will show the total estimated value of your pension without the impact of inflation. The teal dotted line will show the total estimated value of your pension with the impact of inflation.
The cost of living at your desired retirement age will also be illustrated with things like the cost of a pint of milk and a litre of petrol.
Use our Inflation Calculator.
PensionBee’s State Pension Age Calculator
Our State Pension Age Calculator will show you at what age you might be able to access the State Pension. The State Pension is a regular payment from the government that many people can claim once they reach State Pension age (currently 66, rising to 67 from 2028).
To use the calculator, you’ll need to enter your date of birth. The calculator will then show you:
- your State Pension age; and
- the date at which you’ll reach this age.
To qualify for any State Pension, you must have paid at least 10 years National Insurance contributions (NICs). To be eligible for the full new State Pension, you must have paid 35 years of NICs. The State Pension Age Calculator won’t show you whether or not you’re eligible for the State Pension. Or, how much you might be eligible for. You can check your eligibility on GOV.UK.
You might want to retire before your State Pension age. This means you’ll need to have enough saved to cover the years between your retirement age and your State Pension age. For example, if your State Pension age is 68 but you’d like to retire at 60, you’ll need eight years worth of savings.
Our Pre-State Pension Gap Calculator can show you how much you need to fill that gap. You can find it underneath the State Pension Age Calculator.
To use our Pre-State Pension Gap Calculator, you’ll need to enter:
- your gender;
- your current pension pot size;
- your desired retirement age; and
- your yearly contributions.
The calculator will then show you how much extra income you’ll need to fund your Pre-State Pension Gap.
Use our State Pension Age Calculator and the Pre-State Pension Gap Calculator.
Risk warning
As always with investments, your capital is at risk. The value of your investment can go down as well as up, and you may get back less than you invest. This information should not be regarded as financial advice.
Last edited: 21-05-2025
