UK Retirement · 2026-27 State Pension and tax
How Much Do I Need to Retire in the UK? Your Pot by Age
The pension pot you need comes from the retirement you want, minus the State Pension, plus the tax on what you draw. Here is that number for each Retirement Living Standard, and whether you are on track at 45, 50, 55 or 60.
Published 2026-11-02 · Updated 2026-11-02 · Reading time ~6 min
How much you need to retire (UK, today's money): a moderate retirement costs one person £32,700 a year. With a full State Pension of about £12,548, you need about £23,700 a year from your pot before tax, which is a pot of about £593,000 at a 4% withdrawal rate. A comfortable retirement needs about £966,000. A couple on the moderate standard needs about £597,000 between them. These are Richify estimates for homeowners, not advice.
See if you're on track to retire
Pick your age and type your total private pension savings. Measured against the moderate example of £593,000 by 67.
Example figures. Change them to yours.
Median (ONS)
£80,000
=
On-track mark
£427,000
£347,000 below
To reach £593,000 by 67 from the median, about £2,000 a month needs to go in, including tax relief and employer money.
On-track mark: the pot that grows to £593,000 by 67 with no further saving, at 2.0% a year after charges and inflation. Median: ONS Wealth and Assets Survey, April 2020 to March 2022, people with a private pension, including the value of defined benefit pensions.
How much pension you need, by retirement lifestyle
Spending is the Retirement Living Standards figure, which assumes you own your home outright. "From pot" is the yearly withdrawal before tax that leaves that spending, after a full State Pension. The last two columns divide it by the withdrawal rate.
| Standard | Spend / yr | From pot / yr | 4% rule | 3.5% |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum | £14k | £2k | £40k | £45k |
| Moderate | £33k | £24k | £593k | £677k |
| Comfortable | £45k | £39k | £966k | £1.10m |
| Standard | Spend / yr | From pot / yr | 4% rule | 3.5% |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum | £23k | £0 | £0 | £0 |
| Moderate | £45k | £24k | £597k | £682k |
| Comfortable | £63k | £44k | £1.11m | £1.26m |
Two full State Pensions cover the two-person minimum of £22,500 on their own. One person is £1,352 short of the minimum, which is why that pot is small. The target then climbs quickly, because higher spending is paid from taxable withdrawals. Renting costs more: the standards say you may need to budget for rent or mortgage payments on top.
Spending: Pensions UK Retirement Living Standards, 3 June 2026. State Pension: DWP rates 2026-27 (£241.30 a week). Your own amount depends on your National Insurance record.
Am I on track? The number at 45, 50, 55 and 60
For the moderate example (£593,000 by 67). "On track" is the pot that reaches the target with no more saving. The last two columns are the monthly amount going into the pot from the median or from nothing, including tax relief and employer money.
| Age | On track | Median | Save/mo | From £0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 45 | £388k | £80k | £1,430 | £1,800 |
| 50 | £427k | £80k | £2,000 | £2,460 |
| 55 | £470k | £138k | £2,590 | £3,660 |
| 60 | £518k | £138k | £4,840 | £6,600 |
The median sits well below the mark at every age shown: at 55 it is £137,800 against £470,000. Being below it does not mean you cannot retire. ISAs and other savings count too, and the minimum standard needs far less. See the full picture on pension pots by age and net worth by age.
Median: ONS Wealth and Assets Survey, Table 6.10, Great Britain, April 2020 to March 2022, people with a private pension. It includes the capitalised value of defined benefit pensions, and 45 and 50 use the 45–54 band, 55 and 60 the 55–64 band.
How much you need to retire at 57, 60 or 62
Stopping work before 67 means funding the full £32,700 a year yourself until the State Pension starts. Same steady-return method to age 95, one person, moderate standard.
| Stop work at | Pot needed |
|---|---|
| 57 | £764,000 |
| 60 | £699,000 |
| 62 | £653,000 |
| 65 | £582,000 |
| 67 | £531,000 |
The 67 row (£531,000) is below the 4%-rule figure (£593,000) because it spends the whole pot by 95 on a steady return, with no market falls. Use the 4% figure as the safer target. State Pension age is 67 if you were born between 6 March 1961 and 5 April 1977, and later if you were born after that. You can take a private pension from 55 now, and from 57 from 6 April 2028 unless you have a protected pension age. Check your date with the State Pension age calculator, and test how long your own pot lasts with the pension drawdown calculator.
Starting late: what still moves the number
You can usually pay up to £60,000 a year into pensions with tax relief, limited to your earnings if lower, so the room is there if the money is. Tax relief means £100 in your pot costs a basic-rate taxpayer £80 and a higher-rate taxpayer £60. Salary sacrifice can cost less again.
Three other levers often matter more than chasing returns: working a few more years (more saving, fewer years to fund), filling gaps in your National Insurance record so you reach the full State Pension, and deferring the State Pension, which adds about 5.8% for each year you wait. Downsizing or releasing equity can also fund part of the gap. Project your plan with the pension calculator, work out contributions with the pension contribution calculator, or see what a pot buys with the annuity calculator.
How these numbers are worked out
- Everything is in today's money. The steady-return figures use 5% growth, 0.5% charges and 2.5% inflation, about 2.0% after inflation.
- The Retirement Living Standards are spending, not income, so tax is added. 25% of each withdrawal is treated as tax free, and the rest is taxed with the State Pension at 2026-27 rates for England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Scottish rates differ.
- The tax-free share is capped at the £268,275 lump sum allowance, which starts to matter on pots above £1,073,100. The table does not model that cap, so the largest figures are slightly low.
- A couple is modelled as two people splitting income evenly, each with a full State Pension. A lower State Pension, or uneven pots, raises the figure.
- The tables assume you own your home outright and hold no other income. A defined benefit pension or rental income lowers what you need from a pot.
Frequently asked questions
How much do I need to retire in the UK?+
It depends on the retirement you want. Pensions UK's Retirement Living Standards put a moderate retirement for one person at £32,700 a year. With a full State Pension, that takes about £23,700 a year from your pot before tax, or a pot of about £593,000 at a 4% withdrawal rate. A comfortable retirement at £45,400 a year needs about £966,000. These are Richify estimates in today's money.
How much pension do I need to retire comfortably?+
About £966,000 for one person at a 4% withdrawal rate, or £1,104,000 at a more cautious 3.5%, assuming a full State Pension and owning your home outright. A couple needs about £1,106,000 between them for the two-person comfortable standard of £62,700.
How much do I need to retire at 55 or 60 in the UK?+
More than at 67, because you pay for every year until your State Pension starts. For the moderate standard, the estimate is about £699,000 to stop at 60 and about £764,000 at 57, against £531,000 at 67 on the same steady-return method. You can currently take a private pension from 55, and that minimum rises to 57 on 6 April 2028 for people without a protected pension age.
Am I on track for retirement at 50?+
For the moderate example, you are on track at 50 if you hold about £427,000, which grows to £593,000 by 67 with no more saving. The ONS median for people with a private pension at 45–54 is £80,000. From that median, reaching the target takes about £2,000 a month going into the pot, including tax relief and employer money.
Does the State Pension cover a minimum retirement?+
Nearly, for one person, and fully for a couple if both get the full rate. The full new State Pension is £241.30 a week, about £12,548 a year, against a minimum standard of £13,900 for one person and £22,500 for two. You need 35 qualifying National Insurance years for the full rate, and your own forecast is on GOV.UK.
Is the 4% rule right for UK retirees?+
Treat it as a planning anchor, not a guarantee. It comes from US research, and UK returns, charges and tax differ, which is why this page also shows 3.5%. Our steady-return estimate uses 5% growth, 0.5% charges and 2.5% inflation, about 2.0% after inflation, with money lasting to 95.
