When could you afford to retire?
Pull together everything you're building — workplace pension with the employer match, SIPPs, ISAs and other savings — and this works out the earliest age the money actually lasts, respecting when pensions can legally be touched and when the State Pension arrives. Then see how much each extra £100 a month moves the date.
You & your target
What you have today
What you're putting in
The rules that gate it
Your wealth over time
Save more, retire earlier
Each row adds that much per month into your pension on top of what you entered, from now until retirement. Everything is in today's money with growth of your chosen rate above inflation; income need is before tax (pension withdrawals beyond the 25% tax-free part are taxable); money lasts to age 95; ISAs bridge any years before your pension access age. Estimates, not a plan — pension income and investment returns are not guaranteed.
How this decides "feasible"
Each candidate retirement age is simulated year by year to age 95, in today's money. While you work, pots grow and contributions go in — workplace (yours + the employer match), SIPP (plus basic-rate tax relief we add automatically), ISAs and savings. From retirement, the target income is drawn down: before your pension access age only ISAs and savings can pay for it (that's the law — pensions are locked until 55, rising to 57 in April 2028); afterwards the pots work together, and from State Pension age the State Pension covers its share first. The earliest age where the money never runs out before 95 is your answer. It's deliberately cautious about the rules and deliberately simple about tax — check the assumptions in the note above, and treat it as a planning estimate, not advice.
Turning a pension pot into a date
Retirement planning usually gets expressed as a pot size, which nobody can feel. This calculator answers the question people actually ask: given what's saved, what's going in monthly and what retirement costs, at what age does the money support you for life? On the defaults, a 35-year-old on £45,000 with £30,000 already in a workplace pension, 5% going in with 3% from the employer, £200 a month into an ISA and a £28,000-a-year retirement in mind gets a date of 64, with money lasting to 95 in today's terms.
The moving parts that matter most
Contribution rate beats almost everything else you can touch. Each extra percentage point sacrificed in your thirties pulls the date forward meaningfully because it compounds for three decades; the same point added at 55 barely moves it. The State Pension does more work than its reputation suggests, £12,548 a year from 67 on the full record, and covers a large slice of the £28,000 target from that age. The gap years are the design problem: private pensions stay locked until 55, rising to 57 from 2028, so retiring earlier than that leans entirely on ISAs and other savings the taxman can't gate.
Stress-test the answer
A date this sensitive to assumptions should be poked before it's trusted. Rerun it with growth a point lower, spending £3,000 higher and a career break in the middle, and watch how the date moves; a plan that survives that treatment is a plan. To decide where the next pound of saving goes, the ISA vs pension calculator weighs the wrappers, and the investment calculator shows what the contributions themselves can build.
Common questions
How much money do I need to retire in the UK?
A rough rule of thumb is 25 times the annual income you want from your pots (the "4% rule") — £700,000 for £28,000 a year — but the real answer depends on the State Pension covering part of it, when you can access each pot, and investment growth. This calculator simulates all of that year by year instead of using the rule of thumb.
When can I access my pension?
Private and workplace pensions can normally be accessed from age 55, rising to 57 in April 2028. Before that age only ISAs and other savings can fund an early retirement, which is why retiring very early needs money outside pensions as a bridge.
How much is the State Pension and when do I get it?
The full new State Pension is £241.30 a week — about £12,548 a year — for 2026/27. State Pension age is currently rising from 66 to 67 by 2028, with a rise to 68 planned for those born from the late 1970s. Your own amount depends on your National Insurance record, so check your forecast on GOV.UK.
Is the employer match really free money?
Effectively yes. If your employer matches contributions, every £1 you put in is doubled before tax relief is even counted, an instant 100% return no investment can reliably beat. Contributing at least enough to get the full match is almost always the first thing to fix.
These results are estimates for general information only and are not financial advice. Retirement planning has real consequences — check every figure and take regulated advice before acting. Read the full disclaimer.