How do I make sure I can afford the retirement I want?
Pension Contribution Calculator
Our pension contribution calculator looks at your existing funds and any potential returns, and your target retirement income, giving you an idea of the monthly contributions required to meet your target.
Calculate if you will have enough for the retirement you want
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If you would like to explore the options available to you on how you can best draw an income from your retirement savings. Complete your details below to arrange a consultation with one of our Financial Professionals.
Charles Stanley is not a tax adviser. The information provided here is based on our understanding of current UK legislation, taxation, and HMRC guidance. References to tax reliefs and allowances are correct at the time of publishing but can change in the future. Tax treatment depends on the individual circumstances of each person or entity and could also change in the future. If you are in any doubt, you should seek professional tax advice.
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Frequently asked questions
How do I use a pension contributions calculator to estimate my retirement savings?
A pension contributions calculator helps estimate your retirement savings by factoring in how much you and your employer need to pay into your pension. You can adjust inputs like existing pension funds, investment growth rate and pension age to see how your pension pot might grow over time.
What’s the difference between a private and workplace pension scheme in the calculator?
A workplace pension is arranged by your employer and often with matched contributions, while a private pension scheme is set up independently. In the calculator, this affects assumptions about contributions and tax relief, helping you see how these contributions could support your retirement goals.
Does the pension calculator include future salary increases or inflation?
The pension calculator does take inflation into account. We assume a long-term inflation rate of 2%. The Calculator looks at total amount that needs to be added and breaks that down to a monthly amount. This amount can come from your salary or you can make personal contribution, and an increasing salary will make that easier, but we assume that it comes from salary.
What is included in a pension calculator contribution?
The calculator works out how much extra needs to be contributed both through employer contribution to a workplace pension and contributions that you make yourself, gross of tax relief, to get a pot that can provide the retirement income you are looking for.
Can I adjust how much my employer pays into my pension on the calculator?
No, you cannot adjust how much the employer pays on the calculator. The calculator tells you how much in total needs to be contributed, whether the employer pays for it or you pay. In the real world you can check whether your employer matches your contributions, and whether they will allow you to pay via salary sacrifice which can be very tax effective.
What is the difference between a pension drawdown calculator and a pension contribution calculator?
A contribution calculator will focus on how much you need to achieve the pot value you will need. A drawdown calculator focusses more on what income a pot may provide, or what level of drawdown you can take from your pot over your estimated lifetime. What this means for our calculators is that the drawdown calculator asks about tax so it can calculate the gross contribution and drawdown after tax. Remember these are designed to give you a broad idea. If you want a more personal calculation, please get in touch.