Pension Drawdown Calculator UK: How Long Will My Pot Last?

Drawdown leaves your pension invested while you take an income from it, so the pot has to do two jobs at once: pay you now and keep growing for later. The number that decides everything is how much you draw against how much the pot earns after charges. This calculator runs your pot forward year by year and tells you how long it lasts, and roughly the age it runs dry.

Two things make the biggest difference here. The first is your starting withdrawal rate: taking a large slice of the pot in the early years leaves less invested to recover from a market fall, which is why a common rule of thumb suggests drawing somewhere around 3 to 4 percent of the pot a year for a long retirement. The second is inflation. A fixed income feels generous at first but buys less every year, so keeping your income rising with prices is more honest, and it makes the pot run down faster. This tool is a planning estimate, not advice, and it does not include the State Pension, any tax you pay on withdrawals, or the 25 percent tax-free cash if you have not already taken it.