Retirement Cashflow Modeller

UK · Couples · Tax-efficient drawdown planning

Personal Details

Current Age

Retirement Age

Employment

Gross Salary (£/yr)Pre-tax annual salary. Income tax and National Insurance are calculated on this, less any salary sacrifice amounts.

Salary Growth %/yrExpected annual increase in gross salary until retirement. Used to project future pension contributions and take-home pay.

Employee Contrib %Your pension contribution as a percentage of gross salary. Can be via salary sacrifice (pre-tax, saves NI) or post-tax.

Employer Contrib %Your employer's pension contribution as a percentage of your gross salary. Goes straight into your pension pot tax-free.

Ee Contrib ViaEmployee contribution method. Salary Sacrifice reduces your taxable pay and NI liability. Post-tax means contributions are made after income tax and NI are deducted.

Additional Sacrifice (£/yr)Extra salary sacrifice on top of your standard employee contribution — reduces taxable income and NI, boosting pension efficiently for higher earners.

Pensions (DC / SIPP)

Current Pot (£)Your total DC pension or SIPP pot value today. Defined contribution — its final value depends on investment growth and withdrawals.

Annual Contrib. (£)Any fixed annual amount you are adding to the pension pot outside of employment (e.g. a personal SIPP contribution).

Of which Crystallised (£)The portion of your pension pot already in drawdown (crystallised). This cannot generate future PCLS — only the uncrystallised remainder can. If you have never taken any pension income yet, leave this as 0.

PCLS Already Taken (£)Pension Commencement Lump Sum — the tax-free cash you have already withdrawn in the past. Counts toward the £268,275 lifetime limit.

PCLS StrategyHow to take the tax-free 25% lump sum. "Take Max" withdraws the full 25% at retirement as tax-free cash — assumed spent outside the model (e.g. paying off a mortgage). "ISA-Paced" spreads withdrawals at your chosen annual rate, recycling each instalment into your ISA.

Annual PCLS Taken (£)How much PCLS (tax-free cash) to withdraw per year under the ISA-Paced strategy. £20,000 fills one ISA allowance; £40,000 fills a couple's combined ISA allowance.

Defined Benefit Pension

Initial Annual Income (£)Defined Benefit pension — a guaranteed annual income from a final salary or career average scheme. This is the starting amount before inflation uprating.

DB Start AgeDefined Benefit — the age at which this guaranteed pension income begins. Can differ from your DC retirement age.

Reduced Amount (£, 0=none)Some DB schemes reduce the pension at a certain age (e.g. when State Pension begins). Enter the lower post-reduction annual amount, or 0 if no reduction applies.

Reduction AgeThe age at which the DB pension reduces to the lower amount entered above.

State Pension

Weekly Amount (£)

State Pension Age

ISA

ISA Balance (£)Individual Savings Account — your current total ISA balance. Withdrawals are completely tax-free with no limit.

Annual ISA Add (£)ISA — Individual Savings Account. Amount added each year before retirement, growing tax-free. Maximum £20,000 per person per year.

Personal Details

Current Age

Retirement Age

Employment

Gross Salary (£/yr)Pre-tax annual salary. Income tax and National Insurance are calculated on this, less any salary sacrifice amounts.

Salary Growth %/yrExpected annual increase in gross salary until retirement. Used to project future pension contributions and take-home pay.

Employee Contrib %Your pension contribution as a percentage of gross salary. Can be via salary sacrifice (pre-tax, saves NI) or post-tax.

Employer Contrib %Your employer's pension contribution as a percentage of your gross salary. Goes straight into your pension pot tax-free.

Ee Contrib ViaEmployee contribution method. Salary Sacrifice reduces your taxable pay and NI liability. Post-tax means contributions are made after income tax and NI are deducted.

Additional Sacrifice (£/yr)Extra salary sacrifice on top of your standard employee contribution — reduces taxable income and NI, boosting pension efficiently for higher earners.

Pensions (DC / SIPP)

Current Pot (£)Your total DC pension or SIPP pot value today. Defined contribution — its final value depends on investment growth and withdrawals.

Annual Contrib. (£)Any fixed annual amount you are adding to the pension pot outside of employment (e.g. a personal SIPP contribution).

PCLS Already Taken (£)Pension Commencement Lump Sum — the tax-free cash you have already withdrawn in the past. Counts toward the £268,275 lifetime limit.

Annual PCLS Taken (£)How much PCLS (tax-free cash) to withdraw per year under the ISA-Paced strategy. £20,000 fills one ISA allowance; £40,000 fills a couple's combined ISA allowance.

Defined Benefit Pension

Initial Annual Income (£)Defined Benefit pension — a guaranteed annual income from a final salary or career average scheme. This is the starting amount before inflation uprating.

DB Start AgeDefined Benefit — the age at which this guaranteed pension income begins. Can differ from your DC retirement age.

Reduced Amount (£, 0=none)Some DB schemes reduce the pension at a certain age (e.g. when State Pension begins). Enter the lower post-reduction annual amount, or 0 if no reduction applies.

Reduction AgeThe age at which the DB pension reduces to the lower amount entered above.

State Pension

Weekly Amount (£)

State Pension Age

ISA

ISA Balance (£)Individual Savings Account — your current total ISA balance. Withdrawals are completely tax-free with no limit.

Annual ISA Add (£)ISA — Individual Savings Account. Amount added each year before retirement, growing tax-free. Maximum £20,000 per person per year.

Shared Settings applies to both people

Spending & Goals

Annual Spending (£)

Model to AgeThe age to run the projection to (based on the oldest person). 95 is a common planning age to stress-test longevity risk.

Spending Reduction %Many retirees spend less in later years. This reduces the spending target by this percentage at each interval, modelling the "retirement smile" spending curve.

Every N YearsHow frequently the spending reduction is applied. E.g. 5% every 5 years means spending steps down at each 5-year interval after the start age.

Reductions Start (P1 Age)The age of Person 1 at which spending reductions begin. Typically 75–80, reflecting reduced activity in later retirement.

0% = no reduction

Assumptions

Investment Growth %Nominal annual return assumed on pension pots and ISAs. A balanced portfolio might target 5–7%. This is before inflation — real returns will be lower.

Inflation %

2.5%

Drawdown OrderWhich pot to draw from first. Tax-Optimal fills each person's personal allowance from pension (tax-free), then uses ISA — typically the most efficient. Pension-First depletes pensions before ISAs; ISA-First preserves the pension.

Tax Allowance UpratingWhether income tax thresholds rise with inflation over time. Currently frozen until 2028. Rising with CPI is more generous; frozen means fiscal drag — more income taxed at higher rates.

Bands Frozen Until YearTax bands are held constant until this year, after which the selected uprating policy applies. Current UK policy freezes bands until at least 2028.

Save Scenario

Copy the JSON below and paste it into a text file saved as retirement-scenario.json. Load it back anytime with the Load Scenario button.

Configure your details and click Run Projection